AG#3 - Grandad's Ale

[BritishBelgianTwst]

I've decided to dedicate this brew to my Grandad, hence the name Grandad's Ale.
Shortly after doughing in I got a call from my mum to tell me that the old fella had passed away so if he can hear me, this one's for you!

He wasn't much of a beer drinker but I'm sure he'd have appreciated it all the same.

Batch length 23L

Belgian Pale Malt 3750g
Crystal Malt 250g

Hop Schedule
90 Minutes - Challenger 5.7% - 40g
15 Minutes - Styrian Goldings 2.9% - 40g

Estimated Gravity - 1037.7 (Based on 70% efficiency)
Actual Gravity - 1038

Yeast
US05

Everything went swimmingly except for the second sparge - I forgot to close the tap on the mash tun and a little of the wort spilt onto the table - nothing serious luckily.
I even had time to fit a second element (thanks to Asda for the kettle - incidentally Asda also happens to have been my Grandad's favourite supermarket) to my boiler during the mash and boy did it work well!
Due to my fears of infections and the like I made sure that the dog stayed well clear and that I iodophored everything post-boil that came into contact with my beer.

Started the mash at 10:15 and pitched the yeast at 15:30ish. Wasn't in a hurry to do it as I was under no real time constraints so hopefully the laid back approach will come through in the final product.

I'm planning to put 19l of this in my first corny - do I need to prime? If I don't prime do I still need to cut down the dip tube?
I was thinking that it might save on CO2 as I'm using those poxy little cartridges until I can get the proper gear sorted.

Got a really good hot break and so I'm hoping for a nice clear beer at low temperatures this time.

[Grahame]

Nice sounding recipe that. Sorry to hear about your Grandad, I'm sure he will be having loads of fun somewhere! You can prime in the corny and cutting the dip tube would work but after a few pints have been drawn you will need co2 to get more beer out so I would just force carbonate right from the start. You can get a widget world pack for around 35 pounds that will see you right.

[BritishBelgianTwst]

Cheers Grahame,

Thanks for the info but unfortunately I'm stuck in Belgium so Widget World stuff isn't an option. I've found out where I can get reasonably priced CO2 so next step is to buy a regulator etc and I'll be cooking with gas.