Pale Ale #03 (AKA "Aye P.A.")

[Cheshire-cheese]

Stop the clock!
Yeast pitched in now. I need a beer!

[Cheshire-cheese]

Yesterday was a bit slap-dash, remembering much of what I used to know at the last minute causing much rushing around; things like, remembering to fit the hop-strainer before filling the boiler

6.4kg grain
24litres liquor
strike heat 71C
initial mash temp 66C (aprox - was rushing to get it all sealed up)
final mash temp 65.3C

Sparge continuously with 15litres.
No calibrations as yet on equipment so best guess is about 34litres wort.
28l of which boiled with hops (80g Goldings and 80g Fuggles) being topped up as volume lost through evapouration.
Late hops at t - 15mins (20g each) along with rehydrated Irish Moss.
IC used for first time - wow! what a difference that makes: cooled in no time.
No hydrometer jar, so difficult to read: about 1060 (at 27C on a hydrometer calibrated at 20C), diluted as per recipe with 10ltres water to give OG 1050 aprox. at 23C
Gervin Ale Yeast used as per pack instructions.

Now to calibrate my containers for next time and to find / replace my hydrometer jar

[WishboneBrewery]

Nice dustbin idea... must be toasty in there!

[Cheshire-cheese]

Best of luck. See what the gravity is like after you run-off the mash. 800g of sugar would be too much for my tastes, but for a higher gravity brew I usually like to add ~5% sugar to finish a bit drier - so around 400g? What yeast to you plan to use?

in the end, I omitted the sugar

[Cheshire-cheese]

I'm guessing you're from the west end of Cheshire?

I have some beer ready for later on though.

Hope the exams are going swimmingly. I'd say I was more, slap bang in the middle of Cheshire. J19 of the M6 or thereabouts

[Cheshire-cheese]

Right, it has been racked into secondary vessels and I have found my old hydrometer jar. Again, the break of 15 years from brewing has left me relearning some basics: I was too miserly transferring beer to the hydrometer jar and after having finished racking the beer and fitting bubble traps, I dropped the hydrometer into the jar only to hear the "thunk" of it resting on the bottom . So, all I know is that the current gravity is below 1020.
The most sophisticated bit of analysis kit didn't fail me though: It tastes perfect. Should be a cracking brew to herald my return to the brewing crease.
hmm, "brewing crease" sounds like a fold of skin under a beer gut.

[WishboneBrewery]

hmm, "brewing crease" sounds like a fold of skin under a beer gut.

Or an imminent breaking of wind from the bum crease

[Cheshire-cheese]

Sailing a bit close to the wind aren't we?

[WishboneBrewery]

[Cheshire-cheese]

Any thoughts on what to name the beer?

[WishboneBrewery]

"Its just not Cricket..."

[Cheshire-cheese]

Yes, after the discussion above, that's the most polite suggestion out of the possible "crease" related ones

[Cheshire-cheese]

Reflecting my Northern roots, I'm toying with the name: Aye P.A.

[WishboneBrewery]

'Ay up PA' ??

'Jonny Briggs Bitter'

'Did Ya Like thaat' - Homage to Fred Dibnah

[Cheshire-cheese]

I honestly never realised that I greeted people with "ay up" until it was pointed out to me. It came as a surprise because, despite being born and bred in Cheshire, my accent is by no means broad. An old Cheshire expression I do like is "skitter-wit" - more acceptable than f#ck-wit - and would be a cracking name for a brew.