Aurora Stunner 08.11.08 with photos

[Bazil]

I paid Paul at Barley Bottom a visit last night to picked up a load of hops, never tried Aurora before so here goes.

46L at 83% efficiency 90 min boil and mash first 5L to be caramelised.

Mash at 67C
7.95 Kg Marris Otter
62g Aurora 90 min 5.8% 21.2 IBU
36g Aurora 15 min 5.8% 5.7 IBU
Protafloc Tablets x2 15min

30g Aurora 5.8% at 80c steep for 20 min

Wyeast 1469

O.G 1045 F.G 1011
27 IBU

Starter


more photos to follow on the day

[Horden Hillbilly]

Good luck with your brew, the yeast starter looks great, nice & lively.

[Garth]

Aurora is a great hop, and being the only hop in that brew it'll let you taste exactly what they are like.

[subsub]

Aurora is a nice hop, I think you'll like it. Loving the flask though

[fivetide]

Single hop brews are a brilliant idea and this one will be a great test of Aurora. I must do more single hops myself in the new year once I hear all about your brew!

[booldawg]

Funnily enough I'm drinking a Deuchars IPA clone whilst reading this which is heavy on the Aurora. It has a definite pronounced elderflower aftertaste to it.

[Bazil]

Bit of a late brewing session today I was called into work this morning, lucky for me I'd only weighed out the grain. Thanks for your replies chaps I was starting to get a little worried about using just Aurora. The other half does like the taste of elderflower too; one of her favourites is Abbydales Absolution so hopefully I’ll be onto a winner here.

The flask was from some chap on E-bay only cost £3, but the yeast I'm using is from a batch of 1469 I got this time last year, it's been in the fridge with all the others and it was off like a rocket to my surprise after spending all that time in the fridge.


Pre heating the mash tun, it's a 40L Nordic, really wish I'd gone for a larger one but it's all they had at the time.


Water starting to reach strike temp


Grain bill 7.95Kg Maris Otter with 16gm DLS


Mashing with 17L of water at 76.2C


Temp


And a bit of extra insulation


3 Equal batch sparge, hope Santa brings me that pump I asked for


Warming up


Hops from Paul at BB


First 4L Caramelised down to 400ml


Boil hops in and 40g DLS, pre boil 1040 I only added 1.5L of the 3 missing, the other 1.5L will be made up from the starter.


More Hops added at 80C for 20 min


Break matter


Still light even though I caramelised the first runnings


Into the ferment or


I ended up with 48L at 1.047, never mind it's close enough and it smells great.


24h into the fermentation


Cheers
Barry

[Garth]

good pictures Bazil, you've been busy

I like your temperature probe, was it expensive and where did you get it?

[Bazil]

Hi Garth,

The probe came with the C22, it was from midlandinstruments on E-Bay £39. According to the Comark website a whole range of probes can be fitted to it.

[mysterio]

Cracking pics, looks like a landlord-ish with Aurora?

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out

[yashicamat]

Any news on this one? I too have a bag of Aurora from Paul which will be seeing some use soon!

[Kristoff]

Hi Bazil, great looking brew - may be next on my to do list
When you caramelize the wort, at what stage do you put it back in?
Also, do you think this recipe would work with First Gold?

[Bazil]

Hi,

Not much news yet I’m afraid, it was barrelled on the 17th with an extra 15g and from tasting a sample it’s very similar to Styrian but with a more mellow citrus flavour but a stronger floral aroma, to be honest from the sample I prefer Aurora to Styrian but that’s just my opinion.

I put the caramelised wort in at the beginning of the boil, but it might have been better to put it in say half way through. You can taste it but only very slightly, that might change when it’s ready to drink. I don’t know if it would work with First Gold, I’ve only ever used it in darker beers I’m sure it would be nice though.

I’ll be drinking it young on the 3rd Dec and I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Cheers
Barry

[yashicamat]

Looking forwards to hearing how it turns out in December then Barry! My Aurora beer is on hold as I am planning a honey porter to do this coming weekend.

[Carpking]

I just got some Aurora hops from Paul.
I made a brew the following day:

4kg Maris Otter
40g Auroa 60 mins
15g Aurora 15 mins

Slurry from the ale i just kegged.

Pretty close match, though on a smaller, more simple, newbie scale.
Cant wait for it to be ready.