I will copy across what is already there and add to it as things develop.
First things first, the recipe:
Captain Ted's Hand Bomber
13A. Dark Mild
Recipe Specs
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Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 3.600
Total Hops (g): 34.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.038 (°P): 9.5
Final Gravity (FG): 1.009 (°P): 2.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 3.78 %
Colour (SRM): 23.3 (EBC): 45.9 (79.2 Post Boil)
Bitterness (IBU): 18.4 (Tinseth)
Balance: (BU:GU): 0.48
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 80
Boil Time (Minutes): 90
Grain Bill
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2.952 kg Mild Malt (82%)
0.360 kg Crystal 120 (10%)
0.180 kg Chocolate (5%)
0.108 kg Wheat Malt (3%)
Hop Bill
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12.0 g Challenger Leaf (11.5% Alpha) @ 90 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
12.0 g East Kent Golding Leaf (5.2% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
10.0 g East Kent Golding Leaf (5.2% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (0.4 g/L)
Misc Bill
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23.0 ml Brewers Caramel @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
3.0 g Irish Moss @ 10 Minutes (Boil)
Single step Infusion at 67°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with WLP022 - Essex Ale (76% Attenuation)
Recipe Generated with BrewMate
The only changes I made were the addition of a little wheat malt and I think? A dry hop of Goldings to the cask. Anyway, on to the brew day:
The first picture is the starter I made to grow the yeast 4 days beforehand.
One of the liqour heating up to 75 deg/c:
I seem to be missing the mash picture come to think of it.
This picture is at some point during the sparge:
And this is during the boil:
A picture of my very heath robinson chiller and yeast starter added to fresh wort:
These pictures are during chilling, hydrometer reading, sampling and after the yeast has been pitched:
A picture 20 hours into fermentation, remained like that pretty much up until racking:
And the big day!
Racked and gravity checked today 1.010, 2 points above final as needed. 6 bottles and one pin out of it and a litre of yeast cake for the next brew.
Step 1: Heated 25 litres of water to 75 deg/c for hot soak.
Step 2: Sterilise the keystone, bottle caps and shive.
Step 3: Fill the pin with hot water and add oxi, hot soaked for 10 minutes.
Step 4: Sterilise everything else.
Step 5: Drain and rinse pin thoroughly then sanitise.
Step 6: Fill her up! And the bottles too.
And lastly: Dry hops in, shive in and caps on. Job done and just to clean up.
The hydrometer reading, don't be fooled as my test tube is wonky.
Now it's just a nervous 2 week wait to see if it's all be worth it or I end up with 20 litres of oxidised beer. Time will tell!
I hope you enjoyed my little slice of brewing heaven and I genuinely cannot wait to add the first photographs of losing my cask tapping virginity!
