Brew Day 26/1/07 - Ringwood Best

[SteveD]

Graham Wheeler talked in his book about certain Yorkshire strains of yeast that need a lot of rousing to keep them going. Possibly, that's why the Yorkshire square system was developed. It is also believed that the Ringwood yeast was originally one of those Northern strains.

[Calum]

Love the labels - how did you produce them?

I've only managed to make some from avery address labels.

[moorsd]

Cheers Guys

I just did them on photoshop, made the page to the same size as a standard label and downloaded the template from the Ringwood Brewery website....then altered it with my details (Changed the wording on the back of the label as well....I was very bored )

It's printed on ink jet paper with a slight sheen (Not photo paper) and then I just used prit stick! I might add however that I have only filled 8 bottles, don't think I would have had the patience to do any more than that!

[Andy]

I'm loving those labels!

Beats my stick-on coloured circles from Wilkos hands down

[Calum]

I'm thinking of categorising my labels.

When I bottle I tend to have the patience of a randy bull. So instead of waiting the 4 to 6 weeks that I should the first one gets opened somewhere around the ten day mark (I really cannot wait for my Bitter and Twisted, which has yet ot be labelled). Now there is no point in labelling that one. That would be plain stupid. However, I have done it.

After that you have a few that get drunk quite young, haven't actually made storage and are still in the kitchen. Again, labelling these would be plain folly. Yip, me too!

Now you are onto the bulk of the bottles. These are stored in the garage and are for personal consumption. A simple label stating which batch, bettling date and ABV is probably sufficient.

The last lot, which is possibly about a quarter of the batch, will be exhibited, showed off, gifted and perhaps even stored for an extended period of time. These are the ones I would envisage would get the full monty and tarted up.

So, given that I think I will pop out and get some decent printer paper and a prit stick.

Cheers

[Andy]

Lables look cool etc but they do involve a lot of work, particularly as you have to remove them when you want to reuse the bottle...A few letters scrawled on the bottle cap will have to suffice for me

Ditto! Except I have colour coded stick on circles

[Frothy]

Great looking Recipe Moors - love the hop complexity & the fact it's got some chocolate in it.
What style of beer is it?

Brilliant Labels there
Frothy

[tubby_shaw]

Lables look cool etc but they do involve a lot of work, particularly as you have to remove them when you want to reuse the bottle...A few letters scrawled on the bottle cap will have to suffice for me

Ditto! Except I have colour coded stick on circles

Only six of my bottle get labled from any brew. These are for presentation to the unbelievers
Any other bottles simply have the name & bottling date on the cap

[Vossy1]

One day I plan on running down the bottle store and switching to different coloured bottle caps

[Vossy1]

After dumping a load of beer past it's best

I trust you sampled a few before deciding on the binning route....minor samples of course

[moorsd]

Great looking Recipe Moors - love the hop complexity & the fact it's got some chocolate in it.
What style of beer is it?

Cheers Frothy!

I can't take credit for the formulation of the recipe as I "Stole" it from my local brewery after spending a day there (It's basically an English Ale style)

Ringwood beer is lovely, the hop schedule does make it a slightly more expensive beer to produce, but the end result is worth it IMO, I'm using their yeast as well, it's a real pain as it's very flocculent, but the flavour it produces is quite unique (very fruity, and slight diacetyl undertones).

I'm hoping it will turn out ok, as everyone I know likes Ringwood Best, and if mine turns out the same it'll be major brownie points for home brew!

[moorsd]

Well just kegged the rest of the batch after waiting for it to clear...and thought I'd have a crafty taster of one of the bottles that's been conditioning for a week (Merely scientific you understand! )

All I can say is that for what is essentially still a "Green" beer it's just like the real thing, with a few more weeks maturation it'll be even better

The guys at Ringwood brewery have asked for a taster when it's finished, and at first I was a little hesitant as they would probably take the P**s if anything wasn't quite right....nothing to worry about now though!

[mysterio]

Amazing label moors.

Just to echo the others, from what i've read the ringwood strain needs a fair bit of attention so no worries.

[moorsd]

How bizarre, just thought I'd log on to the forum for a browse and I'm just supping a crafty pint of mine now!

It's turned out quite nice actually, however I will slightly alter the recipe next time and reduce the hop schedule slightly as it's a bit bitter compared to the original, I'd also slightly reduce the chocolate malt to around 50g as it's a bit too dark and the roast flavour comes through slightly too much.

Apart from those points it turned out to be a good batch in it's own right...just a few tweaks here and there to get it tasting like the real thing!

[mysterio]

Sounds good moorsd. I plugged your recipe into Beersmith out of curiousity and the IBUs came out around 44 Might explain the bitterness.