Long Summer Nights - Tue 15/04/08 (Evening Brew)

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Wez

Long Summer Nights - Tue 15/04/08 (Evening Brew)

Post by Wez » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:29 am

With a bit of luck [-o< I'll be brewing tonight, I want to do something that will be a refreshing pale drink, not too stong (~4%) with lots of hop flavour and aroma.

I want a session beer that I can enjoy quite a few of in the evenings when we have a BBQ.

This is what I've come up with, any suggestions for improvements greatfully recieved :D Maybe I should dry hop this one :-k

I've not decided what to ferment with yet, I have s04 and US-05, I might go with the US-05 as I believe it gives a nice crisp/clean flavour :?

Brewlength : 25 L
Target OG : 1.042 (75% brewhouse efficiency)
Target IBU : ~35
1 Hour Mash 66 degrees
1 Hour Boil

Grains
4300gm Pale Malt, Fawcetts Marris Otter 92.5%
200gm Torrified Wheat Grain 4.5%
150gm Crystal Malt - 60L 3%
Hops
48gm Northdown [7.90 %] (60 min) Hops ~35 IBU
30gm Cascade [5.40 %] (15 min)
30gm Cascade [5.40 %] (0 min) (Steeped for 1/2 hr from 80 degrees)
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fivetide

Post by fivetide » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:33 am

Looks interesting. I'm thinking of doing something similar, maybe tomorrow night, only with Amarillo instead of Cascade, but I have Northdown.

Why would this recipe have a 60 minute mash and boil? The other recipe I was considering (Townes/Titanic) has a two hour mash and a 90 minute boil but seems to promise a similar ale in some ways?
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roger the dog

Post by roger the dog » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:34 am

Looks good to me Wez, I do like those cascades, have a good 'un 8)
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Wez

Post by Wez » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:43 am

Why would this recipe have a 60 minute mash and boil? The other recipe I was considering (Townes/Titanic) has a two hour mash and a 90 minute boil but seems to promise a similar ale in some ways?
I'm experimenting at the moment with shorter mash and boil times to try to reduce the impact brewing has on family life, so far it's going OK the first two brews that I have mashed for 1 hour have hit my target OG spot on and the 1 hour boil doesn't seem to have been to the detriment of hop utilisation (according to my taste buds :lol: ) I have used fractionally more hops than I would of course using Beersmith to calculate the qty I need for a 60 min boil to get the IBU I want.

In short - so far I haven't noticed a difference compared to 90 min mash/boil

That could all change tonight though :shock: :lol:
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mysterio

Post by mysterio » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:48 am

I might be in the minority here but my preference would be for the SO4, because of the lower gravity it would leave a little bit of body and sweetness to balance the bitterness from the Northdowns and the citrus from the Cascades. If the gravity was over 1.050 i'd probably switch back to the US-05. It's all personal taste though, good luck with it :)
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Wez

Post by Wez » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:52 am

Cheers Mysty, thats interesting :-k
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fivetide

Post by fivetide » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:53 am

What's the thinking about the little bit of crystal over the Townes? Does thta just add colour?
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Wez

Post by Wez » Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:00 am

I've not seen the Townes recipe, I came up with the grain bill by tweaking another recipe that I have for a beer I called Randy Sparrow, I just wanted something paler than that. 8)
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fivetide

Post by fivetide » Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:03 am

Excellent - I'll see how you get on tonight then.

I'm not sure whether to do a one hop pale citrus ale or do what you've done here and use a different bittering hop and save the citrus hops for powerful late additions.

Why Northdown Wez, is a just a clean crisp base for the Cascade?
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Wez

Post by Wez » Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:15 am

Why Northdown Wez, is a just a clean crisp base for the Cascade?
Yep, thats exactly it, I was going to use Cascade but I think the Northdown might be a bit of a cleaner taste.

Edit : I meant Challenger #-o
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Wez

Post by Wez » Tue Apr 15, 2008 3:59 pm

The mash is on, relegated to the utility room for this one, I don't mind really - I'm nearer the beer kegs in there and I get a good garden view :D
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Vossy1

Post by Vossy1 » Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:11 pm

Have a gooden Wez :wink:
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Wez

Post by Wez » Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:52 pm

Done and dusted - 25L at 1.040 so missed target OG by .002 not a big problem and I think I know why, I was short on malt and decided to use a 3kg bag that I had from the LHBS a while ago and make up the rest of the weight with the 'good stuff' :oops:

Pitched s04 so if it makes it's normal 73% attenuation i'll have a beer that is ~3.9%, I'm happy with that.

The cascades smelt fantastic, the sample i took to read the SG tasted great 8)

Looking forward to this one in a few weeks time, hopefully with a bit of sunshine and a BBQ :D
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AT

Post by AT » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:08 pm

Looking good there Wez, good call
on the yeast Mysterio :wink:
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kinnockthecat

Post by kinnockthecat » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:15 pm

Have a good one Wez
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