Allendale Wolf extract brew

[barl_fire]

One of my very favourite beers so seeing as I've just started extract brewing I've been very keen to see if I can knock something up similar.

Goes something like

200g Dark Crystal Malt + 100g Pale Wheat Malt given a 30 minute mini-mash at 66 degrees. Sparged and added to boil
3kg pale DME
25g Challenger 90 min
20g Willamette 15 min
1 Protofloc tablet 10 min.
Final volume 20 litres.
Actual OG 1.055 (predicted OG 1.056 final 1.013=> 5.5%ABV).
Pitched with Nottingham.
28EBU
38EBC

Got it in the FV now, wort is a wee bit lighter in colour than anticipated, but seems to have a nice level of hop bitterness from the Challenger, which seems about right. The Willamette smelled divine when I put them in near the end of the boil, very blackcurranty! Fingers crossed

[far9410]

hi what is a protofloc tablet, what does it do? thanks

[barl_fire]

Hi it's a copper fining like Irish Moss used to help clear the beer, promotes the proteins dropping out of the wort during the boil. Comes in a handy tablet form that fizzes about and dissolves when you chuck it in the boil, very easy to use.

[barl_fire]

Dry hopped this tonight with an other 20g of Willamette, smells amazing. Colour wise it's not gonna be as dark/red as Wolf, this is looking more dark copper coloured. Might have to bump up the Dark Crystal Malt next time and maybe try some Carared too.

[potatoes]

How did you do the mini-Mash? Do you have all the equipment or did you improvise?

[barl_fire]

How did you do the mini-Mash? Do you have all the equipment or did you improvise?

Just in a pan on the hob with a thermometer, was surprised how easy it was to keep a stable-ish temperature between about 65 and 68 degrees over the 30 minutes.

This is clearing nicely in the keg. Colour-wise it's nowt like Wolf, deep amber like Smugglers or Nelson's Revenge. Flavour-wise there's more depth to it, maybe slightly more bitter, however the hop aroma is very similar, which I'm pretty chuffed about.

It's head and shoulders above any kit brew I've ever done, best brew I've ever done. I'll definitely be using this recipe as a base to tinker further.

Put it this way, I've brewed my last kit

[potatoes]

sounds good. I think I might have to take the leap of faith into a mini mash myself. Did you follow the Howtobrew.com instructions?

[barl_fire]

sounds good. I think I might have to take the leap of faith into a mini mash myself. Did you follow the Howtobrew.com instructions?

go for it. No I used the extract link at the top of the page here as a guide.

Changed the name of this particular brew given it looks nowt like Wolf. I'm calling it Splendor Solis ESB which is way more appropriate. Nearly a week in the keg and it's almost clear