How many more brews will you make in 2021

[m_kc]

Interestingly (?) the original design brief I came up with was to brew as dry and as pale and as subtly nuanced flavoured beer as I could and I too considered the use of the Glucoamylase enzyme to achieve this. In the end I didn't bother.

The brew was part of a challenge we did in our local club where we selected an unusual hop from part of Charles Faram's development range and the only stipulation was that folks could brew whatever style they wanted, but it had to exclusively use the chosen hop.

The hop that was settled on was Godiva, a mid AA% hop (that could be used for bittering and flavouring at the will of the individual brewer) with flavour characteristics of white grape, gooseberry and some spice and tangerine. Because these were fairly subtle characteristics I felt that a dry crisp pale lager would be best to showcase the hops.

My recipe was quite simple and I'm happy to share...

Grain bill: 75% Pilsner Malt, 25% Flaked Rice - mashed at 64 degrees for 80 minutes

In the boil I did not use a traditional bittering stage....all hop additions were in the last 15 minutes...

15g of Godiva (6.7%AA) at 15mins; 21g @ 10mins; 30g @ 5 mins; 25g whirlpooled at 80 degrees for 20 mins and then 20g dry hopped for 4 days.

Fermentation was handled by Saflager 34/70 at 10 degrees for 10 days before raising the temp to 15 degrees for 5 days before cold crashing. I then racked to 2ndary and stored at about 2 degrees for 3 weeks before bottling. Normally I might lager for longer but due to the expected delicate nature of the flavours I expected it to be best consumed very young and fresh so didnt want the beer lingering long in 2ndary....just enough time for it to drop clear. Looking for a spritzy carbonated sort of mouthfeel I batch primed with Dextrose at a rate of 7.4g/Litre.

OG was 1.046 (expected 1.043 but I got a higher than expected mash efficiency) and the FG was 1.007....so quite dry enough that my decision to not use the Amylase enzyme was justified. Bitterness was calculated at 20 IBU with a colour of 5 EBC....it was beautifully pale (and crystal clear!!)

I am hoping to squeeze in a rebrew of this in 2022 and would use the Godiva again but perhaps might mix it up with a small amount of Sorachi Ace just for a tad more flavour complexity. I would still do all of the hop additions as "late additions"...I have found this an extremely successful way of extracting ultra clean bitterness from hops whilst allowing subtle flavouring notes to shine through.

Do you cook the flaked rice before mashing?

 

[Big_Eight]

I may get through one more brew it will either be an attempt at the 1971 Boddington's recipe on Ron's blog or a double IPA featuring Centennial Hops.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I’m looking to get another lager on before the end of the year. Picked up a couple of hundred grams of Strisslespalt for 50p per 100g from WHS which arrived yesterday. Worth a go.

 

[Clint]

One I recon but my brewlist had a SAISON, Vienna lager, pilsner and maybe something else lurking on it. We'll see!

 

[The Cat]

I have 2 sets of ingredients with the best before dates about a week old so I'd better do those. Was delayed by having covid but I don't think it will make any difference to the beer it's my fault for taking so long to get used to using my Brewzilla but it's all gravy from here.

 

[gyurmaember]

At least 2 maybe 4

 

[foxy]

Saison tomorrow, wife is away for 4 days with the kids next week so will slip another one in then, probably a bitter.

 

[dave_77]

Last brew will be next weekend . American Amber hopped with Centennial, Mosiac & Loral

 

[nickjdavis]

Do you cook the flaked rice before mashing?

No....the process used for the production of the flaked rice (steam heating and then crushing between rollers) means that it does not have to be pre-cooked.

If you are using normal rice then yes, you would need to pre-cook.

 

[gibbo_sd]

Struggling for AG time lately so gonna do MJ Grapefruit IPA kit this weekend.
Then hoping to squeeze in an AG stout between Christmas and new year to use up a few malts that have been hanging around , was supposed to do an impy back in June in readiness for crimbo ..

 

[obscure]

I will be doing a 9L batch Irish Stout on Friday (have taken it as annual leave). also planning a one gallon smash (Maris Otter and Mystic) will proably also do one more 9L batch but haven’t decided what yet so three more.

 

[Dads_Ale]

Looking at brewing a Callista SHIPA on Friday. Will be first time using T45 hop pellets so hope I have the quantities correct

 

[Mayor of Simpleton]

One more - revisiting a London pride that I first brewed when learning my process. Hopefully this time I can do it justice. In Jan I have plans for a Pliny the Elder and then I am going to try a lager for the first time.

 

[Slid]

Maybe one more. We are taking off the week before Xmas as SWMBO likes the run-up better than the week between Xmas and NY. In fact, the whole thing is finished after the family get-together around (but not on) Xmas day. She also has plans to go up to Edinburgh on the 18th - but who knows whether Bolton will be on the "Krankie Red List" by then.

 

[Flat Foot]

I fancy doing one more but it will involve buying my second keg

But I'm thinking hey, I have the kegerator now so surely just one keg in it is a waste? And I've all but given my pressure barrel to my dad, not that he knows that yet but I'm not sure why I'd need it now I have a keg setup.

 

[Braufather]

undead pale ale this weekend, that will hopefully be perfect in february after a dry Jan! Planning on a lot of brewing but no drinking in Jan.

 

[Moe]

I’d planned more, but as always other things get in the way. So as it stands one more batch of Mosaic blonde beer as I have the ingredients in.

I’ve got two half(ish) kegs on the go already to be getting on with so if I can get a brew on this weekend I’ll have a keg full for over New Years

Ive brewed 18 batches in 2021, call it 22 litres packaged per 23l brew and that’s a total of 396L brewed this year, or 697 pints, or as a lot of my brews were “craft” type, that equates to 1200 330ml cans!

The last planned batch will take it to 19 batches/418L/735pints/1266 330ml cans

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I fancy doing one more but it will involve buying my second keg

But I'm thinking hey, I have the kegerator now so surely just one keg in it is a waste? And I've all but given my pressure barrel to my dad, not that he knows that yet but I'm not sure why I'd need it now I have a keg setup.

I seem to be buying a keg at a rate of one per brew at the moment. It's getting expensive...

 

[jof]

I would like to get 1 brew in, but it very much depends on time available and weather being nice enough to boil in the garden

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Maybe one more. We are taking off the week before Xmas as SWMBO likes the run-up better than the week between Xmas and NY. In fact, the whole thing is finished after the family get-together around (but not on) Xmas day. She also has plans to go up to Edinburgh on the 18th - but who knows whether Bolton will be on the "Krankie Red List" by then.

Hope not as we need to visit Bolton market before Christmas.