Summer Lightning

[Hogarth]

My task for this evening: turn two bottles of Summer Lightning into 45 pints.



The yeast was taken from the bottles on Monday, started off in a 200ml starter then transferred to a 1 litre starter after a couple of days. I probably should have made the second starter bigger -- I didn't realise Summer Lightning had such a high OG. Still, there's a nice thick layer on the bottom of the flask.

Other ingredients include:

5.47kg Maris Otter
Challenger to 27 IBU for 90mins
Goldings to 14 IBU for 15mins

OG: 1050
Graham's Water Calc set to 'sweet pale ale'.


Filling the new HLT -- a £5 polypropylene box from the market.




Next task: turn drossy London water into brewing gold:


It'd be interesting if the Brixton police paid a visit. ('Yeah, pull the other one, son.')

Trying to get it into suspension:


The grain shot:


Bath time:


Despite all the CRS and salts, my PH is always too high. It's something I'm going to have to tackle:

[PEZ]

lol@brixton police!!! i was thinkin that this is good evidence that they have a legal use!!!!
i'm proper interested in seein how this all develops!! good luck dude!

[Hogarth]

Thanks Pez. No knock on the door yet.

This is my recirculating sieve. I prefer it to tinfoil because it doesn't sink:


25litres into the boiler and another five in jugs...


... the idea being to prevent a boil-over. Fat chance...




Right onto one of the kettle leads as usual.

Meanwhile I'm getting a flying starter going. Cooled wort from the boiler on the left and Summer Lightning yeast on the right.


The wort is tipped off the Summer Lightning yeast -- with a magnet to keep the stir bar in place. Crap photo, sorry:


Cooled wort tipped onto yeast, aerated and given a go on the stir plate.

[DarloDave]

you'll have to let me know how this turns out, in terms of being a clone brew. I did one using the recipe 57g Challenger (7%) 60 mins ,30g East Kent Goldings (4%) 15mins, 15g East Kent Goldings (4%) Steep. and just ising s04, so it will be interesting to compare.

[RabMaxwell]

I will probably start of some Summer Lightning yeast tomorrow to go into a 5 gallon brew followed by a 120 litre brew.I am a Summer Lightning yeast virgin so hopefully it will go well it might become my house yeast as i have read it has very good keeping qualities.

[Hogarth]

Thanks guys. I hope it's going to something like the real thing, though I just measured the OG and it was 1046 . And I only collected 21.5 litres, which would make my efficiency 60% instead of my usual 70%. What's going on?

Anyway...

The run-off



and all put to bed. I'm fermenting at 19°C.


Time for a midnight lasagna.

[subsub]

Well done on that H, SL is a cracking brew and the yeast is fantastic. Don't know why but the yeast seems better from Spring Zing. I don't seem to do much work to get it going as Summer Lightning. Good luck with it chap

[Hogarth]

Thanks Subsub. I think I've read that it's easier to harvest yeast from lower-alcohol beer, and Spring Zing is 4.2% as compared to 5% for Summer Lightning. But as far as I could tell the SL yeast was fairly active in the conical. I'll have to wait and see.

[Hogarth]

Yep, the airlock's ticking over nicely this morning, and it smells like summer already.

[PEZ]

i know its a sin to even mention kits in such a thread but i'm a proper novice!
i dont suppose theres any reason why you couldnt use this yeast in a kit is there?

[Hogarth]

Hi Pez. I think you can -- I've never heard of a yeast being suitable for AG only. Of course someone more knowledgeable may come along and me.

It's giving off a distinctly bready smell at the moment, like fresh dough. I can't wait to try it.

[HG]

I collected the yeast from 2 summer lightenings and its now fermenting its fourth brew on the trot.
I found it has a very clean, crisp quality.

I did also halve one brew into using hopback and SO4. As you might expect the SO4 was quicker to attenuate and went lower than the hopback leaving a sweeter taste in the hopback brew. Both were very clear as well but for some reason the hopback batch wasn't as clear as the SO4. i'm not sure why

[leigh1919]

great pics and story mate, very informative for novices like me!!

[Hogarth]

Thanks Leigh, I'm glad it's helpful. I couldn't swear that everything I do is correct, mind you ... but at least my beer usually tastes like beer.

[NickK]

Looks good.

A Mac user too - I just got Beer Alchemy yesterday. I'll post up how I get on with the next AG based on using it.