Next AG - brewing with what's in the cupboard.....

[adm]

All,

I've got some MO, some optic Malt and some Crystal here, plus 100G each of EKG, Bobek and First Gold hops.

My last two brews were from recipes from the BarleyBottom site, but for the next one, I want to play around myself and see what comes out! Planning to KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid!) this time as i don't have the experience yet to predict what complex recipes will do to the taste of the beer!

I'm thinking of this as the next brew:

"Limping Lurcher"
8-C Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)

Size: 23.0 L
Efficiency: 72%
Attenuation: 76.2%

Original Gravity: 1.051 (1.048 - 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.012 (1.010 - 1.016)
Alcohol: 5.06% (4.6% - 6.2%)
Bitterness: 44.75 (30.0 - 50.0)

Ingredients:
5 kg Optic Pale Ale Malt
0.5 kg British Crystal 55°L
40 g First Gold (8.3%) - added during boil, boiled 90 min
20 g First Gold (8.3%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
15 g First Gold (8.3%) - added during boil, boiled 1 min
12 g Danstar Nottingham


Any idea whether this recipe would work well or wether I'd be better off subsituting ingredients for something else. I've also got treacle, golden syrup and maple syrup in the cupboard and was thinking of maybe adding 250g of one of those to the boil to boost the alcohol a bit.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,


Alasdair

[Aleman]

Alisdair,

Leave that recipe as it is, it looks fine to me Adding sugar will thin it a bit and help to possibly compensate for the taste of the crystal but I'd go with your first thought TBH.

[adm]

Ta. I'll probably keep it "as is" then....simple, honest beer - with nowt added or taken away!

As a matter of interest, what's the typical taste difference between MO and Optic malts? Would I be right in saying that the Optic produces a paler, lighter tasting beer? If I was to leave the Crystal out, do you think it would be overly pale and lacking in taste ?

[adm]

Well, I paid a visit to the Hog's Back Brewery shop today and came away with a half kilo of their Fuggles hops and a bit more Crystal and Chocolate malts (not to mention quite a few pints of their Summer Ale and a few other choice bottled beers)

The hops are just in a carrier bag, whereas my other hops (EKG, First Gold and Bobek) are nicely vac packed and in the freezer, so I think it makes sense to have a go at the Fuggles first, then freeze the rest of them.

I've also got Maris otter and Optic malts in - but the last two brews were both MO, so I fancy using the Optic to see what that's like. I'd like to brew a fairly light, summery ale - around 4.5 to 5% ABV

I'm also going to pull the brew day forward from Sunday to tomorrow as I racked my Northown Wonder to secondary last night, so now have my main FV free to use....and there's no time like the present.

So my thoughts are going this way:

5Kg Optic Malt
0.5Kg Crystal Malt
50g Fuggles 90 min
30g Fuggles 15 min
20g Fuggles 1 min

Plus either S04 or Nottingham dry yeast ( I have both, but haven't tried using Nottingham before)

What do you guys think? Beer Tools says this will come out around 1047.

Would you make any changes or additions - and how does the Nottingham yeast compare to S04?

Thanks,

Alasdair

[SiHoltye]

Of the two yeasts, perhaps S04 would be the one in a Best Bitter style.
I've made 2 bitters with Notts and it doesn't contrubute rather takes away. True it does it's job quick and well, but S04 does the same and gives a hint of fruity-esque-ness which might be appropriate here.
Good luck and happy brewing! I'll be passing the Hogs Back Brewery loads in July, think I'll leave my credit card there . Bottled beer, bright beer, and ingredients. Marvellous!

[adm]

Thanks for the tip on the yeast.

As for the Hogs Back Brewery - they've got a great little shop there - they must have at least 300 bottled beers, from all over the UK ad in fact, the world!

For their ingredients, it's a short list, but a good one - they just go out back to their stores and grab what you want in a carrier bag. Today they had:

MO Malt: £2.95 per 3kg was listed - not sure if they do a better price if you buy a sack.
Crystal - can't remember the price but lots less than H&G
Chocolate - ditto

Fuggles Hops £2.95 for 250g
East Kent Goldings Hops: £2.95 for 250g.

And then of course there's the bright beer...... I'm now drinking their Summer Ale and it's a lovely drop.

[Bionicmunky]

Thanks for the tip on the yeast.

As for the Hogs Back Brewery - they've got a great little shop there - they must have at least 300 bottled beers, from all over the UK ad in fact, the world!

For their ingredients, it's a short list, but a good one - they just go out back to their stores and grab what you want in a carrier bag. Today they had:

MO Malt: £2.95 per 3kg was listed - not sure if they do a better price if you buy a sack.
Crystal - can't remember the price but lots less than H&G
Chocolate - ditto

Fuggles Hops £2.95 for 250g
East Kent Goldings Hops: £2.95 for 250g.

And then of course there's the bright beer...... I'm now drinking their Summer Ale and it's a lovely drop.

I feel a 45min drive coming on, my local micro (Rebellion) said they wouldn't sell ingredients to Joe public(spoke to some woman on the phone).

[adm]

They will also give you some of their yeast - o charge, but you're expected to make a small donation to charity (don't know what charity, or how much).

They need advance notice for the yeast though - the bloke in the shop said to give them a call a couple of days in advance and the brewers would bottle some up and it would be in the fridge waiting for you.

There's also a good real ale pub near there that keeps Hop Back, Hog's Back and others on tap - the Prince of Wales in Farnborough so it's almost worth making it a day trip and doing a brewery tour as well.