3-06-09 summer beer

[delboy]

Have this in the boiler at the moment

5.5 Kg MO

mash at 65 C for 75 min

40g challenger @ 7 % 60 mins
20g EKG @4.5 % 30 mins
20g EKG @4.5 % 10 mins
20g EKG @4.5 % 1 min

Might dry hop with another 20g in the keg as well, already looking forward to supping this one in the sun

[Jymbo]

Looks tasty, Del. Hoping to do a summer brew myself over the next week. Good luck with it.

[delboy]

cheers Jymbo

[adm]

Sounds good, Del - hope you're not up too late with it (unless you're off work tomorrow!)

[delboy]

Yeah work tomorrow, its chilling at the moment so shouldn't be long now, hope i get finished in time to watch that prog about d-day on bbc2 starting soon.

[Cheshire-cheese]

What volume are you making?

[DarloDave]

challenger and EKG - a great combo

[delboy]

What volume are you making?

Sorry never seen this until now, 5G (i get crap efficency).

[delboy]

Had a taster from the fermenter, tastes great, just what i was looking for, need to get it kegged and bottled in the next few days.

[Cheshire-cheese]

Never mind the efficiency for now, it's tasting great and that's the main thing I love the first taste when you get an idea of the finished beer. I've only once had a taste from the fermenter and been worried. Rightfully worried it turned out; I had fermented at too high a temperature and the beer tasted sickly and a touch acrid.
Do you know what is reducing the efficiency of your mash?

[Jymbo]

Looks like about 43IBU,Del - that would be IPA territory - does it taste very bitter? Had a couple of bottles of St Peter's IPA out of ASDA last weekend - delicious. Was always fond of Marstons Old Empire but this was even nicer.

[delboy]

Looks like about 43IBU,Del - that would be IPA territory - does it taste very bitter? Had a couple of bottles of St Peter's IPA out of ASDA last weekend - delicious. Was always fond of Marstons Old Empire but this was even nicer.

It doesn't taste anything like 43 IBUs, in putting that down to the natural mellowness of the EKG and that fact that a lot of protein material went into the boiler from the mash, it kept sticking so i lost patience and didn't return the first runnings as diligently as i normally do.

I beleive that the protein concentration of the wort has a large bearing on hop utilisation, AFAIK (laymans terms) the excess protein binds to hop acids and decommisions them, hence why high gravity beers (with a higher conc of protein in the wort) have a lower utilisation (i think i have that right )

[delboy]

Never mind the efficiency for now, it's tasting great and that's the main thing I love the first taste when you get an idea of the finished beer. I've only once had a taste from the fermenter and been worried. Rightfully worried it turned out; I had fermented at too high a temperature and the beer tasted sickly and a touch acrid.
Do you know what is reducing the efficiency of your mash?

Its a bit of a mystery i wish i could get to the bottom of it, its a pain when recreating recipes i see on here, i have to recalculate to compensate for my naff efficency.