'Autumn Gold' a decent ale recipe!

[craft_ales_project]

My last two brews have utilised Simpsons Golden Promise pale ale malt, which I have found to be an excellent base malt. The secondary malt in this brew is Crisp's clear choice ale malt, and with the addition of 100g of roasted barley has given the ale a really deep red colour. I guess as a new brewer I've been searching for a consistent recipe for the classic English bitter. Whether or not I've achieved this is a matter of opinion of course, but I think I'm going in the right direction for once!
I'm a Severn Trent water user in the midlands, so water is conducive to brewing as far as I can ascertain! I've been on to their website to check the composition, but to my shame chemistry was not my leading subject at school, so it's pretty meaningless to me. I do use a carbon filter at around 5l per minute to fill the mash tun/vessel which may help? My hop additions are pellet form placed in a cotton/muslin bag to reduce the trub. O.G came in at around 1050 FG was 1015 so will likely end up at around 4.8 abv.
Oh yes, I used an ale yeast from crossmyloofbrew on eBay which produced a fast 3 day ferment, the brew being drinkable after around 5 days. The sediment was tightly packed at the bottom of the FV and has produced a highly drinkable beverage IMHO!

Mash volume 25l (67c 60 minutes/15 minutes 78c)

Boil volume 30l (60 minutes)

Final volume: c. 23l
Malt:
3Kg Simpsons Finest Pale Ale Golden promise
2Kg Crisp Clear Choice Ale Malt
100g Roasted Barley

Hops:
1st 60min. 100g First Gold
2nd 30 min. 80g Home grown East Kent
3rd 10 min. 100g Fuggles + 1/2 protofloc tab
Transfer fuggles bag to FV.

 

[cushyno]

It's good to read that you have a recipe that you enjoy and works for you.

I find all three hops good. First Gold is great for bittering as well as for a late hop with lots of flavour.

You seem to use a lot of hops. I'd be using 1/5th of the hops that you have in this recipe. Maybe using crystal rather than roasted barely (which can also be bitter) would give a smoother brew.

Thing is everyone knows what they like and it's great to put your own mark on a brew. Keep brewing the good stuff and enjoy

 

[Cestrian]

This style is called Irish red ale, I think, but usually with less hops.

 

[craft_ales_project]

It's good to read that you have a recipe that you enjoy and works for you.

I find all three hops good. First Gold is great for bittering as well as for a late hop with lots of flavour.

You seem to use a lot of hops. I'd be using 1/5th of the hops that you have in this recipe. Maybe using crystal rather than roasted barely (which can also be bitter) would give a smoother brew.

Thing is everyone knows what they like and it's great to put your own mark on a brew. Keep brewing the good stuff and enjoy

Thanks for your suggestions, duly noted. The reason I used the roasted barley was simply that I had some left over from a previous brew, which unfortunately went wrong due to the thermal cutout on my Mukshenk brew kettle deciding to fail! As for the hops, I do like hoppy brews myself, and am still experimenting with addition times and amounts. I started off using half packets etc and fiddling with sealing them, which I can do, but I like to order the exact amount for each brew so it's fresh each time, if that makes sense?

 

[craft_ales_project]

This style is called Irish red ale, I think, but usually with less hops.

That's a nice name; Irish red, yes I think it's descriptive of the style. Truth is I'm tapping it way before it's ready, but I live in the real world so needs must! If I were retired with plenty of cash I'd brew a batch a week at least, and have half a dozen kegs with which to age the beer, but as I say I have to live in the real world and take it as it comes. As long as I have decent ale I've brewed myself to drink I'm happy!