HalsteadMills Brews

[nixhaz]

That potato brew looks similar to pulque which is potentially the most awful thing I've ever tasted! I hope it's better than it looks! :)

 

[SamBrewster]

10l plastic keg (which I hope will hold pressure for once)

Well the seals held! DOH

Another keg sanitising...

 

[Tractorboy]

Sorry to go a little off topic, but I was born and spent my childhood years in Halstead.
Your previous brew name - The Flowers at Box Mill brought back some fine memories of summers spent catching sticklebacks in the river at Box Mill!

 

[SamBrewster]

Sorry to go a little off topic, but I was born and spent my childhood years in Halstead.
Your previous brew name - The Flowers at Box Mill brought back some fine memories of summers spent catching sticklebacks in the river at Box Mill!

It's a nice town, moved here nearly 20 years ago when it had lots of independent restaurants and shops.

The beer recipe was inspired by 1955 Flowers IPA (although I threw the last EKG addition all over the garage floor so used Cascade), the bottle was nice so I will crack the keg next weekend.

Can I assume you follow Ipswich? I think the early end may save our season...

 

[SamBrewster]

Another keg sanitising...

Teach me to short cut. Didn't dismantle tap and it leaked. Replaced, added some more sugar and this morning heard a pleasing faint hiss from prv (rubber band!). Bottoms buckling so good sign

 

[SamBrewster]

FG a few points higher than expected 1044.

Bottled Batch 100. Got 80% efficiency (ehh) and the yeast did well in the heat so 4.4% instead of the 4 planned. Smelt amazing:

That's everything full and me done for summer

Will clean and "pasivate" the kettle next week and store until September.

Plenty to drink at least

 

[SamBrewster]

Radioactive Waste - hazy experimental beer ready today.
Smells "pleasant", bizarre not sure how else to describe it.
Not too bitter, definite grapefruit and herb from hops. Ends with a little heat from the cayenne but not strong.
This is a really nice beer if not unusual.
It was designed to glow, do you think it does?

 

[SamBrewster]

Garage at 23C so set up the home made jockey box to cool the Flowers at Box Mill:

Arrrrggghh, despite care and checking no pressure at all in the plastic barrel. Added some sugar, sealed up, still nothing. Will drink others over the weekend to free up bottles to move it next week.
That's the end of plastic barrels for me... Repurpose as bottling bucket...
Have one more PB full so try the jockey box with that maybe...

 

[SamBrewster]

That's everything full and me done for summer ☹

Check out the weather forecast. With temp down going to sneak in a brew on Friday - GH Summer Ale tweaked to try and get close to Wainwright.
Maybe a second next week with CML Belgian yeast which says it will work to 28C.
Bonus brew time

 

[SamBrewster]

GH Summer Ale tweaked to try and get close to Wainwright.

Trying a couple of things today. I always boil the water a day or so before to drive off lime scale & chlorine. Added campden tablet too for first time.

4100g Pale Ale malt
200g Crystal malt
15g EKG @ 60min
15g EKG + 30g Styrian Golding @ 30min
15g Styrian Golding @ 1min

Stuck mash, don't know why. The draining mash started boiling... I know this is actually air being released from the grain but it was fascinating to watch (sad??)

I have always used CML yeasts so thought I would split the wort in two small fermenters, add CML Real Ale to one and S04 to the other. Amazing the visual difference

Panic - the fvs are about 20l total and for some unknown reason thought that there was plenty of space for the 21ish l batch. Quickly squirted a DJ with antibac and filled with boiling water. Only 1/4 filled it so squeezed it into the fvs

Managed to cool to 23, would normally pitch the CML yeast but having seen some comments about S04 not liking anything over 20 so just waiting for it to cool. Will pitch and wait for the mess that follows from the overfilled fvs...

OG 8 points higher than expected! 84% efficiency! Was down at 65 a couple of months ago so my changes appear to be working.

Another PV with no pressure tonight... Need to invest in metal...

 

[SamBrewster]

Maybe a second next week with CML Belgian yeast which says it will work to 28C.

Well, that's definitely it for summer. Wanted to make a beer for summer with raspberries but most recipes use wheat and I'm really not a fan. So with inspiration from GH, Raspberry Tripel Horse and my stocks:

4500g Pale Malt
100g Flaked Barley - still not sure what this brings...

600g Candi Syrup during heat up
20g Northern Brewer @ 60min
15g Saaz & 10g Northern Brewer @ 10min
6g crushed coriander @ 5min

Good brew, uneventful except the now normal stuck mash. Massive 85% BHE!!!

~15l pitched with CML Belgian yeast @ 24C. Will add some more Candi Syrup & 2kg ish Raspberries after 2 days fermenting - need to go find the raspberries on Sunday. This will be called Flanders Framboos.

Decided to experiment with the other 5l. Added a cup of thawed Bullace - hope for wild yeasts. Will add more bullace and Candi Syrup when it has been fermenting for 2 days. This one: Wallonia Prunier Sauvage.

Should end up around 6.5%.

 

[SamBrewster]

All Together IPA

Managed to source 3 commercial brews so did some sampling yesterday:

Mine on the right is clear and a nice orangy colour. Smell is hoppy and citrus. The citrus also come through in flavour - not surprising as I subbed in extra Citra for hops I didn't have. Well carbed, bitter, nice but nowhere near as hoppy as I expected.
The other three were very different, NEIPA in style so cloudy and not as fizzy as mine. They are much more yellow in colour. All smelled and tasted strongly of grapefruit. My favourite was Verdant, this was sweet grapefruit and really filled the mouth. Second was Basqueland, better head and carb level and reminded me of lemoncello. Last was Signature Brew, this was darker in colour, the grapefruit was less intense and it was a little thinner - still a nice drink though.

These are much stronger than I usually drink and head knew it this morning

 

[SamBrewster]

GH Summer Ale tweaked to try and get close to Wainwright

All packaged up. The CML yeast started quick as always, the S04 was a day behind but I think finished first. CML fermented down to 1012 and the S04 a point lower. Was designed to be 4.0 but with unexpected BHF it is about 4.6%:

Had to use plastic barrel again

Usually the gravity sample tastes bad but this one was nice

Just put potato 'beer' in fridge to try next weekend

 

[SamBrewster]

Flanders Framboos

With super efficient BHE, great work from the yeast and heavy handed addition of syrup this is 8% (planned 6!). Read somewhere about diluting at bottling. So bottled 14 assorted sizes, diluted 20%, bottled 10, diluted again and got another 16 so 40 bottles from 15l, some with sensible ABV

Smells amazing and great colour:

We have Flanders Framboos Tachtig, Zesenzestig & Vijfenvijftig, can't wait to try in a few weeks

 

[cushyno]

With super efficient BHE, great work from the yeast and heavy handed addition of syrup this is 8% (planned 6!). Read somewhere about diluting at bottling. So bottled 14 assorted sizes, diluted 20%, bottled 10, diluted again and got another 16 so 40 bottles from 15l, some with sensible ABV

Smells amazing and great colour:
View attachment 28109
We have Flanders Framboos Tachtig, Zesenzestig & Vijfenvijftig, can't wait to try in a few weeks

Are those numbers of ABV? If so is that 8%, 6.6% and 5.5% in Dutch?
Good haul.

 

[terrym]

Arrrrggghh, despite care and checking no pressure at all in the plastic barrel. Added some sugar, sealed up, still nothing. Will drink others over the weekend to free up bottles to move it next week.
That's the end of plastic barrels for me... Repurpose as bottling bucket...

Another PV with no pressure tonight... Need to invest in metal...

Sorry to hear of PB woes, although not unexpected. I think people are a little sceptical when I comment that PBs are rubbish.
But more importantly, hows the output from 'tatermonster'.

 

[SamBrewster]

tatermonster

Chilling for the weekend, watch this space

 

[SamBrewster]

Are those numbers of ABV? If so is that 8%, 6.6% and 5.5% in Dutch?

Yes, the Wallonia Prunier Sauvage experiment is still bubbling nicely, hope to do similar with this

 

[SamBrewster]

Potato Monster

Today is the day I have been very apprehensive about

On the left is the beer, looks nice, well carbed... On the right is the monster sludge from the bottom of the bottle. Still smelt like wet dog and old man. Taste - imagine chewing a bicycle tyre, it was worse. Did however get the garden hops flavour. I rarely throw beer away but this is one experiment I will never repeat, could taste it in my stomach for hours!!!

Also tried the

honey wild beer

This is nice - expected it to be very fizzy but... Reminds me of cider. Has some sourness from the wild yeast and no big honey taste. Great drink for a hot sunny afternoon.

On to sensible beer now :small

 

[SamBrewster]

Yesterday was time to try my Landlord clone

Inn Keepers Incompetence

Visually very similar, mine is a shade darker and significantly less fizzy from the bottle.
The Landlord smell is of modern brewery beers, a dankness hiding any hop aroma. Mine did smell more like the ingredients, a little hop, a little grain.
Wow, taste wise there is hardly anything in it. Both very nice, hoppy, bitter and great to drink. Mine is fractionally sweeter.
Knowing that the beer I have in the PB has better head:

These could be the same beer?
My kegged beer was a little sweeter still (maybe the reprime?) and actually my favourite of the three samples.
All in all really pleased and maybe my best beer to date