Old Spot Brewery - Cullingworth (I helped)

[Franklin]

Today I helped make award winning real ale at the 'Old Spot Brewery' in Cullingworth near Keighley.
They have recently Won the Leicester Beer Festival with a Gold for Spot O' Bother which was also a 1st in the Porter/Stout category.
Please check their beers out when you see them :)
http://www.oldspotbrewery.co.uk

The brew is a pretty hoppy and mainly pale malt with some wheat, name yet to be decided.
Chris has a relaxed attitude to brewing and there's nothing complex in his brewing process, knowing his process and customers tastes gives him plenty of room to experiment within his brewing experience in creating new ales.

Here's a Few snaps from today:
The Brewery, Mashtun in front, Boiler back left and HLT's at the right:

The 2 elements inside the boiler:

FV's:

FV's being cleaned and sterilised:

Sparging, Grains were Optic Malt and Wheat Malt:

Weighing out the hops, Todays hops were Fuggles for Bittering, Golding, Willamette & Fuggles for flavour/aroma:

Used hops in the boiler:

I've just drunk a bottle of a dark Mild Chris gave me which is well balanced and chocolaty, another bottle of something light is waiting for after though I forget what he called it. They don't normally bottle their beers as they stick to dealing direct with pubs.

 

[tubby_shaw]

Looks like you had a good day :thumb:
Did you learn anything new ?

 

[Franklin]

I learned these things:

• I should have a go at fly sparging and it would be a good idea to calibrate my Boiler so I know when to stop sparging.[/*:m:m1ir8mrg]
• It would be better to run a Microbrewery business with a business partner for sales, delivery and promotion.[/*:m:m1ir8mrg]
• Also better for it not to be your only source of income, at least while getting a customer base and regular sales.[/*:m:m1ir8mrg]
• Stay away from large scale and industrial style brewing if you want to keep the brewing enjoyment.[/*:m:m1ir8mrg]
• Different FV sizes can alter the way your ale tastes, so scaling up a Home brewed beer to a commercial saleable beer might take some further development work.[/*:m:m1ir8mrg]
• Casks cost a lot of money and having a cask go missing or stolen can wipe out your profit instantly![/*:m:m1ir8mrg]
• Get used to stirring the Mash tun with a Shovel not a spoon.[/*:m:m1ir8mrg]
• Use a Pressure Washer for all your Cleaning down.[/*:m:m1ir8mrg]
• Brew Beers that your customers like rather than what you like.[/*:m:m1ir8mrg]
• Sell your product direct rather that through a distribution network so you actually get your casks back.[/*:m:m1ir8mrg]

:)

 

[Franklin]

btw, thanks for reminding me to write that stuff down

 

[jamesb]

• Sell your product direct rather that through a distribution network so you actually get your casks back.[/*:m:3n2w8nv5]

There are good distribution networks. Boggart especially are very good.

You forgot one as well.

• Always find some other sucker to do the grunt work of cleaning out the mash tun and copper[/*:m:3n2w8nv5]

 

[Franklin]

:)

 

[evanvine]

Silly question.
Do they get the name"Old Spot" from the Pig or the location?
Just thouhgt I'd ask!

 

[Vossy1]

Looks like a great day pdtnc, thanks for sharing it with us :thumb:

 

[evanvine]

Yes sorry PD I really enjoyed reading your brew day.
It's just that when you get to my age you just tend to rember the last thought that struggles to enter your brain!

 

[Franklin]

I don't know where your pig came from... :shock:
The Brewery is named after the Old Farm Dog.

 

[evanvine]

The breed of pig is called "Gloucestershire Old Spot".
Thanks for the info about the dog, I like knowing bits of trivia like that.

 

[Franklin]

There is another Brewers beer called Old Spot too, I think that might refer to the Pig. :)

 

[Frisp]

There is another Brewers beer called Old Spot too, I think that might refer to the Pig. :)

Aye it is its up near Stroud in Glocs. I think its the Uley brewery

 

[Franklin]

:)

 

[shaunsbrew]

having never seen a large scale/micro brewary (i must take on some tours) i am impressed as to how similar the set up is to what we are all trying to achieve and hats off to all those people who have came up with the down scaled inventions we see so often on this site well done lads im really impressed :thumb: did this brewary use some sort of herms as i did not spot one in the picks :hmm:

 

[Franklin]

Simply 2 HLT's with Thermostats for Strike heat, a few Towels thrown over the Mash tun lid while it mashed for 90mins.
There is no need, it seems, for much technology to make Award Winning Ales. Thermometer and Hydrometer are his only test equipment.

 

[Aleman]

did this brewary use some sort of herms as i did not spot one in the picks :hmm:

No, HERMS and RIMS is a complete homebrew invention. Large mash tuns have such a big thermal mass that the temperature does not change all that much during the mash period. And commercial breweries don't P*ss about with step mashing (Continental breweries excepted), so they are unnecessary

It's one of the things I love about mashing in my 50 (And soon :pray: ) 80L mash tuns the temperature stability and repeatability just gets so much easier.

 

[leondz]

Fantastic, thanks for posting all this pdtnc, great stuff!

 

[Franklin]

Its comforting to know quality beer can be brewed without anything too technical :)

 

[leondz]

Its comforting to know quality beer can be brewed without anything too technical :)

Yeah I like that :) Tried my first partial mash the other day, surprisingly easy when you're doing it, nice to see that brewing scales up reasonably without getting scary! By the way though, out of interest, what difference does the FV size make - how does that work?