Home Brew Forum

I am planning on brewing Marc Ollosson'S RA tomorrow prepared all the ingredients and set up ready for an early start as possible and getting as per normal excited

Maris otter 4555g
Crystal Malt 495g
Torrified Wheat 440g

Challenger Hops 6.2% 56G 90 mins
Goldings Hops 10g 15 mins

However the stated Bittering units are 28

I like my ales to have a good bitter taste but I feel that 28 will not suit my tastes.

What would be recommended on increasing the IBU for this brew

Good luck for the brew day B
I've found all MO's brews to date to be belters

On the subject of IBU's here's my expreience. With my first few brews, Styrian Stunner and Broadsword for example I used a bittering level that suited me ie, +40 even +50.
I've recently done the same brews, this time as per recipe, as SWIMBO didn't like the bitterness in the originals.
I find these new brews tasteless/insipid and I won't be drinking them

IMO adjust your brew to suit your taste. The extra bitterness may throw the recipe out of balance but so far I haven't experienced this.

If your trying to brew a clone, brew the recipe as per instructions, if your trying to brew to your taste adjust the IBU to suit

Thanks Vossy
Like you a +50 english bitter IBU is my liking and at a guess I am going to increase my Challenger to 80grms
In a hope to reach my target

ive made a couple of brews that dont taste of much... can you refer me to a shop bought beer that i can get today with ibu of 40-50 to see how big a difference it is so i can consider upping...

That should get you a right hoppy beer! Enjoy your day and remember the photos

retourrbx wrote:ive made a couple of brews that dont taste of much... can you refer me to a shop bought beer that i can get today with ibu of 40-50 to see how big a difference it is so i can consider upping...

Ruddles county had a high IBU rating if I remember, I think you can still get it from Tesco.

Edit: Oooops sorry folks! spelling mistake corrected.

Just had a look in BYORAAH, Ruddles county is down as 38 EBU, not quite as hoppy as I seem to remember then.

Jimberbob wrote:Ruddles c*nty

One of my personal favourites too JB Feel free to remove the post if it offends but it did make me titter!

It's been one of those days today J_P.
I had a medical this morning for my HGV licence and managed to fill it all out wrong, I put the date in as 1974 and couldn't remember my telephone number
I didn't even have a drink last night.
I'm going to have several now though.
I hope I haven't caused any offence.

Jimberbob wrote:I hope I haven't caused any offence.

None caused here JB, although I did manage to spit bits of bacon sandwich at the monitor!

Sorry I did not take any photo's
But I am particularly pleased with my mash unn.
This is a standard cheap Wikingson cool box modified by removing the insulation drilling holes at appropiate postions and Filling with standard gap filling , foam found at most DIY shops.
But I would recommend supporting the inside to maintain the shape, it can be distorted and reduce the amount of gain and liqueor.
6kgs + water is about the max.


This is it in action. Average loss over several brews 1C. I also place towels over for the duration.

The lid showing drilled holes


Inside lid showing sparge arm

As can be seen the Lid is kept in place during sparging maintaining the surface temp of the grain bed.
I sparge until 0.000 from the MT .when cooled to 20oC in the region 1.015 - 1.020
I then make a decision whether to gain more liquor.
This current brew final quantity was too much for the standard white bucket.
Place in larger FV after adding water to bring it to 1.052
This is the filter /strainer at the base of the MT and to date have a quick run off with out any stuck mashes.
Unlike my earlier days when all sorts of problems occurred
Hope this is of interest