AG#030 - Simple Simon

[SiHoltye]

Hello,

Brewed this yesterday with the intention of getting a rich tasting Best Bitter.

Ingredients
25L, 90min Mash 67-65°C, 90min boil
Alkalinity adjusted to 27mg/l CaCO3, and Calcium to 200mg/l
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.01 kg Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 83.16 %
0.24 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (78.8 EBC) Grain 4.98 %
0.24 kg Wheat Malt, Bel (3.9 EBC) Grain 4.98 %
0.13 kg Amber Malt - Diastatic (50.0 EBC) Grain 2.70 %
0.13 kg Caramunich Malt (100.0 EBC) Grain 2.70 %
0.07 kg Chocolate Malt (Pale) (500.0 EBC) Grain 1.49 %
45.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.60 %] (90 min) Hops 20.7 IBU
65.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.60 %] (15 min) Hops 13.8 IBU
15.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.60 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
1 Harvey's Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile
Measured Original Gravity: 1.045 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.43 %
Bitterness: 34.5 IBU
Est Color: 20.3 EBC

Hydro sample smells lovely just now

It's dropped 4 points o/nite to 1.041.

[stevezx7r]

Sounds like you have a top brew on Si.

[SiHoltye]

Cheers Steve,
I hope so, done so much c0cking around lately with my own ideas I had a good read of 'Designing Great Beers' before this. It doesn't have to be great, merely yummy.

[Matt]

Looks niiiice Si. I've got a choc malt addition slated for the next iteration of my house bitter … to combat the lack of sweetness I'm still getting

Hope all is fermenting well

[spearmint-wino]

Looks good Si

So you're getting on ok with the Harvey's yeast then?

[SiHoltye]

Won't really know until that 1st brew is matured, but tasted pretty good at kegging.

The 1st ferment wasn't so routine because I don't think just dolloping large spoonfuls of the gooey sample they gave me was quite the correct procedure ...I'm so lazy.

This 2nd ferment however was using about 50ml of sediment that had settled under some cooled boiled water and been stored in my fridge. I DFS'd it and it took off like a rocket.

The samples using this yeast so far have been really to my taste, can't wait 'til the end of the month when brew 1 will be matured-ish , and I've got somewhere to keep them all now!

[spearmint-wino]

I've got super-kegerator-envy

[ECR]

Awesome

[richard_senior]

Why is the inside of the chest freezer stripped out?
Also, do you use an external thermostat, or have you modded the freezer thermostat? Also Do you have just lager in there?

[Aleman]

Why is the inside of the chest freezer stripped out?
Also, do you use an external thermostat, or have you modded the freezer thermostat? Also Do you have just lager in there?

That is a collar with polystyrene tiles stuck on for insulation as the cornii are too tall to fit . . . you can just see the silver interior of the freezer, by the right hand corny.

I suspect that there is a ATC in the gray box tot he LHS of the first picture

[richard_senior]

I have a 7.5 cubic foot chest freezer in the garage..
SWMBO has been banging on about how tedious it is going in the garage for peas, so I've told her I'll buy her a new fridge... HHEHEHEHEHEHHE.
But now I see that you've to make a collar for it, it's all looking a bit less certain, and now I've made the promise!

[bandit]

Nice one Si. Will you be able to fit this in the back of your car for next years party in Derby. It would seriously save the shoe leather on the fifteen mile pub crawl

[Aleman]

now I see that you've to make a collar for it, it's all looking a bit less certain, and now I've made the promise!

You can make a collar from some 2 by 4 . . . I found that two rectangles were all I needed to get the extra height (8") . . . . and of course with a collar you don't have to worry about hitting refrigerant lines when you drill the holes for the taps

[mysterio]

Awesome fridge Si!

[SiHoltye]

Thanks all.

Yes on all counts Aleman. I used furniture board from B&Q and the 4 corner brackets were from there. Draft excluder on the bottom edge and the rounded edge up. It's waiting for the paint to dry that took ages. Otherwise done in a day, easy (even with lots of firsts DIY'ing for me).

It's controlled for cooling only at the moment using an ATC800 - 13degsC . I only homebrew ales, because a) I haven't got the taste for lagers yet, b) I wouldn't dream of tying up my temp controlled fridge for weeks lagering, it's a 2 week primary turnaround for me at the mo.

Cheers Bandit, I didn't burn too much shoe leather on account of getting lost in pub No1 that night and starting a rebel tour without James , next year , but Sutton before then?

The brew is down to 1.024 from 1.045 in 38hrs.