First AG brewday: Hobgoblin (with link to pics)

[Ska_J]

Here's my first attempt at AG from 21/03/2009. My thanks to everyone contributing to the forum for making this possible!

It is based on this Hobgoblin clone recipe by Orfy:

viewtopic.php?t=2785

I'm not too fussed at this stage about it being like the original, so deviations from that were not a concern. Mashed at 66, rather than 68, and it was with s-04. The only real issue I had was a complete failure from my boilers hop filter- It let practically nothing through. I therefor did a mixture of syphoning, blowing through a tube back up the boiler tap, and 'decanting' via another fv with a hop bag over the tap. At the time it felt like I might as well have been sticking my head in the boiler, sucking up the whole lot in mouthfuls and spitting it into the fv, but I'm hoping by some miricle to have avoided any infections.

It ended up 1.048 with 25l, and had got down to 1.017 three days later. I had to do some agitation on day 4 and give it a bit of heat from a heat belt to persuade it to keep going, but that seems to have done the trick and it was bubbling slowly but surely this morning.

I've got to say, the samples tasted amazing already. I could have gone back for a pint of it! (I'm hoping this means I've avoided infection, unless its some stealthy ninja infection that waits till you're least expecting it...)

Pics are not of the quality I would have liked as my camera batteries were flat. I had to turn it on for every picture and take it before the camera realised I still hadn't replace them. Eventually it gave up turning on. They can be found here

Anyway, I can't wait for this to be ready! Think I may have to get a third keg and get another one going too, perhaps an oatmeal stout- I've heard good things!

[farmhousekeg]

Nice one Ska - I'm sure your beer will be fine despite going via your mouth BEFORE fermentation! If it didn't develop an infection by now then the "yeasties" have taken over and squashed any lurking bugs imo. Looking at your pics - is that a 10 gallon H&G boiler with the infamous H&H hop strainer??? If so, that's what I use and I had exactly the same blockage prob' on my first AG. I was delving into the boiler up to my elbows unblocking it and got all kinds of trub and stuff in the FV. Good news is that the beer tastes superb and cleared perfectly. I also made modifications to my strainer based on advice from the good souls on here. You can see my efforts at this link:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19921

Now that you have done one AG brew I can guarantee you will be hooked! I am about to start my seventh AG since late January! I just keep thinking of new beers to try out! Most of it still in storage I hasten to add! Cheers............

[Eadweard]

At the time it felt like I might as well have been sticking my head in the boiler, sucking up the whole lot in mouthfuls and spitting it into the fv, but I'm hoping by some miricle to have avoided any infections.

You should be OK - normal mouth bacteria are Gram-positive and so killed by the isomerised alpha acids from the hops.

[Ska_J]

Thanks farmhousekeg,

I hasten to add that while I felt like I was 'mouth syphoning' the wort, that was not literally the case. I think I successfully drank through the difficulties (in a non-alcoholic sense), but what at first is an intriguing hint as to what the final beer may taste like, quickly becomes a bit too much like hard work. It is indeed a H&G boiler, and I will definitely be doing some drilling this weekend!

7 AGs since late January?! Impressive. I have several days holiday to take through April, so I guess I could fill them all up with brews! Its the cost of all the kegs that is my concern though, and having moved away from bottling I'm not sure I could go back to doing more than half a dozen or so for transporting to friends and relatives.

Eadweard- Interesting! I also swigged on a bottle of rum before the whole farcical process- Partially in the hope of killing off some bacteria, mainly to get myself through the experience (ok, so the drinking through the difficulties thing wasn't entirely non-alcoholic!)

J

[farmhousekeg]

Thanks farmhousekeg,

I hasten to add that while I felt like I was 'mouth syphoning' the wort, that was not literally the case.

Yeah, I realised that when I re-read your post! Nice touch with the rum though - any excuse!

[Chiltern Brewer]

Look like you had a pretty good first attempt at AG!

Also that building has lots of potential...

What's odd is that my boiler's hop strainer is a 6" piece of 22mm copper tube with just 7 slits in it and so far in 6 outings it's never blocked on me?

[Ska_J]

I recon the hop strainer issue must be a combination of things, as a lot of people seem to suggest this only happens once in a while. Hope you continue that 6 brew streak without blockages anyway Chiltern, the whole thing made the day much more stressful!

On a side note, I opened up some bottles of extract brew at my parents over weekend, and they were no-where near as good as the beer from the keg. What is going on here? I knew there could be a difference between bottles and keg, but I think this might be something more. I realise now I've had this in the kits I did too. Its a harsh, sharp taste. I thought it was the 'extract' taste before, but it is not in my kegged version. At first I thought it was just that the hops were more prominant, but I'm not sure about that any more. Any thoughts?

[bevanjon74]

Nice one Ska, I did my first AG on Sunday, also a Hobgoblin clone... its great fun isn't it..the culmination of all the building kit, worrying if it works, and worrying if you really do understand it all...
Are you like me and itching to do another straight away?
BJ74

[Ska_J]

Yep can't wait to another bevanjon! My main constraint is not having another Keg (easy enough to fix), and then finding the time of course. Its a bit of a lengthy process at the moment, particularly when things get clogged up! Plus I also need to mark volumes on my boiler because, the way round I did it, I heated up my mash, top-up, and batch sparge water seperately due to having to measure the quantities out first- not efficient!

If your Hobgoblin is anything like mine then it'll be tasting good enough to drink (if you get a bit over-excited, like me) by Wednesday! I've had to do some agitating and heating to keep it going though, I'm down to around the 1.014 mark so am really hoping for a little more work out of those yeasties before I shift this brew anywhere.