It was an interesting "come as you are" affair. I'm not sure how much you can tell from the pictures, but on the far left, the store was showing-off a state-of-the-art Blichman 3-vessel tower with built-in propane burners, pump, whirlpool, thermometers, sight-gauges, etc. Yeah, crazy cool, right? In the middle of the shot, Kerth had his pop-up canopy and lots of fancy equipment. Next in line, that's my little wooden table with a few nice homemade pieces, but then there was Timothy with nothing but two small pots, a burner and a bucket. The span of all-grain sophistication doesn't get much wider than that. And as you can know, none of that matters much since we all brew delicious beer. You guys should really coordinate an event like this of your own. Who's up for a Jim's Beer Kit Brewday Gathering? If you get a microbrewery to host your event, they often share their hot treated water and maybe even some ingredients.
SEYMOUR SIMCOE MILD
with some recipe assistance from legendary brewer Alan Pugsley, being basically a watered-down Ringwood Porter recipe.
6.5 US gallons = 5.4 Imperial gallons = 24.6 Liters
GRAINBILL
72% = 6.91 lbs = 3.13 kg, MCI Stout Malt (any UK base malt would suffice)
9% = .86 lb = 390 g, US Cara 40L Malt (I much prefer darker UK Crystal Malt, but this is what I had handy)
1% = .1 lb = 45 g, Muntons Chocolate Malt
4% = .38 lb = 172 g, Muntons Black Patent Malt
14% = 1.34 lb = 608 g, Briess Red Torrified Wheat
Total = 9.6 lbs/4.35 kg
I added 3 US gallons water ≈ 160°F/71°C and a pinch of Calcium carbonate (chalk).
SINGLE INFUSION MASH ≈ 148°F/64°C for 1 hour, stirring periodically to aid conversion.
VORLAUFED then SPARGED for 45 min to collect 8 US gallons pre-boil wort.
HOPS*
.6 oz = 17 g, Simcoe, First Wort Hops
.8 oz = 23 g, Simcoe, 20 min remaining
.8 oz = 23 g, Simcoe, 5 min remaining
.2 oz = 6 g, Chinook (simply because I found a little leftover bag in the fridge), at flame-out
BOILED uncovered for 60 min, I also added a shake of gypsum (yes, that's a scientific unit of measurement.)
Afterwards, I Ditch-drilled it to AERATE.
YEAST
Ringwood Brewery proprietary dual-strain, originally from Hull Brewery, possibly Samuel Webster originally. NOT the same yeast as the single-strain Wyeast 1187. Fermented ≈ 69°F/20.5°C.
APPROXIMATE STATS (which indicate a poor 65% mash efficiency)
OG: 1035
FG: 1004
ABV: 4.0%
IBU: 45
COLOUR: reddish brown
*For the record, Mr. Pugsley recommends only ≈32 IBU using classic English Fuggle & Golding hops, taking care not to overpower the roast character from Black Patent malt. His personal opinion is that high-alpha American hops produce a tar-like flavour. If so, I must find tar delicious.Seriously though, I personally think certain fruity American hops work great in dark roasty ales, especially with subtly spicy Ringwood yeast. That said, if I had more UK Flyer hops, they would've been my first choice.
The Blichman tower
Jason and Timothy making a quick repair to a burner stand.
Kerth explaining the mash process.
Me stirring my mash.
Me explaining the sparge process.
Bringing my mild a boil.
Good times!
-Seymour
