orlando wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:33 am
donchiquon wrote: ↑Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:39 pm
being able to talk to Phil the Head brewer at Black Sheep about how to get a Yorkshire bitter dialled in was priceless.
Can't let that slide by, spill the beans.
Sorry, I should have followed up sooner - I think that was the equivalent of flashing a bit of ankle in Victorian times
My best bitters of around 4% have always ended up a bit lifeless and bland, lacking the fruitiness and complexity of examples like Landlord. Phil suggested doubling the amount of crystal that I'm using to 6%, and starting my yeast at 17 deg then allowing it to rise naturally to 21 deg. I've been starting at 18 and keeping it cool for 4 days, only letting it up to 19 deg. He thought this would let some of the esters come through more. I'll be trying both of these on the next batch.
He also explained that they now grind up their hops and recirculate them during the fermentation which I was interested to hear. He'd been advised that they could reduce their hops by 40% this way and still get the same result. So far he'd only cut it down by 25% (if I remember the numbers correctly).
Being able to spend time with brewers talking through these sort of things was for me one of the highlights of the event. I doubt that it would be as easy if the conference grows in the same way it has in the US (albeit at a smaller scale).