Happy Horse House Bitter with pictures

[farmhousekeg]

Well I have had a lot of fun reading and learning from the Brewday posts on here so I thought it was time to give something back and here it is - my Happy Horse Bitter brewday, the inaugural brew in my workshop brewhouse.

Hope you enjoy the recipe and the pictures:

Happy Horse Bitter
Brewlength (Litres): 23 litres
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70%
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Marris Otter Pale Ale Malt 3.6kg
Crystal Malt 400g
Torrefied Wheat 300g

The total Grain Bill weighs 4350g.
The target OG for 23 litres at 70% efficiency is 1040.39
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Hop Schedule
Hop AA(%) Weight(g) Boil (mins) IBUs % Util
Boadicea 5.6 33 90 21.69 27
Fuggles 5 20 20 6.52 15
Fuggles 5 15 10 3.91 12
Fuggles 5 15 5 1.63 5

Total IBUs: 33.75
BU:GU Ratio: 0.84
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And now the photos!
The grains



Transferring the water from boiler to Mash Tun - mug of coffee optional



Water in the MT is at 72C so just how I want it



Grains are well mixed into the mash and the temperature is sitting at 66C which is perfect



After 90 minutes the mash is over and I have added 9 litres of water at 80C to the MT



First cloudy litre with a few grain bits that got under the false bottom are recirculated back into to MT



Finally the first batch is transferred to my collection bucket



While the second batch sparge is settling in the MT (15 litres of 80C water) I transfer the first batch from the collection bucket to the boiler.



Then the second batch is run into the boiler as it starts to heat up the wort.



The boil is just underway and the DIY immersion cooler is in place.



Bittering hops go in with 90 minutes boiling ahead



And a nice rolling boil gets going



Time now to relax for a bit and gaze out the brewhouse door at the winter scenery!



20 minutes to go and the first Fuggles go in for aroma



The boil is over, the wort is cooled to 22C, took 30 minutes with my homemade IC and the OG is 1044 so a bit higher than I was aiming for adding about 0.5% ABV to the final product - oh well I guess I can handle that!



Plenty of aeration as the cooled wort runs from the boiler to the FV



The ugly remains at the bottom of the boiler - nice smell though!



About 21.5 litres collected, rehydrated Safale 04 yeast pitched and after 2 hours there is already some amazing activity going on - is that a big chunk of yeast rising to the top of the FV!



Just under 24 hours later and the yeast has really got to work



Hope you have enjoyed the show. If anyone has any comments or advice then please let me know, I am always ready to learn more!!

[SiHoltye]

Looks like you've nailed your brewday procedure, nice one

[Grahame]

Looks great mate, I always enjoy seeing everyone pics of how they do it. Your MT is my HLT's twin

G.

[farmhousekeg]

Looks great mate, I always enjoy seeing everyone pics of how they do it. Your MT is my HLT's twin

G.

Thanks!

Hats off to DaaB for his MT design!!!

[flytact]

Looks great.
Whatcha got sticking out of the fermenter in that last pic? Heater?

[jubby]

Great job farmhouse.

That's an impressive first brewday, very organised, pretty much on target and you had time to look at the scenery too!! I dissapeared up my own backside on my first brewday, It was like an episode of Benny hill.

[farmhousekeg]

Looks great.
Whatcha got sticking out of the fermenter in that last pic? Heater?

Yeh, that's a heater to stop my beer freezing! Had to use it due to the fact that we have run out of heating oil and the tanker can't reach us because of a pathetic bit of British snowfall! The electric meter is currently spinning off its axis as we fire up electric heaters all over the house to stay warm. One cold week of winter and the whole place goes to hell

[farmhousekeg]

Great job farmhouse.

That's an impressive first brewday, very organised, pretty much on target and you had time to look at the scenery too!! I dissapeared up my own backside on my first brewday, It was like an episode of Benny hill.

Well it was my first time in my new location - self imposed exile in my workshop cum brewery - but I'd had a couple of runs previously in the kitchen and, yes, Benny Hill sounds a bit familiar!

[kevthebootboy]

Nice work our kid, great photos, especially the scenery!