Geordie Scottish Export - Yeasty goodness

[cbucket]

Just started a batch of Geordie Scottish Export. After 1 day all is well.

[cwrw gwent]

Looks lovely! Geordie Scottish Export is an excellent brew, quite subtle and good when served cool. Why have you brewed it so strong?

[BlackBag]

Geordie Scottish Export is indeed a tasty brew.
When I got back into homebrew last year it was the first kit I made, and to date still remains one of the tastiest. How it turned out so nice god only knows. I didn't have a clue about the more modern sensible ways of brewing so I just brewed it the way I would have done 20 years ago. Chucked it in the bucket with a bag of cheap white sugar, water in, provided yeast in, bingo. No hydrometer, no fannying about making sure everything was sterile, just chucked together and left. When nothing was happening with it after 3 weeks I discovered this very forum board and learnt a new pair of words, stuck fermentation. A good rousing, some warmth, and a spoon full of yeast nutrient later and away she went. 2 months after bottling it reached it's peak. Delicious. I've made Exports since that have tasted more commercial like, similar to a McEwans, but the memory of that first one has a special place in my heart.
I too am curious. Why have you made it so strong?

[Normski]

Geordie Scottish Export is indeed a tasty brew.
I've made Exports since that have tasted more commercial like, similar to a McEwans, but the memory of that first one has a special place in my heart.

Hi BlackBag
I quite fancy making something like a McEwans Export. What can you recommend? Cheers Normski

[cbucket]

Looks lovely! Geordie Scottish Export is an excellent brew, quite subtle and good when served cool. Why have you brewed it so strong?

I made a previous batch of "Geordie's Yorkshire Bitter" with 1kg of Brewing Sugar. I found it a bit on the weak side (for my taste). I think it worked out at about 4%.
I have been experimenting with various combinations of sugar with my various brews just to get a flavour for all the different combinations.

1st Brew - Geordie Yorkshire + 1kg Tate and Lyle (a little too bitter)
2nd Brew - Geordie Yorkshire + 1kg Brewing Sugar (definitely smoother but not enough body)
3rd Brew - Cooper's Stout + 1kg spray Medium spray malt ("There's really nothing more to say!")
4th Brew - Geordie Bitter + 3 tins of H&B malt extract (equates to 1kg Dry spray malt I think) - definite improvement on the taste over Brewing sugar. I really enjoyed this one and it seems to improve with age.
5th Brew - Scottish Export + 1kg brewing sugar, 2 tins liquid malt extract

I am not absolutely sure of the starting gravity (it's around 1050-1060 but I couldn't see exactly because the mixture was all frothed up after stirring.
I could have gone for 1 tin but I figured 'what the hell' . I probably should have used 0.5 kg sugar but I did not want the hassle of having a 1/2 open bag of sugar so I just
chucked the lot it. It may have been a mistake and be too strong but if I don't try it I'll never know.

It may work out a little strong but I just wanted to give it a try. I don't think maltose completely breaks down like sugar so hopefully the extract will just give the beer
the body plus make it a little stronger.

Anyway, it's mostly about experimenting at this stage for me. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[BlackBag]

Ay up Normski
Just been digging through my notes to find out which export came out like McEwans, it was the Perfect Pint Scottish Export (Muntons, so in theory should taste the same as the Geordie Export).
Anyhoo I knocked it together on Wednesday November 12th with 600g brewers sugar and 400g med DME. Also added 1 teaspoon of yeast food and heading compound. Yeast used was Munton's gold. OG1040. In my notes I mentioned I'd had an accident with it. "Screwing the top on the FV and the rubber inner seal fell in the brew. Had to wash arm and put in to retrieve". 24 hours later no signs of life so I added a teaspoon of yeast nutrient and gave the fv a shake. Another 24 hours later and it was bubbling away. That was the Friday night. By the Sunday night it was down to 1010 and virtually finished. Transferred to secondary on the Tuesday, bottled on the Wednesday.
Still got 1 or 2 bottles of this left (drinking one now actually) still tastes fine, but not as good as 3 months ago. Maybe my arm was the special ingredient
Cbucket, don't forget to keep us posted about how yours turns out.

[cbucket]

Bottled tonight. It smelt bloody gorgeous. I'll try my first one in a week and report back. I have plenty of cooper's stout to keep me going thought and a small amount of Geordie bitter (see sig.)

Thank you for the feedback.

[Normski]

Hi Black Bag
Thanks for the useful info. I'll make good use of this when i make one. Many thanks Normski

An good luck with your brew cbucket.

[cbucket]

Here is an update on the Scottish export. It's been about 1 month now since I bottled it. I sampled it at roughly weekly intervals. I did not like it much at first but it definitely improved with age. I also made a few mistakes, namely:

1. I did not realise that it was basically a pilsner (lager). I did not use the yeast that came with it but a packet of ale yeast I got from the homebrew shop. I am not sure how much this would have affected the outcome. Would the yeast that came with the kit have been lager yeast ?

2. I think that adding about 1.5 times the sugar/malt may have affected the overall balance of the drink. It's still very nice but it does not seem 'hoppy' enough. Perhaps a better strategy (if I wanted it strong) would have been to use 1kg (of sugar/malt) and just add less water (say 30pts instead of 40).

It's a very nice drink but not as nice as Coopers Stout. So far I have made six brews and I would put it 4th from bottom (where Coopers Stout is 1st). I think I will need to do another one at some point to do it justice - and use the Ronseal method*. Then I can make a fair comparison.

Just bottled a Coopers Dark Ale tonight (with 1kg of Dark Spray Malt). It smelt absolutely Georgeous.

Now I've got to wait two weeks (twooooooooo weeeeeks .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V17duGlHEYY). Can't wait.

* - do exactly what is says on the tin.

[cwrw gwent]

Hi cbucket,

Geordie Scottish Export is definitely an ale, even though it has a golden colour and I find it is good served slightly cooler than traditional bitter or mild. The yeast supplied would have been an ale yeast.

I think you're correct about the balance, though reducing the brew to around 36 pints might make it more drinkable - unless you like a bog standard Belgian type session ale at 6%!

Sounds like your brew has the potential to carry on improving. Thanks for the update.

PS bottling and then waiting to sample takes a lot of patience. I have five gallons of Burton Bridge Summer Ale bottled last Sunday that won't be ready for another week plus 40 pints of Muntons Yorkshire Bitter to be bottled on Bank Holiday. The Summer Ale is as clear as a bell and the Yorkshire Bitter smells lovely. Bet you can't wait for your first pint of Coopers Dark.