East Kent Chindown Pale Ale

[Clibit]

Brewed this last week, 9 days ago. To see how some Chinook goes down with some EKG and Northdown, will the English hops add flavour to that big Chinook bitterness, or be obliterated by it?

Batch Size (L): 8.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.050
Final Gravity (FG): 1.015
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.1 %
Colour (SRM): 8.1 (EBC): 16.0
Bitterness (IBU): 49

1.400 kg Maris Otter Malt (84.95%)
0.114 kg Caramalt (6.92%)
0.100 kg Wheat Malt (6.07%)
0.034 kg Crystal Extra Dark (2.06%)

15.0 g Chinook Pellet (12% Alpha) @ FWH
15.0 g Northdown Leaf (7% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes
10.0 g Chinook Pellet (12% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes 80C steep
10.0 g East Kent Golding Pellet (5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes 80C steep

3.0 g Irish Moss @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
3.0 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) @ 0 Minutes (Mash)
2.5 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
3.0 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)

Mash at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Ferment at 20°C with 6g Muntons cheapo ale yeast

Today it's 1016, I think the Muntons yeast wants to leave some sweetness behind. I'm going to embark on a yeast trial soon, splitting batches into mini batches to check out some liquid yeasts I haven't used and maybe some bottle/brewery cultures.

[bochgoch]

I'm interested in how this works out. I have a mountain of Chinook but so far I've been timid of using it late in the boil or with more delicate British hops like ekg

[Clibit]

Yes I'm interested to find out too. I like the intense Chinook bitterness so it's a no lose for me, but want to see if the English hops add something to the aroma.

[Clibit]

Bottled this today after 2 weeks, at 1015, and gotta say it was bloody lovely prior to priming. IIt's got the sharp, spicy bitterness of Chinook as the main feature, but there is some balance from the English hops, which add some fruit and floral spice, I think, and by the caramalt sweetness which is perhaps exaggerated by the high FG caused by the yeast choice. I have to say i think the cheaper of the two Muntons ale yeasts seems to have done a great job, for 99p. Can't wait this for this to carb up, it should be great once it is.

[Clibit]

Cracked one open, 11 days in the bottle, and it's great already! The Chinook doesn't dominate, it's spicy but not overly so. Really good malt - hop balance actually, and the hops work great together and all play a part. I would try it again with First Gold instead of EKG. It's great, the yeast has done a pretty good job too, clarity is good, I poured the whole bottle, and it's really refreshing. It's a hoppy English pale ale. A really good one.

[Clibit]

Had a bottle last night, bottled 19 days now, it's changed quite a lot. The bittermess and spicyness have subsided, it's sweeter and more like a straight English pale/blonde ale now. Very balanced between malt and hops. I'm surprised at the amount of change. I think the Muntons standard yeast is a lot better than many people make out, it has created a really nice mouthfeel and nice gentle esters. Why pay more?!

I'm struggling to work out where all the IBUs and the spicyness have gone during a couple of weeks of bottle conditioning...

[Clibit]

Finished this batch off last night, it was a great batch of beer, will be doing something very similar again. A mate brought some bottle s OF beer round one night and we drank one of these after a bottle of Goose Island, and both felt they were pretty similar. Mate preferred mine in fact. Not identical, but not far apart.

What I found was that during the course of drinking this batch it was changing all the time. Will brew again, possibly drop the late Chinook next time, and use First Gold and Northdown late, and maybe another hop. Keep the malts, yeast and Chinook bittering as a base to try different late hops.

[seymour]

Had a bottle last night, bottled 19 days now, it's changed quite a lot. The bittermess and spicyness have subsided, it's sweeter and more like a straight English pale/blonde ale now. Very balanced between malt and hops...

Sounds delicious, nice work blending the new and old worlds.

I think the Muntons standard yeast is a lot better than many people make out, it has created a really nice mouthfeel and nice gentle esters. Why pay more?!

I strongly agree. I am a big fan of Muntons dry yeast, and I too prefer the cheaper "active brewing yeast" to their more expensive "premium gold yeast". It has a great estery English ale profile, starts fast, finishes fast, drops relatively clear, works well for bottle-conditioning, and leaves behind some rich caramelized sweetness very similar to Fullers, in my opinion. It's a fantastic stand-by, I usually prefer it over Nottingham or S-04, and it's vastly more interesting and flavourful than American Ale/Chico/Sierra Nevada/Wyeast 1056/WL001/US-05, etc. It's not quite as complex as a big, fresh-from-the-brewery yeast slurry of Fullers, Ringwood, Wibblers, etc, but it's a lot closer than you'd expect.

Finished this batch off last night, it was a great batch of beer, will be doing something very similar again. A mate brought some bottle s OF beer round one night and we drank one of these after a bottle of Goose Island, and both felt they were pretty similar. Mate preferred mine in fact. Not identical, but not far apart...

That makes perfect sense, if you're talking about Goose Island India Pale Ale. You can see for yourself on that website, they use a combination of American and English hops in there. And I also know they use an English ale yeast originally from Fullers, which again, your Muntons yeast reminds me of.

[Clibit]

Many thanks for all that feedback Seymour. The yeast is a great dried yeast choice for ales where you might use something like WLP002 or similar, as you say, going by this experience. I'll be using it more. And yes it was Goose Island IPA we had. I've likedthe beers I've made with hops from England and America. A bit of both seems to suit my taste.