Brewday 23/03/07 Elderflower Ale

[louthepoo]

I'm giving this a crack after sampling many Badgers Champion!

20 Litres

4kg Pale Malt
200g Crystal Malt
24g Northern (1 hour)
20g Challebger (1 hour)
8g challenger (15 mins)
75g elderflower

Gervin ale yeast

I'm up early to clean and steralise the equipment, then i'm off

BTW does anybody know how far from the end of the boil i add the dried elderflower? Andy did one so i hope he's online sometime between now and the boil to tell me!

[Andy]

Good luck Lou.

I added mine 15 mins from the end of the boil as per:-

viewtopic.php?t=1029
and
viewtopic.php?t=2680

Edit: Don't forget to add the elderflower to your recipe! You can use the edit button to errr, edit your post above

[louthepoo]

Oh yeah, well spotted andy, added!

Just heating up the HLT, weighed out grain, washed up, cleaned up, waiting........ I'll set the timer on it next time!

[louthepoo]

Just checking my ingredients and realised i've bought Northdown hops not Northern! whats the difference? the pack says its got alpha acid 8%!

I should check more carefully when i buy! poo!

[Andy]

NORTHDOWN 6 – 10% Dual purpose with Challenger type aroma but richer flavour
NORTHERN BREWER 6 – 10% Dual purpose similar to Northdown which was bred from it, pleasant aroma

(from http://www.wellhopped.co.uk/Variety.asp )

You're in luck!

[louthepoo]

Thanks for that Andy, thats a relief.

There doesn't seem to be much hops added from what i've seen on other brews, is there enough?

also, do i put the pellets in the muslin with the challenger or loose on top? I haven't got a hop strainer but i could use the mash bag if i give it a clean.

[Kev.]

Hope all goes well with your brewday, looking forward to hearing how it turns out as I've a real soft spot for Badger Champion.

Good luck

[deadlydes]

my elderflower ale which went down very well
http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... ht=scrotum
a note on the hops they were the youngs loose packed ones and hence no AA

[bitter_dave]

There doesn't seem to be much hops added from what i've seen on other brews, is there enough?

I'm not really in a position to properly answer your question as I've never made a beer like this, but I would point out that the hops you are using are higher alpha acid hops in general, so you would need to use less of them compared with if you were using, for example, fuggles. In other words, I would expect that your hopping rates are fine .

[louthepoo]

I've had a bit of a problem in the mash process - i set the thermostat to regulate at 67 degrees left it for 15 mins, went back and the temp had gone up 80!!!
what are the effects likely to be?
I put cold water in and cooled it down to 73 but dont want to add too much water incase it waters it down to much!

any suggestions?

[delboy]

Good luck with the brew be sure and let us how it turns out.
I inadvertantly cloned champion (but without the elderflower) for my first brew. SWMBO first words on tasting it were 'this tastes like champion'. This was also my gorgonzola brew were i added moldy finings to it by mistake, and so far so good no moldy growth .

[delboy]

Sorry to hear that (think i put the mockers on you, wishing you good luck) . Some people maintain that most of the conversion happens in the first 15-30 mins if thats the case it'll probably be fine (check your runnings for the gravity and see if it has converted).
Also you could try adding another pound or two of pale malt to the mash (for fresh enzymes which should sort it) it'll be stronger but when was that ever a problem (don't forget to get the temp down to about 65-67C or so don't worry about watering it down esp if you add some extra malt).

If it hasn't all converted you will have killed off most/some of the enzyme that breaks down the dextrins (mouthfeel/body) down to more fermentable sugars (thats if you haven't added fresh malt at 65C).
The upshot is that you could have a brew that ends up with a very high gravity (lots of body).
I'm pretty sure you could remedy this later on in the fermentation (if it is the case by adding brupaks dry beer enzyme which will reduce the dextrins to fermentables)

[louthepoo]

I'm having a right game with my sparging, I planned to make 20 litres of brew but so far i have 24 litres and the hydrometer reading is still 1028, it'll take 40 litres at this rate to sparge down to 1006! can i just add water?

[delboy]

Looks like it converted ok then, do what i do stop when you have enough for the boil ie 7ish gallons. Supposedly stopping when the gravity of the runnings is still quite high produces better beer (more malty, less astringent and such) so don't feel bad about leaving some sugars behind .

[louthepoo]

thanks for the quick reply delboy, i've been waiting at the computer incase i did something very wrong.

I'll boil it now then