AG#24 Speckled Head (with lots of pics)

[fego]

Brewed this to a recipe which I hope turns out similar to a recipe I sort of remember creating on the fly a week or so before when the boys were round and we drunkenly decided to make beer. We didn't start it 'til 9pm and I didn't go to bed until it got light - mental! But the resulting beer turned out amazing (possibly my best yet) so I'm now trying to replicate it. At the time, with no planned recipe, we just sort of chucked stuff in hoping for the best. I cleverly got someone to write down the grain bill just in case but the hops are a mystery still especially as I'm quite sure I used some from a bag I bought in the Canterbury hop shop which smell nice but are unlabelled. I've got at least a dozen hop varieties in my hop freezer and I genuinely dont recall what went in. Just that they did.

Anyhoo, the grain of this 'clone' attempt 23l brew was:
3500g Pale
115g Wheat
110 caramalt
120 caragold

The hops were:
about 15g Cascade FWH (pointless probably)
61g Fuggles @90
21g Fuggles @10

Teatment was:
two caps CRS
Some Gypsum and some Burton Crystals (my standard approach) in the mash.

Yeast:
Rehydrated S04

I've called it Speckled Head because at one point in the drunken brew, that's what I ended up with but I don't recall how.

Here's how the (sober) day went...

Getting set up


Grain bill


Checking temp after doughing in


Temp after adding foil to insulate


Checking ph (must say they always come out like this so not sure why I bother or what I would do if the result was different) I'm not even sure what the result is!


Mash Tun put to bed for 90 mins


Mash tun being un-wrapped


More un-wrapping


Post mash temp - not bad eh?


Getting ready for the sparge...


Sparge set up


Sparging


FWH


Uh-oh... weather alert


Final stages of sparge


In the copper


Preparing for the boil over...


Boiling nice, a bit of the hot break scraped off and Fuggles in


I collected more wort than I needed really so it's a very full boiler...


and now it's staring at me...


Cooling some wort to test the gravity


It's difficult working out adjusted numbers to guess when to add your last hops in but with practice you get a feel for it


Chiller in followed by last hops


Got a fantastic cold break


Chiller out and holed foil criss-crossed over top of boiler to keep nasties out and help with recircing


The wort ran clear after just one litre and target OG of 1038 exceeded just


Run off to sterilised fermenter


bang on the volume


All tucked up in the study


There were no dramas with this brew (unusual for me). I kegged this last night and it is very light and very tasty. It is close to what I brewed over that very pissy night but the hop profile lacks something. Not in a bad way, just different. The pissed brew has a perfectly balanced malt taste leading to a smooth and very pleasant and long lasting bitter finish which begs you to drink more. This one just sort of all happens at once but it is young (5 days from the copper). Perhaps this Speckled Head brew will mature into that fuller taste but I reckon I will have to try again with a different hop schedule until I get it right.

[WishboneBrewery]

Nice work
Good set of pictures.

[floydmeddler]

Looks good! My mates and I used to get hammered and brew. I remember one morning waking up and not remembering the end of evening. I went out to the kitchen and it looked like we'd been broken into and ransacked it was so messy. Then I heard the airlock give a solitary bubble and realised that all was OK...

[fego]

Tasted my first pint last night. Still a bit green but dropped clear already.

It is similar to the first version but actually slightly better, definately a more hoppy aroma, more malty yet it has a very smooth extended bitter aftertaste. I just hope it retains its flavour balance as it conditions because it is very nice indeed.

My guess now is that the original was a combo of EKG and Fuggles with some of the unknown shop hop thrown in and possibly some Target. Either way, I'm happy with this Speckled Head recipe so I'll stick that on my 'must do again' list.

[Kev888]

Excellent set of pictures there, looks like a good brew day! I particularly like the one with it hiding behind the curtain

I think the reason you may be having issues with the PH measurement is that your test papers aren't really doing you justice; they look like very wide band ones, and would struggle to show up smaller changes in mash PH. I got some 5.2 to 6.8 (and also 3.8-5.5, though I don't often need those) and it can sometimes be a bit tricky even then. In theory if you get the total alkalinity of the liquor right for your beer style before the mash (e.g. using a salifert test kit and Carbonate Reducing Solution or other salts to adjust) then the mash should come out on target, although I believe some people tweek the mash itself too.

These are they:

Showing about 5.6 although the photo isn't that colour-accurate; as you can see its still a tad tricky to be exact - with these you compare the patch in the middle with the colour of the numbered bands. IIRC they came from hop and grape -I remember someone saying they'd found a cheaper supplier on ebay too but the link has expired so i don't know which seller.

Cheers
kev