AG#4 Black Sheep Ale - Postponed due to frozen butt(!)

[Manx Guy]

Hi all,

I planned to brew a version of GW's Black Sheep Ale ( with Bramling X inplace of Progress, so does that make it Black Sheepish Ale) on Friday the 24th (Christmas Eve - I have the day off)

However I noticed today that my water butt has frozen solid, so will have to postpone it until it thaws, the reason being I use the contents of the butt to run (via a submersible pump) through my IC.

Another option is to leave the wort to cool over night... but I dont want it to freeze - any suggestions?

Also has anyone ever subbed Bramling cross for Progress or vthe other way? I read that the two are similar as they are both bred from WGV and have similar curranty aromas...

Cheers in advance!


Guy

[dedken]

I doubt it'll freeze - too large a volume. I had to chill mine by the nature's methods on Sunday. It took about 4 hours to get down from the 90's to 17C, so you won't have to leave it out overnight. Unless you start brewing at 6pm.

[Andy]

If you leave overnight then it will almost certainly be too cold for pitching yeast, so you'll then need to let it warm back up again. Obviously this all takes time Personally I'd wait until the IC was sorted.

[JontyR]

Guy,

I've left all of my brews to chill naturally. In the summer when I was doing extract brews, they'd take 12 - 15 hours to chill down to 20 degrees but the AG have all been Nov - Dec and they and they've been cooled in 4-6 hours. I'd say 4 at the moment as per Dedken's post

[Manx Guy]

Ok, thanks...

So if i got an early enough start to be stop the boil at 12-13.00 hrs I could have it in the FV by 5pm? Could be worth a go...
Another option is to run the Ic with tap water for 5 mins and let the hot run off go into the butt in the hope of thawing it...

When leaving the wort in the the boiler do you get a cold break and if so does it sink with all the hop gubbins etc?

I'll see how things look on Thursday, but I'm 50/50 at present...

Anyone got any comments on the hop substitution in the OP?



Guy

[JontyR]

I drain mine out of the boiler 30mins after ending the boil and let it chill in the FV. It seems to work ok.

[lancsSteve]

If your arse is frozen you might want to warm that up before frostbite sets in and it all goes nasty - or did I miss something here?

[Manx Guy]

If your arse is frozen you might want to warm that up before frostbite sets in and it all goes nasty - or did I miss something here?

There was abit of 'word play' there yes......



Guy

[Keg Kong]

I did a 10 litre batch of GW's London Pride today & having siphoned it into the FV I used a black bin liner which I then packed with the snow & ice that's been clogging up my back garden. Changed it 3 times & gently moved the wort around with a paddle once in a while & got it down from the mid 90's to the 24 C (my yeast had settled at) in just over an hour & a half. It did wonders for state of the garden too
As long as the weather keeps up the next one will be cooled the same way

[Keg Kong]

Weather still bleak so 19 L of Spitfire clone meets the Gorilla Chiller

[Dr. Dextrin]

Also has anyone ever subbed Bramling cross for Progress or vthe other way? I read that the two are similar as they are both bred from WGV and have similar curranty aromas...

Can't say I've ever noticed Progress tasting curranty. I dare say it'll not harm the beer, but I'd probably substitute Fuggles myself.

[Manx Guy]

Hi DD!

Thanks for the comment, I'm going to sub the Progress for 50% BX and 50% more fuggles...

This will now go ahead on New years day or maybe the 7th of Jan - subject to family commitments

Should be a nice beer but not quite Black Sheep - but Sheepish...

Guy