Dabbling in the dark side

[J_P]

Hi all

Following drinking a couple of really nice single hop variety pints from the Saltaire brewery last weekend. See:

http://www.saltairebrewery.co.uk/html/our_beers.html

I have hit upon the idea of mini mashing my own versions of the above beers, the purpose of this is 3 fold

1) To dip my toe in the world of AG brewing and see if it's for me
2) To learn about the different tastes each hop variety
3) To produce a fine summer beer (should have been at the top of the list!)

Before I give it a whirl there are a couple of things I'd like to ask you AG boys and girls please.

To ensure this is a fair test and the only differences between the beers are due to the hops I intend to keep the malt the same. On Daab's web page he recommends using 1.15kg Malt, what would be a suitable variety to use given that it's summer so we prefer our ales relatively light?

My next question would be seeing as this'll be my first try and I doubt that the mash efficiency will be up to scratch, how much do I bump the malt weight up by please?

Thanks

JP

[Frothy]

You really can't go far wrong with Goldings

Frothy

[mysterio]

I agree Maris Otter is probably your best bet, this alone will give a very pale summer ale.

Since you're looking for something light, I would keep your gravity around the 1.040 mark.

[J_P]

Daab - I'm not sure about target gravity but the kits I have brewed have all been around the 1.045 mark and the ones I've tried so far are tip top.

Frothy - I agree Goldings seem to be a really tasty hop we love the floral sensation in the back of the nose that they seem to give a beer.

Cheers (again) for your input

[J_P]

That's magic thanks, I'll get over to the H&G when we get back from holiday and pick up a bag or two of Maris otter malt then.

I have some east Kent goldings in the fridge which I intend to use. Can anyone else recommend a tasty aroma hop please.

These will be the first brews I've made from scratch so I guess that'll mean I'll have to think of good names for them

I'm thinking Golden Otter for the goldings beer!

[Garth]

Cascade?

[J_P]

Hi Folks

Firstly thanks for the stellar advice (as ever), I have been giving this some thought and wondered if the following might sound feasible to you.

Mash up 1.15kg of crushed maris otter according to Daab's mini mash technique and decant the resultant wort into a large container (my 25l fermenter) for safekeeping. Repeat this a further twice which would be good practice and I figured the (inevitably poor) wort produced in my first attempt would benefit from being diluted by the wort from the further two, hopefully better, mashes thereafter.

I would then take 1 third and boil up with EKG's, in line with Daab's instructions, and ferment. Then take the next third and boil up with fuggles and ferment; the last third would be boiled up with a combination of EKG's and fuggles and fermented.

Once fermented bottle and condition for six weeks then invite mates round for a tasting session where we can all pontificate about the relative merits of the different hop varieties!

If this sounds viable then there are further questions that I would be grateful if you could answer for me please.

If the above method is followed each beer would be brewed with the same wort however, how would I ensure that each brew had the same amounts of hops in by AA% (I think you guys call them EBU's)? How do I determine the EBU's of my favourite tipples to give me a starting point?

If you could either give me the formulae or point me in the direction of a calculator or URL that would be magic thanks.

Pols for the "War and Peace" post but this mini mashing has got me intrigued, who knows if I can get the hang of it and my good lady friend enjoys the fruits of my labour I may even be able to justify buying and AG set up!

[J_P]

I was actually intending on collecting 3 gallons of wort from 3 seperate mini mashes and fermenting these at the same time in three demijohns. Sorry if I didn't make this clear

I realise this will probably take the best part of a day however I have noticed you chaps calling it brewDAY opposed to my usual brewhalfhour
brewing with kits

[BarryNL]

I'm not sure what sort of results you will get fermenting and maturing such small quantities (1.6L). Beer benefits from being matured in volume to a certain extent, producing such tiny amounts may have a detrimental effect on the final outcome. Personally i'd exercise a little patience and try the different combinations in individual 5L batches.

Well, the guys over at Basic Brewing Radio have been doing a few six-pack brews with some reasonable success, so it looks like it works OK.

I'd be more concerned at the amount of effort to produce only 1.5 litres of beer. For about the same amount of work you can make a 20 litre batch.

[J_P]

Hi BarryNL

The main reason I am trying this method is to avoid having to shell out for a full AG setup before I know what I'm doing. I know it's going to take an age for three gallons but it will certainly be an education in the ways of AG

[J_P]

But aside from that my crazy scheme looks viable? I hope so.

Any ideas on the hops?

Cheers

[J_P]

edit:: Firefox is playing up and appear to have a duplicate post