AG#052 - Channel Hopper

[SiHoltye]

Hello,

I want a best bitter with a sweeter caramel taste. Like Pride but deeper I thought. I've seen recipes with dark crystal in them but haven't seen anywhere to get that pre-crushed, also a beer I like uses 400EBC crystal and has the flavour I'm after. So looking at what grains are available I thought an addition of Special B my usual Best Bitter recipe might achieve this (hopefully). Called it Channel Hopper 'cos it's an English BB that borrows a little of Belgian malt from across the drink. Having brewed almost exclusively with 120EBC H&G supplied crystal and used that often as the only sweetness giver in BB's I was starting to feel a bit bored with the effect if all the interest came just from that.

Ingredients
23L, efficiency 83%, 90min mash @68°C, 90min boil, liquor = bitter
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.42 kg Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 92.00 %
0.19 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (120.0 EBC) Grain 5.00 %
0.11 kg Special B Malt (300.0 EBC) Grain 3.00 %
41.00 gm Challenger [6.60 %] (90 min) Hops 29.0 IBU
10.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.00 %] (15 min) Hops 2.0 IBU
1 Pkgs Slurry - Hopback Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile
Measured Original Gravity: 1.042 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.33 %
Bitterness: 31.0 IBU
Est Color: 17.9 EBC

I'm using reclaimed Hop Back yeast from SL bottles, and will repitch the slurry from this in an SL clone next I'll post back once it's ready.

[mysterio]

Hop Shop sell precrushed dark crystal, I buy it in 3 kilo bags.

Special B is some nice stuff too, though, pretty similar really

[SiHoltye]

Dumb of me, I should've asked here , cheers Mysty

[SiHoltye]

First time using Hop Back yeast.



I'll phone them today and ask if the agitate the fermenting wort in any way. Expect they might. Tastes very promising though.

[coatesg]

I'll phone them today and ask if the agitate the fermenting wort in any way. Expect they might. Tastes very promising though.

Yeah - it does sit on the top in a massive sticky mess. Good for skimming off for storing though Will be interesting to see how they treat their yeast in the FVs. You'll find the thick head reforms on top quickly after stirring it back in - I wouldn't bother myself - it's always seemed to ferment out whether I stirred it in or not.

[SiHoltye]

Just spoke to Steve at the brewery, he said that after pitching at not a particularly high rate they pump in sterile air (not O2) in to the fermentor for 20 mins of every hour for the first 12 hours, then let it rest for 12hrs. Then they do the same 4 times more - 20 mins in hour for the next 4 hours. After 48hrs he'd expect a 1.040 wort to have attenuated to 1.014.
He emphasised the importance of oxygen to their yeast during fermentation.

Thoroughly nice man.

So far each brewery I have pestered on the dog - Harvey's, Ringwood, Hop Back, have the fact they use a traditional brewery yeast and they 'rouse' in some way in common.

[SiHoltye]

I just bothered Tim Taylor to ask if/how they rouse during the ferment period. Said they'll phone me back. Phone's in me pocket now, hope they do...

[SiHoltye]

More phone calls... Hogs Back do rouse, their yeast is the Hook Norton strain, again a 'brewery yeast' of old.
Dark Star don't. They use a combo of US05, S04 and Nottingham - dried yeasts.

[SiHoltye]

Back to the brew and yes I should have taken a snap of the yeast before stirring back in but what I can say is it's the most space filling ferment I've had on a pale beer. The lid was being pushed up by the glutenous large bubbles of yeasty goodness before I stirred. Post stir it looks like this:

[steve_flack]

When I was on an Elgoods mini-tour they seemed to be rousing their fermentations by occasionally pumping wort out and spraying it onto the top.

[SiHoltye]

Black Dog...yum,

Just spoke to them

They use a multistrain originally for them from the now dead James Hole & Co Ltd - Castle Brewery, Newark-on-Trent. Last time they renewed it the Hole's was owned by John Smith's he said. He said it was a Yorkshire square type yeast - whatever that alludes to??? Said that I couldn't have a sample so don't ask...so I didn't, and that Ringwood might be a good approximation for us. For the Ringwood yeast deffo rouse...lazy blighter, though bother factor outweighed by fabbo taste IMHO.

[RabMaxwell]

Just spoke to Steve at the brewery, he said that after pitching at not a particularly high rate they pump in sterile air (not O2) in to the fermentor for 20 mins of every hour for the first 12 hours, then let it rest for 12hrs. Then they do the same 4 times more - 20 mins in hour for the next 4 hours. After 48hrs he'd expect a 1.040 wort to have attenuated to 1.014.
He emphasised the importance of oxygen to their yeast during fermentation.

Was this for the Hop-Back yeast SiHoltye

[SiHoltye]

Yep.

[Chappie519]

Im finding this thread comforting as when i was using the hopback SL yeast I was quite worried about the sticky mess on top. It did stick at 1020 but I feel it was due to really low temps that week.

They use a multistrain originally for them from the now dead James Hole & Co Ltd - Castle Brewery, Newark-on-Trent. Last time they renewed it the Hole's was owned by John Smith's he said. He said it was a Yorkshire square type yeast - whatever that alludes to??? .

A yorkshire sq is a type of fermentation vessal in which the active yeast rises onto a level above the fermenting wort. Wort can be pumped from below and sprayed over the yeast on top to assist attenuation. Their yeast has probably addapted to this type of system.

Hope that helps ya!

Chappie

[SiHoltye]

Thanks Chappie, your Yorkshire square yeast handling info ties in with what Mr Flack says he saw.