Hazelwood’s Brewday Part 2

[YeastFace]

I haven’t brewed this month as yet

We're only 10 days in

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

We're only 10 days in

That’s exactly my point - I should be at least two brews in by now.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I brewed the German lager today and now have 21 litres in the fermentation cabinet.

The hops arrived today for me to brew another batch of Pirate Pale so I’ll get on with that tomorrow.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I'd be interested in knowing how this turns out. There's a recipe for a mild I spotted with Phoenix and haven't come across it before.

OK, I’m now drinking the bitter made using Phoenix hops and I’m in two minds about it. Phoenix is supposed to contribute spice, pine, chocolate, and molasses. To me these descriptors suggest a mellow and maybe gentle warming expression as befits a beer in front of an open fire. This beer isn’t like that at all, it’s more….hyperactive. The flavours are quite bright with spicy pine and a fairly non descript fruitiness followed by a hint of chocolate. I’m not getting molasses at all on this ocassion.

On the other hand if you like a little hedgerow fruitiness (not in the descriptors at all), it is quite nice.

 

[Scrattajack]

OK, I’m now drinking the bitter made using Phoenix hops and I’m in two minds about it. Phoenix is supposed to contribute spice, pine, chocolate, and molasses. To me these descriptors suggest a mellow and maybe gentle warming expression as befits a beer in front of an open fire. This beer isn’t like that at all, it’s more….hyperactive. The flavours are quite bright with spicy pine and a fairly non descript fruitiness followed by a hint of chocolate. I’m not getting molasses at all on this ocassion.

On the other hand if you like a little hedgerow fruitiness (not in the descriptors at all), it is quite nice.

Thanks for the update. It doesn't really sound a good fit for a mild.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Thanks for the update. It doesn't really sound a good fit for a mild.

Agreed, I wouldn’t use them in a mild based on this brew. It is just one brew mind.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I had a busy morning today. I cleaned the keg from when the bitter kicked yesterday and refilled it with another batch of bitter that was waiting to be kegged. It tasted good from the fermenter and is already clear as usual.

I then got a batch of Pirate Pale brewed and that’s now in the fermentation cabinet with the German lager I brewed yesterday.

Finally I cleaned my beer lines. I did of course try all the beers to check they were good (they are) but I swapped out the Imperial Stout for a regular stout because we have guests for the weekend and they’ll drink regular stout rather than imperial. You’ve seen all the other beers previously so I’ll just post a picture of the regular stout.

 

[eyuptm]

Yo a MACHINE!!!!!

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I'm sure your production rate would put many small breweries to shame

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Not a brewday today but I did clean my beer lines and put a stout on tap after my wife finished the imperial stout I had on. The empty imperial stout keg will be useful because I have a Pirate pale ready to be kegged. This will be useful too because the current keg of the Pirate is virtually empty.

When I started I had no idea this hobby would become so demanding!

 

[Clint]

I'm sure your production rate would put many small breweries to shame

The way stuff disappears he'd put Paul Daniels to shame.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

A few posts above I brewed my latest batches of Pirate Pale and German Lager. This morning I kegged them, both tasted good…

Pirate Pale

German Lager

I also prepared the water and grist for a brewday tomorrow - another batch of Bitter. This will be followed by another batch of Porter, Pirate Pale, and Czech Lager.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I brewed the Best Bitter yesterday and because I finished reasonably early I decided to get another brew on and make it a double brewday. Bitter and Porter in the fermentation cabinet.

I made a slight change to the bitter this time after I brewed the first Pirate Pale and really liked the character of the bitterness from Centennial hops. We’ll see if it works as well in a bitter.

I’ll get another Pirate Pale and Czech Lager on the go later in the week.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I’ve just changed the keg of Czech lager and before serving it to others I need to ensure the beer is properly conditioned. This particular batch was brewed on April 25th and has been conditioning under pressure since May 4th.

The first half pint looks a bit murky and although not unpleasant the sediment does affect the flavour so I obviously need to pour a pint or two to clear the sediment from the bottom of the keg.

The beer is also still a bit foamy so I’ve turned off the gas to this keg and depressurised it. I’ll give it a while to settle and try again later.

 

[Clint]

Obviously...

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

A little later than planned I’ve now kegged the bitter and porter shown a couple of posts ago. The porter is my usual recipe but I made some small changes to my bitter recipe, the main change being a swap to Centennial for bittering. I found I liked the character of the bitterness from Centennial in my Pirate Pale so I’m trying it in my bitter.

 

[Leon103]

I’ve just changed the keg of Czech lager and before serving it to others I need to ensure the beer is properly conditioned. This particular batch was brewed on April 25th and has been conditioning under pressure since May 4th.

The first half pint looks a bit murky and although not unpleasant the sediment does affect the flavour so I obviously need to pour a pint or two to clear the sediment from the bottom of the keg.

The beer is also still a bit foamy so I’ve turned off the gas to this keg and depressurised it. I’ll give it a while to settle and try again later.

View attachment 86471

I guess you don't ferment low.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I guess you don't ferment low.

No, I use California Lager yeast so I can ferment at ale temperatures.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

One of the good things about having plenty of kegs is that I can build up a good stock and have a good range but there still comes a time when you need to get back in the saddle. For me that time is now having not brewed at all since the end of May.

The first job is to clean and sanitise all my brew kit because it’s been sitting for six weeks and although it looks clean some of it has a musty smell and something is creating that smell.

Collecting the water now for tomorrows brew, another batch of best bitter. A couple more tweaks to this recipe - a touch more crystal to add a little more colour, another 5g of bittering hops, and the addition of a little malted flaked oats for what I hope will be foam-positive proteins.

 

[Pennine]

One of the good things about having plenty of kegs is that I can build up a good stock and have a good range but there still comes a time when you need to get back in the saddle. For me that time is now having not brewed at all since the end of May.

The first job is to clean and sanitise all my brew kit because it’s been sitting for six weeks and although it looks clean some of it has a musty smell and something is creating that smell.

Collecting the water now for tomorrows brew, another batch of best bitter. A couple more tweaks to this recipe - a touch more crystal to add a little more colour, another 5g of bittering hops, and the addition of a little malted flaked oats for what I hope will be foam-positive proteins.

It's funny how time flies between brews. Was that a purposeful break?