Erik The Anglophile's brewdays.

[Erik The Anglophile]

That's true I guess, although in winter here the main risk is the yeast being killed by freezing, spending a lot of time on a unheated cargo hold in a truck driving in sub -30c temps...
And dry yeast is a lot less hassle, I have found a good dry house strain for my Bri'ish ales, so why bother faffing with liquid you know?

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

The plan also is to start harvesting and washing yeast in the future, when I have better facilities for it.
Although that's more because I'm cheap...

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Batch #3 Best Bitter
Designed for a bit over 21L in the kettle and ~20L in the bucket.

Maris Otter 3.21kg 81%
T. Wheat 160g 4%
Crisp's Amber 160g 4%
Crystal 240ebc 120g 3%
Invert #3 320g 8%

Mashed at 66c/60 min
Boiled 90 min

32.9g Challenger 60 min
10.5g Challenger 15 min
21g Challenger 20min/80c
21g Styrian Goldings/Bobek 20min/80c

Final volume 22.7L vs estimated ~21.5
Est OG 1.042 actual 1.043
Est IBU 33, probably landed thereabouts as I did not calculate any IBU contribution from the hopstand.

This brew went reasonably well, from the numbers I got from my first larger batch and calculated on, I ended up a lot closer to the truth.
Still a little off on the boil off rate, but not by much, I think I have a somewhat accurate number to adjust down with now, for my next brew.
Will probably have to adjust my efficiency a little though, even though I ended up with a little over a liter more wort than anticipated my OG was a wee bit over, it seems since I started buying whole grain base malt and milling all malt myself, my efficiency has gone up a little from my usual 75%.
The only cockups this time was completely forgetting the protafloc... And when I had done my hopstand, I put my Thermometer in the kettle tilted against the side, only to hear that dreaded sound of something scraping against metal...
No worries though, Swedish Hillbillies come equipped with common sense, so I kept chilling and just used the IC to swirl around a little once in a while, and when the outside of the kettle felt room temperatured I considered it close enough to pitching temp.
It's sitting in the fermentor now, I checked this morning and no fermentation but some pressure was starting to build up, so something is starting to happen, will hopefully have a krausen coming tonight.
Well, let's see how this turns out, hopefully this will get me a little of that TT citrusy, floral hoppyness.
Taste test of this, the Brown Ale and the stout coming in a month or so, just need to get this batch done and conditioned, and my keg fridge ready.
Cheers!

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Took a gravity sample yesterday evening, and it had only gone down to 1.013. Although there was still a whole bunch of yeast in suspension, it did not taste completely finished and the pressure in the bucket seemed to rise back up rather fast after pouring the sample. The yeast I use can often be a little sluggish to ferment out that last bit, and I expect it to drop a few points more in the coming days. Plan to keg it on friday, should probably go back to my method of just letting it sit it's 2 weeks and just do a gravity check the day before kegging, but patience is hard to master...

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Kegged the bitter yesterday night, took a new gravity sample thursday.
It had gone down a little to 1.012, or more a tie between 012-011 but a wee bit closer to 12 for an abv of about 4.2% after the keg is conditioned.
Gonna check my glass immersion thermometer today, it is off by 2c but it's good to check for any changes.
"Recalibrate" my hydrometer (putting new electrical tape in the top until it is zeroed in 20c water) and mill grain i measured up earlier this week.
Then tonight I Will brew a dark mild, gonna use light muscovado with a dash of dark early in the boil to see if it is a better emulation of invert #3.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Another brew done yesterday, now I have the last one done to fill 4 kegs, might be a while until I brew next time.

#4 Dark Mild 15.5L batch to be put in a 12L keg.
Maris Otter 1930g 72%
Brown Malt (Crisp) 110g 4%
Crystal 220g 8%50/50 mix of 150/240 ebc
Wheat 110g 4%
Black Malt 50g 2%
Muscovado sugar 270g 10%, a mix of 8/10 light muscovado and 2/10 dark muscovado.
I realised my glass thermometer has gone bonkers and is off by quite a bit, but I think I mashed at 67-68c for an hour...

90 min boil
10.7g Challenger 60 min
10.5g EKG 15 min
Est IBU 19

Water
Cl ~230
So4 ~155
Ca ~178
Na~ 66

Well, no mishaps this brew apart from my worthless thermometer, even remembered the protafloc this time...
I still seem to have some issues with the efficiency since I started milling the base malt myself, the preboil SG was a bit high but I diluted it to the right level and then took some away to achieve the proper pre boil volume. Changed up my efficiency setting in Beersmith to 80% and will see if that's more correct.
Although I forgot to turn up the PPG to match that of raw sugar instead of homemade invert syrup, so I landed at about 14L in the bucket at 1.041 instead of the 38 I wanted.
Have changed my other recipes accordingly though, now I only have to see if my muscovado mix is a closer emulation to "real" invert than the caramellised syrup I have done previously...
Fermented with Brewly English Ale, currently sitting at 19c, gonna raise to 20 after work tomorrow.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Not a brew, but related...
Was tinkering a bit with what is becoming my keg fridge yesterday after the kids passed out.
I will have to attach a piece of 2x4 behind the taps to get some distance out from the wall, but if I take some care to round the edges and oil it up etc it will probably be a nice look paired with the wood tap handles.
I have drilled a small hole on the opposite side of the taps for the gas tube feeding the manifold, and will attach a small fan for air circulation and to get an even temp inside.
The thought is to put a 5L jug of water under the wood shelf at the bottom and tape the thermostat probe to that, with some insolution covering it, to keep the kegs at a cozy 11c.
Plan on setting the regulator on 10psi, with a little pressure drop over the manifold check valves, the serving pressure and keg temp should be at about equilibrium for the 1.7 vols I prime the kegs to. For a little fake cask imitation since I don't really have the possibility nor consume enough for a proper beer engine set up.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

The kegerator is done and filled! Had a busy weekend so I never got around kegging the Mild, but plan on doing that this wednesday.
My initial plan with the kegerator was to prime to 1.7 vols of co2 and then keep the serving pressure to the equilibrium to maintain that carbonation. Put in the kegs to get chilled Friday night and hooked everything up Saturday evening.
I could of course not keep myself from trying to pour a small glass and sample, tasted just as yeasty and green as you would expect, note to self: always let the kegs sit in the fridge to condition and settle for a few days at least, a week preferably.
The only issue was the flow, rather slow it was, I turned up the regulator to 13 psi, at 11c coupled with some small pressure loss at the check valve it should equal about 2 vols which is probably more doable if I want a decent flow. Not cask levels of carbing but not fizzy either.
Plan of changing the tap handles to oak ones that will be treated with dark wood oil, and painting the fridge dark gray some time in the future.

 

[peebee]

Ha! Caught up with you in your own thread!

My Mild Ale is a couple of weeks behind yours (hasn't done fermenting yet) but is remarkably similar. Being an 1898 recipe contains no roast malt or crystal (though brown malt and crystal especially were to make an appearance in Mild Ales a few years later). Mine has twice as much No.3 Invert though (Ragus) but still a light coloured "Mild Ale". But SG about identical (mine was supposed to be 1.045, stronger being a much older idea of "mild ale", but my "efficiency" wasn't as smart as I expected).

What really struck me was the similarity in water analysis. I've used Graham Wheeler's recommendations for mild (bicarbonate bumped up 'cos my water is screwy - still had a mash at near pH5.0). It's a composition to scare seven bells out of many "craft brewer" sensibilities! Here's my composition in "Bru'n Water", a typical American tool:

All those Red and Amber warnings! We're doomed! No doubt we are both brewing a "minerally mess"!

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

We'll see how this mess turns out!

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

And now the Mild is kegged.
The Brown Ale an Stout are tasty, just a wee bit sweet, but I think my wonky thermometer and higher than intended mash temps are to blame for that, have gotten a quality digital one now though.

Will probably not use Simpsons DRC again in the Brown as it gave a bit too much of that burnt sugar flavour I'm not too fond of and go back to 240 ebc Crystal.
The stout will get a bigger dose of black and choc malt for a total of 15% and less oats, it's roasty but lacks that intense roasty almost a little ashy thing going in ex Shepherd Neames Double Stout.

Next up will be a Best Bitter, but a slightly different recipe more focused on Crystal and a bit darker.
The thought is to have 2 base recipes for Bitter and just switch around the hops for variation.
With the paler Bitter I will omitt the Crystal entirely and then I am probably there.
Pic is the Best Bitter, a bit hazy since I forgot protafloc, and I need to look over my sparge method, since I suspect I get a bit too much malt sludge from the mash in to the kettle, killing the head formation/retention.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

I have brewed a Best Bitter that I never posted, nothing fancy. OG 1.041 FG 1.010
MO as base, 10% invert 2, 6% Crystal split 50/50 Crisp 150/240 ebc and .5% chocolate malt for a little flavour depth and colour adjustment. Hopped to 33 IBU and a 20min/80c hopstand with 1g/L Fuggle, so the actual IBU is probably more like 35. It tasted promising and seemed to have a reddish copper hue in the hydrometer tube, it's primed and carbing up in the keg atm.

Brewed a Porter yesterday that @peebee might be interested in, heavily inspired by the 1885-1900 period Barclay Perkins recipes found in Porter!
MO as base
15% Crisp Amber
10% Crisp Brown
7% Crisp Black Malt
4% Simpson Heritage Crystal (~180 ebc)
15% invert 3 late boil

Mashed at 67c for 75 min, went with a slightly longer mash because only about half the grain in the mash was base malt, to ensure good conversion.
Boliled 90 min, challenger as bittering @60 then 0.7g/L of Fuggle @30 min and FO
OG 1.051, est was 55 but I need to adjust the PPG of the invert I think
IBU 30 and about 14L in the bucket, pitched last night and it was getting active early this morning and really picking up speed now, fermenting with a Brewly English and MJ M36 blend. This will be kegged, primed and then cellared until Christmas.

 

[peebee]

I did a "porter" from that era (they called it "stout", but Boddington's were good at that ... even back then). It was written up by Ron Pattinson: Boddington's 1901 Stout

I wrote it up yesterday >here<.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Cooking up some "invert 3" atm for a brew, gonna start heating the mash water soon, can do real time brewday log if anyone is interested?
Gonna be a sort of Old Peculier inspired one to be kept in keg until february to help us through the coldest part of winter...

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Have brewed up the OP inspired ale, and a fairly generic Yorkshire-style best bitter, both sitting in the basement awaiting a free spot in the keg fridge, my mild should kick pretty soon and then the bitter gets a spot, the dark ale is next in line when either my porter or current bitter kicks.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

@peebee
Have brewed up my Stock Ale, the final recipe with some small last minute changes ended as:
Simpson GP/Vienna 50/50 as base
5% each of Crystal T-50 and amber
15% invert 2
1g/L each of Fuggle and EKG @20 min
and ~1g/L of Bobek dry hop in secondary
1.080 70IBU.
Transferred ~11.5L to secondary with 10g of boiled medium toast french oak cubes and Brett C.
The imperial stout was planned to reach 1.100 but fell a little bit short at 1.094, still acceptable.
Similair late boil hops but fuggle/bobek, will be secondaried on bobek dry hops, oak and a shot glass of the bretted old ale to inoculate it.

Stout was Simpson GP/Vienna as base
12% Crisp Brown malt
8% Simpson amber malt
8% Simpson Black malt
5% Simpson Crystal T 50
12% invert 3.
Both fermented with a MJ m42/Brewly English blend wich is settled as my house blend now.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

My plan was to keep the imperial stout at 18c initially then yesterday about 20h post pitch I turned up the temp that cooling starts at to let it free-rise to 20c, but I discovered this morning that I had to plug in the heating mat to get it up there because the basement is rather cold this time of year.
Will move the fermentation fridge from it's current room in the basement to the boiler room once this batch is done, as that don't get as cold as the rest of the basement during winter...

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Brewed a Yorkshire style best bitter sunday morning, pitched yeast around lunch time.
Rather basic
20L batch 83% eff
Simpson GP as base, 3.5% Simpson Dark Crystal, 5% wheat malt, 10% invert 2.
A bit of caramel color for a wee bit deeper hue.
Boiled 90 min 1.040 OG/35 IBU
30g @20 min and 15g dry hop. A mix of EKG and Bramling X.

I tried a pseudo open ferment with this one, just placed the lid on the top of the bucket without pushing it down and placed an perforated airlock lid over the bung hole, lifted the lid a bit every morning, around lunch and evening to let in some oxygen and "ventilate" a bit.
Except for this morning because I saw yeast was starting to pool up at the bottom and krausen had receded a bit so I closed it up.
Pitched at 18c and held there for ~6h then allowed to free rise to 21c.
Hopefully this might enchance the sort of earthy, mildly phenolic character of MJ m42 at higher temps and the Brewly yeast's red berries and sweet plum notes.

 

[An Ankoù]

Brewed a Yorkshire style best bitter sunday morning, pitched yeast around lunch time.
Rather basic
20L batch 83% eff
Simpson GP as base, 3.5% Simpson Dark Crystal, 5% wheat malt, 10% invert 2.
A bit of caramel color for a wee bit deeper hue.
Boiled 90 min 1.040 OG/35 IBU
30g @20 min and 15g dry hop. A mix of EKG and Bramling X.

I tried a pseudo open ferment with this one, just placed the lid on the top of the bucket without pushing it down and placed an perforated airlock lid over the bung hole, lifted the lid a bit every morning, around lunch and evening to let in some oxygen and "ventilate" a bit.
Except for this morning because I saw yeast was starting to pool up at the bottom and krausen had receded a bit so I closed it up.
Pitched at 18c and held there for ~6h then allowed to free rise to 21c.
Hopefully this might enchance the sort of earthy, mildly phenolic character of MJ m42 at higher temps and the Brewly yeast's red berries and sweet plum notes.

Sounds good. I wonder whether the "open fermentation" will really make a difference. Keep us posted.
I'd be interested to see the recipe for your stock ale as posted earlier. Had a look through the thread. Have I missed it?
M42 is my nightmare yeast. When it works well it works well. If it gets stressed it really stinks. I wish you every good fortune with it.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Sounds good. I wonder whether the "open fermentation" will really make a difference. Keep us posted.
I'd be interested to see the recipe for your stock ale as posted earlier. Had a look through the thread. Have I missed it?
M42 is my nightmare yeast. When it works well it works well. If it gets stressed it really stinks. I wish you every good fortune with it.

I Always make starters, even with dry yeast, and pitch at least 1mcells/L/p. So the yeast is in good health and plenty of it at pitching time.