Partial Mash Pale Ale + Odds & Sods Bitter

[Dutto]

To use up some spare malt I decided to do a Partial Mash Pale Ale strong enough to be bottled and forgotten about for the three months that we will be away in France.

So two days ago I got going and delivered the planned brew.

The recipe was:

Mash
1.0kg Maris Otter
0.75kg Caramalt
0.2kg Flaked Oats
Mash for 75 mins at 65 degrees (start at 80 degrees) with 10 litres of water.
Sparge with 10 litres @ 85 degrees.

Mix and add:
1.5kg Pale LME
1.5kg Amber LME
0.5kg Light DME

Boil for 45 minutes.

Hops:
50 grams EKG whole leaf at 45 minutes
30 grams Chinook Pellets at 15 minutes
Cold hop with 30 grams of Fuggles whole leaf for Four Days after fermentation.

At the moment it is fermenting nice and slowly.

It is accompanied by an Extract "Odds and Sods" Bitter Brew that I knocked up yesterday in half the time!

The recipe was much more simple:

3kg of Amber LME
6 grams of left-over East Kent Goldings leaf, 18 grams of left-over Chinook pellets and 40 grams of Fuggles leaf boiled for the full 30 minutes boil time.
Cold hop with 30 grams of Fuggles whole leaf for Four Days after fermentation.

Three things spring to mind:

1. The Pale Ale OG was 1.064 which will give an ABV of over 7.5% if fermented to 1.010 and then carbonated. It will therefore not be a session beer and will need treating with some respect come the summer!

2. The Odds & Sods Bitter OG was 1.030 (way below expectations) which will give an ABV of barely more than 3% when is has been fermented to 1.010, bottled and carbonated. It should be a great session beer if it matures well whilst we are away!

3. Finally, never again will I do a Partial Mash for 21 litres of beer! :nono: :nono:It seemed to take for ever to prepare everything and then to clean and sterilise everything before putting it away.

As usual, "Here's hoping for good results!" :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Slid]

To use up some spare malt I decided to do a Partial Mash Pale Ale strong enough to be bottled and forgotten about for the three months that we will be away in France.

So two days ago I got going and delivered the planned brew.

The recipe was:

Mash
1.0kg Maris Otter
0.75kg Caramalt
0.2kg Flaked Oats
Mash for 75 mins at 65 degrees (start at 80 degrees) with 10 litres of water.
Sparge with 10 litres @ 85 degrees.

Mix and add:
1.5kg Pale LME
1.5kg Amber LME
0.5kg Light DME

Boil for 45 minutes.

Hops:
50 grams EKG whole leaf at 45 minutes
30 grams Chinook Pellets at 15 minutes
Cold hop with 30 grams of Fuggles whole leaf for Four Days after fermentation.

At the moment it is fermenting nice and slowly.

It is accompanied by an Extract "Odds and Sods" Bitter Brew that I knocked up yesterday in half the time!

The recipe was much more simple:

3kg of Amber LME
6 grams of left-over East Kent Goldings leaf, 18 grams of left-over Chinook pellets and 40 grams of Fuggles leaf boiled for the full 30 minutes boil time.
Cold hop with 30 grams of Fuggles whole leaf for Four Days after fermentation.

Three things spring to mind:

1. The Pale Ale OG was 1.064 which will give an ABV of over 7.5% if fermented to 1.010 and then carbonated. It will therefore not be a session beer and will need treating with some respect come the summer!

2. The Odds & Sods Bitter OG was 1.030 (way below expectations) which will give an ABV of barely more than 3% when is has been fermented to 1.010, bottled and carbonated. It should be a great session beer if it matures well whilst we are away!

3. Finally, never again will I do a Partial Mash for 21 litres of beer! :nono: :nono:It seemed to take for ever to prepare everything and then to clean and sterilise everything before putting it away.

As usual, "Here's hoping for good results!" :thumb: :thumb:

Hi Dutto

Enjoy your 3 months in France!
As regards your Odds & Sods, I suspect it will be more than 3% ABV in the end. 1030 seems a bit inconsistent with the volume and 3kg of LME.

Totally agree that doing a Partial Mash with 1kg of base malt seems like a faff, but hopefully it will make some enhancement.

 

[Dutto]

Many thanks!

Only three weeks to go before we set off for three months in France; just enough time to ferment everything out, do the cold hopping and get it all bottled.

After that its a three month wait because No.1 Son, who looks after the place when we are away, doesn't drink!!!

I don't know where we went wrong with that one but as a result of his abstinence there will be no interim tasting to give us a clue so back to "Here's hoping!" :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Dutto]

I bottled the Pale Ale today after four days of cold hopping with 50 grams of Fuggles.

The FG was still fairly high at 1015 but that gives an ABV of 6.5% (OG was 1.064) which is more in line with the original recipe and with the priming sugar it should rise to just under 7% which is perfect for an evening beer in the summer.

The Odds & Sods which started off with a low OG 0f 1030 is still bubbling away merrily after a week so I have shoved in 50 grams of Fuggles for a cold hop before bottling. I'm beginning to think that I must have misread the hydrometer when I moved it to the FV! (Memo to self "Stop drinking beer when brewing!") :whistle: :whistle:

Ah well, break over now to go outside and clean the FV, the Bottling Bucket etc. etc!! At least it is an excuse to sink a "Job well done." pint! :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Dutto]

A belated update:

1. I am down to the last two pints of the Pale Ale. It came in as a perfect beer. Clear as a bell, good head retention and great taste; hence the rapid depletion of stock! :thumb:

2. I have seven pints of Odds & Sods Bitter left. Not as good as the Pale Ale but still very drinkable. Perfectly clear, drinkable taste with a decent head that unfortunately disappears after about five minutes! (Don't know why though!)