First Gold Yorkshire Bitter - BIAB with Peco boiler

[Spapro]

Brewed this Saturday, this is my 3rd BIAB brew with the Peco boiler, this recipe was inspired by Greg Hughes Yorkshire Bitter recipe but planned a single hop First Gold version.

The wheels came off the single hop First Gold plan 15 minutes before the end of the boil when I realised I didn't have enough first Gold Hops ! Had to jump on brewmate software and adjust things utilising some other hops in part used bags from the freezer.

Still very pleased with how this brew went and the sample from the trial jar was exquisite.

Here is the adjusted recipe for this session ale:

3.5kg Maris Otter
350g Torrified Wheat
200g Crystal
40g Chocolate

Hops (should have been all First Gold)
60 mins - 28g First Gold
10 mins - 20g First Gold (had to use 10g Bishops and 15g East Kent Goldings instead)
0 mins - 12g First Gold

Bitterness: 31 IBU's
Colour: 15 EBC

Heated 26l of water to 73°C which gave a perfect mash temp of 67° after feeding grain in.

Mashed for 1 hour (only lost 1°C over the hour after insulating the boiler with sleeping bag and an old blanket).
Quick dunk sparge in 3 kettlefuls of water (at 80°C), squeezed the bag out as well and ended up with 26 litres in the Peco boiler for the boil.
Boiled for 1 hour, topped up a couple of times with boiling water to ensure I had 26l in the boiler at the end of the boil.
Took 45 minutes to chill wort down to 22°C.

Got 23litre in the FV and pitched yeast (Neales Malt Miller Ale Yeast) at 21°C.
Now fermenting at 17°C which is the mid point for this yeasts range (15-20°C).

Starting Gravity: 1040 which should give 3.9%abv - 4.1% after priming

Now the waiting begins, got high hopes.

 

[Leon103]

Great post. I need to get one of those thermometers. I was constantly dipping mine in and it was taking ages to read so was losing temperature during the mash. I am glad the thermometer broke so I could take it back. How long did it take to chill the wort?

 

[Spapro]

Great post. I need to get one of those thermometers. I was constantly dipping mine in and it was taking ages to read so was losing temperature during the mash. I am glad the thermometer broke so I could take it back. How long did it take to chill the wort?

45mins to get it down to 22°C, it drops another degree or so transferring to the FV so ends up at 21°C in the FV.

I think I got my thermometer from tescodirect, its a Landmann wireless BBQ 13625. Works well, you can set a target temp and it beeps when it hits that temp. There is a countdown/stopwatch function but not used that ! Think I paid about £12 a year ago but can't see them on there now - £20 on amazon.

 

[Leon103]

Thanks I will see what ebay as got.

 

[SiMania]

Do you just put the hops in whole?

Have you got a false bottom and/or a hop filter?

 

[Spapro]

Do you just put the hops in whole?

Have you got a false bottom and/or a hop filter?

I pop them in as loose leaves, you will need a hop strainer, I have a variation on this one for the Peco boiler: http://www.home-brew-supplies-uk.co.uk/universal-hop-strainer-for-bruheat-thorn-boilers.html

Here is mine fitted in the boiler, pushes in the back of the tap and works very well:

 

[SiMania]

I've got one of those and a false bottom but have always used a hop spider. Might just chuck them in next time.

 

[Spapro]

I've got one of those and a false bottom but have always used a hop spider. Might just chuck them in next time.

Not sure if chucking them in loose rather than in a spider makes any difference to hop utilisation but if you can get away without the spider its one less thing to clean if nothing else !

 

[GHW]

Sounds delicious, good photos too. Keep us posted on how it turns out.

I've got a taste for English style bitters at the moment. Had a pint of butcombe in the Cotswolds the other day, v nice. Also had some Brakspear beers which frankly were less nice. Don't know if they were badly kept but I was very uninspired by them.

 

[Redron]

Sounds delicious, good photos too. Keep us posted on how it turns out.

I've got a taste for English style bitters at the moment. Had a pint of butcombe in the Cotswolds the other day, v nice. Also had some Brakspear beers which frankly were less nice. Don't know if they were badly kept but I was very uninspired by them.

Yep, the Brakespear brews I find are weak and fizzy.

Good post Spapro. We are at the same stage in our brew careers. I did a Theakston OP BIAB at the weekend and despite big efforts to maintain my mash temp by wrapping my 50L SS pot with a foam camping mat and towels I set off at 67 and ended up at 58 after 75mins, not bad I suppose, but could be better...

I like the English bitters too, especially the Yorkshire ones !

 

[GHW]

Yep, the Brakespear brews I find are weak and fizzy.

Good post Spapro. We are at the same stage in our brew careers. I did a Theakston OP BIAB at the weekend and despite big efforts to maintain my mash temp by wrapping my 50L SS pot with a foam camping mat and towels I set off at 67 and ended up at 58 after 75mins, not bad I suppose, but could be better...

I like the English bitters too, especially the Yorkshire ones !

My solution to that is a double duvet, a la: (upside down photo as usual)

 

[Spapro]

I only lost 1° over the 1 hour mash on this latest brews. Got the boiler off the concrete floor, ono a half pallet with some chipboard screwed on top, then wrap in a sleeping bag, then a picnic blanket over the whole lot, pallet and boiler.

Oh, and starting with the water at 73°C before adding the grains means the mash starts at 67°C which helps a lot (if I heat my water to 68°C then adding the grain forces things down to 63°C for the start of the mash).

Will post some pics of the finished pint in due course, plus some tasting notes of course.

 

[Redron]

Thanks, I'll try that. :thumb:

 

[GHW]

I always heat strike water to 75c. So far have fairly consistently hit 67c mash temp after adding grain.

The duvet technique only lost about 1c over the hour mash too.

It's unorthodox, but effective. (Bonus points if you know what film that's from - clue, it was said about my namesake!)

 

[YeastFace]

I received one of the Landmann thermometers today. Was going to get a thermopen, but hopefully brewing tomorrow and this one was guaranteed to be delivered today. Do you leave it in for the duration of the mash?

 

[Spapro]

Hope your brew went well ?

This may be a bit late but:

Pop the probe into the water as you are heating to mash temperature - aim for 73°C. Then turn off the heating element power, remove the temperature probe, fit your bag into position and feed the grains in, sstirring and breaking down any 'dough balls' that develop. Should give a start temp after adding the grains of around 67°C.

Then pop your temperature probe into the middle of the grains for the duration of the mash. Pop the lid loosely on, and cover the whole thing in sleeping bags, duvets, old coat etc. etc to insulate. Getting the boiler off a cold floor and onto some carpet/wood will also reduce heat loss.

Having the probe in the middle of the mash allows you to monitor the temp. If insulated well you should only loose 1-2°C over a one hour mash.

 

[YeastFace]

Thanks. I didn't brew in the end as we had a BBQ. My last probe thermometer broke after I'd left in my MT for the duration of the mash, so wanted to check this one was ok before I attempted it and broke another thermometer.

 

[Spapro]

Right, this has had a good 2 weeks in the warm and moved to cold condition last weekend.

Tried a bottle on Tuesday night and it was absolutely gorgeous. I love the first gold hop - it has a kind of warmth to it.

Also very impressed with how Neales ale yeast from the malt miller has packed down. Its clear now and can pour a pint with no sediment with ease.

 

[clibit]

Sounds brilliant - I love First Gold too, is it the best UK hop?!

 

[Sandimas]

Sounds brilliant - I love First Gold too, is it the best UK hop?!

How would you describe it and/or what is it similar to? Any examples of commercail beers it's used in?

I've got some for a future AG recipe, I used some to dry hop a beer and it came out rank - can't say it was the hops that caused it (still trying to pin that down) but it's kinda put me off using the rest of the First Gold.