Wadworth 6X

[tec-9-7]

I have brewed - and worked my way through about 1/3 of a corny-keg - my Wadworth 6X attempt...

Here is the recipe I went with:

18.9 l batch

200 g American 120° Crystal Malt
60 g Black Patent Malt

Steeped at 68° C for 30 minutes

2400 g Maris Otter LME
113 g Dextrose

90 minute boil

28 g UK Fuggles - 4.8 AAU 75 min
12 g UK EKG - 5.8 AAU 10 min

I am still not certain what happened on this batch, but the OG came out to a measured 1.033 when I topped up the fermenter. In a bit of a panic, I added another 375 g LME - this yielded only a bump to a measured 1.037. Even more desperate, I added the remaining 340 g of dextrose I had, and finally got the gravity up to an acceptable 1.043.

I used Wyeast London Ale III on this - pitched at about 16° C, and had an active ferment in less than 24 hrs. I've seen remarks that this yeast can blow up quite a head of krausen, however I never got more than about 30-40mm. The yeast DID take a full 2 weeks of primary and secondary before it dropped. The beer finished at measured 1.009.

In terms of the final product, it's quite good - nice toffee-ish notes at the front; decent balancing bitterness, but definitely a malt-forward beer. I was concerned about a thin/cidery character from the pound of dextrose, but it really is not present. What this beer didn't have was the biscuity flavor at the front that I was looking for. The local club had a meet this past weekend, and another brewer had brought a BB that DID have these characteristics. I am going to try this one again, however I'm going to add about 200 g of Victory malt to the steep, and switch to WLP002 for my yeast.

[jimp2003]

I think that the WLP002 will help bring more character and the Victory seems to be the right malt to give the biscuity taste you want. However I thought that victory needed to be mashed (according to the beersmith grain list HERE) so I not sure that you will get enough out of it just by steeping.

I like that you are able to get maris otter LME. One of the things I really admire about the homebrew suppliers over your side of the pond is the variety of extracts that are available.

EDIT: I see that according to the beersmith grains list the Belgian Biscuit Malt does not need to be mashed so it might be a better option if you can get your hands on it.....