House ale brewday 3-11-07

[delboy]

Was toying with the idea of doing hookey street but i don't have all the ingredients so im falling back on my House ale for today. Going to fire up the boiler and tune into 5 live for the Man U arsenal game .

Marris otter 4.375 Kg
Vienna malt 1.125 Kg
Crystal 120 (E.B.C) 0.3 Kg
Belgian aromatic 0.125 Kg

Mash at 66 C for 75 mins.

Not sure what the hopping schedule is yet i'll edit as i go along (i know its probably going to include EKG and have an IBU of 20-25)

Boil for 90 mins.

Ferment with nottingham.

I'll be trying out my new malt mill today (barley crusher) i'll report back on the crush etc.
The addition of belgian aromatic malt is to try and introduce some malty toffee like flavours (see my question in the all grain methods section). Not sure if this is the best way of acheving it, any feedback from my learned colleaugues on this would be appreciated

[prolix]

have a good one Delboy

[Vossy1]

Enjoy delboy

[delboy]

Not sure this brew is going to happen, the new design boiler tap i bought from H&G doesn't fit my H&G hop strainer.

Have finally managed to cobble together a working drum tap, now all i have to do is try and calibrate my crappy thermometer since the one H&G sent out with the tap on my last order had the alcohol bounced about all over the place and refuses to be fixed

Apparently water boils in my house at 104-105 C

It'll be interesting to see what temp water melts at in the 'laws of physics' free house

[delboy]

Some piccies

Choose your weapon





The Barley crusher about to be tried out





The all important crush, what do you think?

[iowalad]

Looks like my crush with the barley crusher.

[Vossy1]

Looking good db
That shiny keeps staring at me especially with the present exchange rate.

How easy was it to use

[oblivious]

Looken good

[delboy]

Looking good db
That shiny keeps staring at me especially with the present exchange rate.

How easy was it to use

Sorry for not replying before now, the mill worked like a dream, put the drill on it and it went through about 5 Kg of grain in a minute or so, im pleased with it and the crush (no sign of a stuck sparge).

As for the brew 5 odd gallons at 1053 (the refract is a good job right enough).
A few more piccies since i know people like piccies

The boil


The wort, darker than my usual house ale since i used 120 crystal instead of 60 EBC in the hope of getting a bit more caramel/toffee flavor.

[iowalad]

The wort suggests a successful day of brewing!
Glad to hear the crusher worked well for you.

[delboy]

Just tried this, after all that i said before that i would never be bitten twice with lightstruck/skunked beer i've gone and done it again

Seriously peeved as this beer was going to account for a large chunk of my xmas beer (was also going to use it for the brew swap).

Previous tastes of this had been excellent (hence why i was prepared to send it on for a beer swap), i had lifted it out from under the stairs and placed it in the kitchen for kegging/bottling. Something came up and i wasn't able to keg it that same night it was actually another two nights before i got round to it. I didn't sweat it though because i had covered it with a peice of cloth doubled up and anyway it was december how much UV could there be at this time of year As it turns out enough to render my beer undrinkable

I know other people seem to be able to ferment sans bin bags, merely pushing it out of the direct sunlight into the shadows, but any time i expose my fermenters i end up with fart flavoured beer. This is without doubt the last time i make that mistake from now on my beers will be kept in the dark.

[Vossy1]

Serious gutter DB
I think I've also been suffering from the same thing and I use double bin bags!!!!!!!!

I hope you've got reserve stocks for x-mas.

[subsub]

Bloody shame that Del

[delboy]

Cheers for the sympathy lads, some how makes it feel not so bad.

I suppose the only bright note is that about the only thing i could brew and be ready for xmas is another london pride, i wonder do i have the right malts

[steve_flack]

Bad luck - always a bummer when a beer turns to poo.

Luckily for me after my beer is chilled on brew day, it's in complete darkness apart from a few moments in the inside of a racking hose from conical to keg and a few minutes inside a glass from tap to gut.... .