Hazelwood Brewday

[user 18729]

I had a pint of this bitter last night. This is what it looks like after conditioning for just 5 days. It tastes good too. I’ve no idea how I’m going to make this last until it’s at it’s best.

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I thought you were having a pint with your breakfast then!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I thought you were having a pint with your breakfast then!

I am always tempted You now have at least one beer for your English pales and bitters competition assuming I can save a bottle that long. I may have to post it early!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I kegged the pale ale today, day 15 in the FV. It’s nice, really nice. Gassed the keg and poured a small glass to baseline the beer at conditioning day zero. Was a bit of a surprise, the beer is already clear and tastes good so I’m not sure what to expect as it ages. I’ll be sure to let you know . This is what it looks like right now...

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Also today I brewed another batch of my “Summer Breeze” Citra/Galaxy IPA. Because I’d been drinking my “Festival” Mosaic/Simcoe Vienna IPA at 6.9% while brewing, I decided to freestyle the recipe. When I’m in this mood I have to say I just let it go, the creative juices more often produce something good - I assume because the decisions flow without me interfering and over-thinking things!
This is one of the pictures of my “Festival” IPA on brew day.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Just pulled a crate of empty bottles to bottle up a few beer swaps and found a little treat hiding among the empty bottles. This will be interesting.

 

[Deathstar]

I’ve started keeping one bottle of each batch I my make for future consumption taste tests.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I’ve started keeping one bottle of each batch I my make for future consumption taste tests.

If my first one is anything to go by you might like to be selective and save those beers you might expect to improve over time. These are all IPAs and the first one “Equinox” is over carbed, has lost almost all of it’s hoppy aroma, and the flavours are a bit flat. Maybe the next one will be better...

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Today I brewed a batch of Punk IPA and next week I need to brew another batch of Mosaic IPA because I’m running out already.

I really want to brew a malt monster so that will follow - lots of Munich, lots of melanoidin. I will probably overdo it!

 

[samale]

Today I brewed a batch of Punk IPA and next week I need to brew another batch of Mosaic IPA because I’m running out already.

I really want to brew a malt monster so that will follow - lots of Munich, lots of melanoidin. I will probably overdo it!

Many kegs do you have on the go. Do you not bottle at all

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Many kegs do you have on the go. Do you not bottle at all

I have 11 King kegs and need at least 1 more I think. Yes, I bottle lager, cider and beers for comps and swaps - about 200 x 500ml bottles.

 

[samale]

I have 11 King kegs and need at least 1 more I think. Yes, I bottle lager, cider and beers for comps and swaps - about 200 x 500ml bottles.

I thought you had a kegerator

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I thought you had a kegerator

No, thought about a keezer but not done it yet.

 

[samale]

No, thought about a keezer but not done it yet.

I want to start kegging but my garage is a mess. Hopefully I can start work on my garden this summer. Get a nice seating area with a bar/summer House

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I want to start kegging but my garage is a mess. Hopefully I can start work on my garden this summer. Get a nice seating area with a bar/summer House

I did that a couple of years ago - well recommend it! Got a bar and got a really nice sofa/gazebo. We spend so much time outdoors now. It’s like another room and great for entertaining. Do it!

 

[samale]

I did that a couple of years ago - well recommend it! Got a bar and got a really nice sofa/gazebo. We spend so much time outdoors now. It’s like another room and great for entertaining. Do it!

I have seen your set up
It rains a lot more in Ireland

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I have seen your set up
It rains a lot more in Ireland

Bigger gazebo?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Day 7 in the fermenter for the latest batch of my Summer Breeze and today’s the day to add the dry hops. I decided on 50g of Citra rather than 50g each of Citra and Galaxy. First task, find the hops...


I have no filing system here, just rummage around until I find them, I know they’re in here somewhere.

D’oh! I’ve fallen short, I hope this doesn’t ruin the beer.



Just throw them in and leave well alone for the next 5 days. This works as well as every other dry hop approach I’ve tried and is probably the least effort

 

[samale]

Do you use only leaf hops. Is there any difference to pellets

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Do you use only leaf hops. Is there any difference to pellets

I almost exclusively use leaf. But...

All the studies I’ve seen say there’s not a jot of difference between leaf and pellet as far as aroma and flavour are concerned. Professional beer tasters are unable to distinguish the odd-one out in a triangle test and even when told which is the odd one out they can’t reliably tell if it used leaf or pellet hops. I have to say though that despite all this evidence I still feel I get more flavour and aroma from leaf.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Another brew day in progress. Lovely sunny weather, Danish pastries are cooling, and I’m sat in the garden under a clear blue sky with a coffee. This is what weekends should all be like.

As planned I’m brewing another batch of Vienna IPA with Mosaic and Simcoe hops. MJ M44 yeast. Mash has about 25 minutes to go.

Last night I kegged my latest batch of Citra/Galaxy IPA and looking forward to trying it in a couple of weeks. I’ve used less Galaxy this time round to try and take the recipe back to where it started.

Also last night, I dry hopped my Punk IPA and will keg that in five days.

If you’re having a brew day, I hope it’s going well :hat: