pennine's brewdays

[Clint]

Bottled this one up today, hit my numbers perfectly.

Initial tastes, it's ok a bit sharp still has a bit of the hefe clove in there. I think I confirmed that I do not like amarillo. It tastes earthy and mushroomy and the bitterness is very harsh and lingers forever with the slightest amount of orange. Kind of like I get with fuggles which I also do not like as it tastes like dirt to me. I thought this was the kveik yeast I used last time but I guess its amarillo. Well even if it is not good for me I think I learned something, but I will give it a chance to carbonate and try to be unbiased. @Clint want me to send you a bottle to try?

Yes please! For research purposes only though...
Funny you get that with Amarillo...my past brews have all been nice...and I got 200g in the freezer.
I wonder if it's a seasonal thing where the flavours change? I remember an article but not the hop (!) where they can taste like onions!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Well good to hear I thought I was just weird because everyone seems to like it. I would imagine its a hop that goes along well with cascade and columbus, but on it's own it doesn't shine.

Anyway too many hops to waste more time on Amarillo.

On another note I am pleasantly surprised and pleased with the tropicalness of Olicana, I am tentatively thinking it might be a great local replacement for galaxy. I think I am going to split batch and try to dry hop with Citra and Olicana and one with Citra and Galaxy to see if they are similar.

Curious to hear what you think of it, although in the beers you have there is also Lemon Drop and Citra so it could also be one of those?

I don’t remember ever using Olicana. I did quite enjoy a beer flavoured with Amarillo long time ago but it only used 15g for 23 litres and it was still a couple of months before I enjoyed the flavour.

I tried Lemon Drop and actually wasn’t keen on that either!

 

[Pennine]

198 - Red Rye IPA
11l batch - 1.057/1.013 - mash 67c

Well I was inspired by Clints CCC IPA, so I figured to make this one a bit sooner than expected. Almost done wit the mash now. I am tentatively thinking to add cascade as well. Need to think on that a bit more. I have also never used special B before so giving it a shot. It's a bit roastier than I was expecting based on tasting it.

Well this was another idiotic brewday with a couple of **** ups. I took and initial pH reading and it was reading high at first 5.8 vs. the 5.3 beersmith predicted this was about 45 minutes in so conversion was mostly done already, so I added in 2 ml of phosphoric to drop it a bit and then it dropped to about 4.7? Not sure what happened here likely a pH meter issue but it was calibrated. Beersmith is also hit or miss, somedays its pretty accurate within 0.1 and other days it can be 0.4 off in either direction. So a very acidic wort after the mash. Hopefully the yeasties can make their magic. Secondly I left the heat stick in the boil and went for a walk, ended up losing about 2-3l of wort all over the floor. Anyway the S-04 is already pretty busy hopefully this one doesn't suck too much. I am chalking this one up to an experiment with very low pH wort into the boil.

1.80 kg​	Hook Head Pale (5.0 EBC)​	Grain​	5​	63.4 %​	1.17 L​
0.50 kg​	BEST Munich (BESTMALZ) (15.0 EBC)​	Grain​	6​	17.6 %​	0.33 L​
0.40 kg​	Rye, Flaked (3.9 EBC)​	Grain​	7​	14.1 %​	0.26 L​
0.14 kg​	Special B (Dingemans) (290.6 EBC)​	Grain​	8​	4.9 %​	0.09 L​
8.00 g​	Hallertau Magnum [14.00 %] - First Wort 30.0 min​	Hop​	9​	20.8 IBUs​	-​
10.00 g​	Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 7.0 min​	Hop​	10​	7.7 IBUs​	-​
10.00 g​	Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 7.0 min​	Hop​	11​	7.7 IBUs​	-​
30.00 g​	Chinook [13.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, 85.0 C​	Hop​	12​	17.5 IBUs​	-​
30.00 g​	Simcoe [13.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, 85.0 C​	Hop​	13​	17.5 IBUs​	-​
1.0 pkg​	S-04 (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [50.28 ml]​	Yeast​	14​	-​	-​

Kegged this one up early, am going to let it naturally carb. It really is too sour out of the fermenter I am hoping it will settle a bit after carbonated. May possibly be a dumper.

Oh and I need to look in Anna's balloon Co2 contraption. I forgot about how powerful suck back is when cold crashing...

 

[Pennine]

199 - Old and New IPA
11l batch - 1.056/1.011 - mash 66c

Last weeks brew was a complete **** show, so I am rebrewing an IPA. This week seems to be another pH overshoot but I let it ride, beersmith predicted 5.44 and it settled at 5.65. I am not sure what's going on. The pH meter is calibrated.

2.20 kg​	Maris Otter Malt (Muntons) (5.9 EBC)​	Grain​	6​	80.0 %​	1.43 L​
0.40 kg​	BEST Vienna (BESTMALZ) (9.0 EBC)​	Grain​	7​	14.5 %​	0.26 L​
0.10 kg​	BEST Caramel Munich II (BESTMALZ) (120.0 EBC)​	Grain​	8​	3.6 %​	0.07 L​
0.05 kg​	Honey Malt (49.3 EBC)​	Grain​	9​	1.8 %​	0.03 L​
10.00 g​	Simcoe [13.00 %] - First Wort 30.0 min​	Hop​	10​	24.1 IBUs​	-​
15.00 g​	Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.25 %] - Boil 7.0 min​	Hop​	11​	10.8 IBUs​	-​
10.00 g​	Eukanot [14.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min, 95.0 C​	Hop​	12​	7.9 IBUs​	-​
10.00 g​	Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.25 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min, 95.0 C​	Hop​	13​	6.9 IBUs​	-​
10.00 g​	Sabro [16.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min, 95.0 C​	Hop​	14​	9.0 IBUs​	-​
1.0 pkg​	Lalbrew New England East Coast Ale (Lallemand #-) [23.66 ml]​	Yeast​	15​	-​	-​
40.00 g​	Sabro [16.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	Hop​	16​	0.0 IBUs​	-​
25.00 g​	Eukanot [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	Hop​	17​	0.0 IBUs​	-​
15.00 g​	Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	Hop​	18​	0.0 IBUs​	-​

 

[Pennine]

197 - Halloween Axeman
22l batch - 1.072/1.012 - step mash 55/64/74c

Have an empty keg coming up and I wanted to get a nice hazy IPA going. This is a simple but good recipe based on Todd the Axeman from Surly & Amager, I drank a lot of this when stuck in the Minneapolis airport, and might possibly be one of my favorite American brews. I have brewed this a couple of times before but this will be the first time using Verdant yeast. It's such a good recipe the yeast doesn't really matter.

turning into a ****** up brewday my easybrew keeps tripping with the heating element on, stupid step mashes.... it's becoming a very hands on brewdays. Hopefully the boil works.

Well everything finished off ok, I am wondering if I was having power outages and I didn't notice? There is a bit of burnt on the bottom though so likely it was overheating with the step mash and that heavy of a malt bill. Anyway tastes great in the fermenter and I ended up with about 23l. almost 200g of hops in the boil and whirlpool. That is a lot of hops.

7.00 kg​	Pale Ale, Golden Promise®™ (Simpsons) (5.0 EBC)​	Grain​	7​	100.0 %​	4.56 L​
30.00 g​	Hallertau Magnum [14.00 %] - First Wort 45.0 min​	Hop​	8​	44.3 IBUs​	-​
30.00 g​	Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min​	Hop​	9​	7.5 IBUs​	-​
20.00 g​	Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.25 %] - Boil 5.0 min​	Hop​	10​	5.1 IBUs​	-​
70.00 g​	Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, 85.0 C​	Hop​	11​	17.9 IBUs​	-​
30.00 g​	Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.25 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, 85.0 C​	Hop​	12​	7.8 IBUs​	-​
1.0 pkg​	Verdant Yeast (Lallemand #- ) [50.28 ml]​	Yeast​	13​	-​	-​
150.00 g​	Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	Hop​	14​	0.0 IBUs​	-​
100.00 g​	Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.25 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	Hop​	15​	0.0 IBUs​	-​

Went to keg this up, talk about Hazy... I gave it a swirl to mix the hops up. So will need to wait another few hours till it all settled.

Notes about cold dry hop, this one is a fruit juice bomb. Like drinking orange juice. It's not like the original though which is more beer flavoured. It's good though! Can't wait to get it carbonated.

 

[foxbat]

Ok last one for the day, tasting the every good thing in the world imperial stout.

aroma is rich whiskey, oaky, coffee, alcohol and chocolate they seem all prevalent but expressing at slightly different times. I guess it shouldn't be surprising how strong the alcohol is considering I am probably around 12% with this one.

flavour is roasty and coffee, rich caramel malts, whiskey alcohol and some really nice velvety chocolatey on the back end. The bitterness is there but is so smooth and in the background. There is nice slight burn in the back of the mouth from the alcohol and it warms the belly still.

One more week for this one I think and then I will bottle it up, in 330s of course.

View attachment 34244

I had a very pleasant surprise this morning when the postie delivered a well packed and intact bottle of this epic stout to me. It's now in the garage conditioning until at least Christmas when it should be ready to try. I can't wait!

 

[Pennine]

187 - Autumn Stout
11l batch - 1.058/1.013 - mash 66c

Really wanted to brew another IPA but it's been a while since I have brewed up a stout. I also have been wanting to try out Sabro in one to see if any coconut comes through.

2.00 kg​	Maris Otter Malt (Muntons) (5.9 EBC)​	74.1 %​
0.20 kg​	Carabelge (39.4 EBC)​	7.4 %​
0.20 kg​	Carafa Special II (Weyermann) (817.5 EBC)​	7.4 %​
0.15 kg​	Chocolate Malt (886.5 EBC)​	5.6 %​
0.15 kg​	Oats, Flaked (2.0 EBC)​	5.6 %​
10.00 g​	Hallertau Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min​	29.9 IBUs​
30.00 g​	Sabro [16.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min​	20.8 IBUs​
1.0 pkg​	Lalbrew New England East Coast Ale (Lallemand #-) [23.66 ml]​	-​

187 - Autumn Stout tasting notes
I am falling behind on the tasting notes, and getting close to running out of the beer before they get properly reviewed. So this was brewed on 5 Sep, bottled on the 19 Sep, so it is roughly 2 months old.

Opens with a pop, this one is carbed up too high. It pours an opaque black with a nice brown head that lingers. It's so carbed I can reintroduce the head by swirling, which I am doing to let the excess gas off.

Aroma is very roasty, with a hint of caramel and yeast. Maybe even a slight acridness seemingly coming from the roast malts and excess carbonic acid.

Flavour is sweet and rich roasty malt up front, then changes into twangy, metallic and the sweetness tastes a bit hollow. There is some smooth fruity citrus in there and some strong acidity. It has a decent bitterness at the end that is nice but accents the acridness from the roast malt too much. Mouthfeel is coating, soft and lingers.

Overall there are a few things wrong with this one, it's way over carbonated, it also tastes too acidic which really accents the acridness of the roast malts and the fruitiness from Sabro, and finally 12% roast malts seems to be too much. It's still enjoyable however and I will definitely not be dumping these.

The New England East Coast Ale yeast gives a nice acidic fruity base that doesn't seem to mix well with stouts but makes a great fruity hazy IPA. I think with roast malts, 7-9% seems to be the magic level. 12% seems more like guiness levels and would probably do well on nitro but not plain old CO2. Also next time I will target a 5.5-5.6 mash pH, this one was 5.4.

 

[Pennine]

189 - Hops Galore
11l batch - 1.060/1.017 - mash 69c

Had a bunch of small bits and 20g packs of various fruity hops so figured a nice neipa was in order. I am going to try mix fermenting this with a little wb-06, based on a long ass thread about tree house yeast. This is probably the most complicated recipe i have done in a while and usually like to stick with 3 or less hops. Oh I also realize some of the harsher bitterness in the MCE IPA and Summer Breeze was due to using CTZ, I had a small amount of that left I had been trying to use up as well. Back to magnum on the next batch.

2.20 kg​	Maris Otter Malt (Muntons) (5.9 EBC)​	75.3 %​
0.20 kg​	BEST Munich (BESTMALZ) (15.0 EBC)​	6.8 %​
0.20 kg​	Oats, Flaked (2.0 EBC)​	6.8 %​
0.20 kg​	Vienna Malt (Simpsons) (7.5 EBC)​	6.8 %​
0.12 kg​	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC)​	4.1 %​
5.00 g​	Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.50 %] - First Wort 40.0 min​	16.0 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Azacca [15.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min, 80.0 C​	3.7 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min, 80.0 C​	2.9 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Galaxy [14.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min, 80.0 C​	3.4 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Idaho #7 [13.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min, 80.0 C​	3.2 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.25 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min, 80.0 C​	3.0 IBUs​
1.0 pkg​	SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] & a pinch of WB-06​	-​
10.00 g​	Azacca [15.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	0.0 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	0.0 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Galaxy [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	0.0 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Idaho #7 [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	0.0 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Mosaic (HBC 369) [12.25 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	0.0 IBUs​

189 - Hops Galore Tasting Notes

This one is also getting a bit old too.. nevertheless

Pops open with gusto, pours orangish with a slight brownish hue and hazy.
Aroma is kind of missing, I have to stick my nose in there pretty deep to get anything. I am getting some watermelon and lemon, a bit of that unique galaxy hop aroma I can't yet pinpoint and corn chips?
Flavour is hoppy as you could guess, its mixed fruity, lemons, pineapple and orange, there is a very pronounced hop flavour, not greeny vegetal, just a strong hop character. It is also quite hop spicy, like a saaz. Its carbonated heavy but drinks pretty smooth and has a maltiness to balance but its light. It is light on the palate and the bitterness is pretty low, but it's fitting for the style.
Overall, I enjoyed this one a lot and it was a good experiment with what happens when you use too many hops that you tend to lose unique characters and synergies between hops. It basically tastes like fruity hop overload and you don't get the nuanced flavours you would from a simpler hop bill. The best description is it's just a hoppy hazy IPA, not really memorable.

 

[Pennine]

200 - Wee Heavy
11l batch - 1.087/1.020 - mash 67c

So inspired by the wee heavy in the recent comp I am trying to brew something similar with a bit lower SG due to system and DME constraints. It's going through the 90 min boil now... Well that was a long brewday, 90 min mash and 90 min boil and hit higher numbers than expected. It tasted amazing going into the fermenter, I tried to keep the recipe somewhat similar %'s to @xozzx recipe but ingredient and hop wise it is a lot different. Hopefully it shines after fermentation too!

1.30 kg​	Maris Otter Malt (Muntons) (5.9 EBC)​	Grain​	7​	35.2 %​	0.85 L​
1.30 kg​	Pale Ale, Golden Promise®™ (Simpsons) (5.0 EBC)​	Grain​	8​	35.2 %​	0.85 L​
0.25 kg​	CHÂTEAU CRYSTAL NATURE® (150.1 EBC)​	Grain​	9​	6.8 %​	0.16 L​
0.20 kg​	Munich II (Weyermann) (16.7 EBC)​	Grain​	10​	5.4 %​	0.13 L​
0.10 kg​	Black Crystal (400.0 EBC)​	Grain​	11​	2.7 %​	0.07 L​
0.04 kg​	Chocolate Rye Malt (492.5 EBC)​	Grain​	12​	1.1 %​	0.03 L​
20.00 g​	Flyer [7.60 %] - First Wort 45.0 min​	Hop​	13​	30.0 IBUs​	-​
0.50 kg​	Spraymalt DME - Light [Boil] (9.8 EBC)​	Dry Extract​	14​	13.6 %​	0.32 L​
10.00 g​	Flyer [7.60 %] - Boil 20.0 min​	Hop​	15​	9.0 IBUs​	-​
1.0 pkg​	SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml]​	Yeast​	16​	-​	-​

 

[Pennine]

201 - Vienna Lager
11l batch - 1.059/1.012 - mash 65c

Couldn't think of what to brew today, so figured it was a nice day for a vienna lager, and I have a packet of Harvest yeast that needs to be used up. Longest brewday ever, had to increase the boil to 120 minutes to run some errands. Finsihed up a bit on the highend, but wort tasted great, spicy hoppy. I really like saaz.

I also bottled the 199 with Sabro, and have to say I am not a big fan of Sabro. It's very woody and green resin hops, no pine. Kind of like a chinook with no citrus or pine.

1.00 kg​	BEST Vienna (BESTMALZ) (9.0 EBC)​	Grain​	39.7 %​
1.00 kg​	Lager Malt (3.9 EBC)​	Grain​	39.7 %​
0.30 kg​	Munich II (Weyermann) (16.7 EBC)​	Grain​	11.9 %​
0.20 kg​	Rye, Flaked (3.9 EBC)​	Grain​	7.9 %​
0.02 kg​	Carafa II (811.6 EBC)​	Grain​	0.8 %​
20.00 g​	Sladek [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min​	Hop​	22.0 IBUs​
15.00 g​	Saaz [3.75 %] - Boil 30.0 min​	Hop​	9.7 IBUs​
15.00 g​	Saaz [3.75 %] - Boil 12.0 min​	Hop​	5.3 IBUs​
1.0 pkg​	Harvest (Imperial Yeast #L17)​	Yeast​	-​

 

[Pennine]

202 - West Coast IPA
11l batch - 1.064/1.009 - mash 66c

After drinking the DIPA I brewed a while back, I thought it would be nice to have an old school west coast IPA. Nice and crisp, dry and bitter. This will be brewed tomorrow. I need to get more water from the RO first today. Edit I ended up brewing today after all. Collected enough water throughout the day. The wort tastes amazing. Hoppy and spicy. Cascade really needs some collaborators to shine.

2.00 kg​	Lager Malt (Muntons) (5.9 EBC)​	69.4 %​
0.50 kg​	BEST Vienna (BESTMALZ) (9.0 EBC)​	17.4 %​
0.13 kg​	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 15L (30.0 EBC)​	4.5 %​
0.25 kg​	Cane (Beet) Sugar [Boil] (0.0 EBC)​	8.7 %​
10.00 g​	Hallertau Magnum [12.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min​	24.5 IBUs​
16.00 g​	Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min​	9.0 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min​	10.3 IBUs​
8.00 g​	Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min​	12.8 IBUs​
20.00 g​	Cascade [5.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min, 95.0 C​	5.8 IBUs​
12.00 g​	Centennial [10.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min, 95.0 C​	6.4 IBUs​
8.00 g​	Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min, 95.0 C​	6.6 IBUs​
1.0 pkg​	Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml]​	-​
20.00 g​	Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	0.0 IBUs​
20.00 g​	Centennial [10.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	0.0 IBUs​
20.00 g​	Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.50 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days​	0.0 IBUs​

 

[Pennine]

193 & 194 - HoPils 34/70 vs HoPyls M76
2x11l batch - 1.065/1.014 - mash 67c

Two perfectly good lager yeast cakes, ready for another experiment. Which one does better in a hoppy pilsner? I was tempted to give it an inappropriate name but it's Sunday after all.

After the discussions about olicana, I decided to increase both lemon drop and olicana up in the whirlpool and dry hop based on their alpha percentages. Should give a bit more expression from these two hops. I borrowed some screenshots from this cool website Hop Comparison Tool - Beer Maverick they didn't have olicana in the database but after looking at the stats it's myrcene lower than the other two only 19-20%! It's total oil is very low as well. I may actually bump this one up some more... done!

Ended up with way better efficiency, I adjusted the mill.

4.00 kg​	Lager Malt (3.9 EBC)​	70.2 %​
0.75 kg​	BEST Vienna (BESTMALZ) (9.0 EBC)​	13.2 %​
0.35 kg​	Carabelge (39.4 EBC)​	6.1 %​
0.20 kg​	BEST Acidulated (BESTMALZ) (6.0 EBC)​	3.5 %​
0.20 kg​	Barley, Flaked (3.3 EBC)​	3.5 %​
0.20 kg​	Melanoiden Malt (39.4 EBC)​	3.5 %​
12.00 g​	Hallertau Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min​	14.2 IBUs​
40.00 g​	Olicana [9.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, 85.0 C​	8.1 IBUs​
30.00 g​	Lemondrop [6.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, 85.0 C​	4.0 IBUs​
20.00 g​	Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, 85.0 C​	5.4 IBUs​
1.0 cake​	Bavarian Lager (Mangrove Jack's #M76) OR​	-​
1.0 cake​	Saflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70)​	-​
40.00 g​	Olicana [9.00 %] - Dry Hop 2.0 Days​	0.0 IBUs​
30.00 g​	Lemondrop [6.00 %] - Dry Hop 2.0 Days​	0.0 IBUs​
20.00 g​	Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 2.0 Days​	0.0 IBUs​

View attachment 33986View attachment 33987

Tasting notes 193&194

Time to give these ones an official tasting, although I should have done it about a month ago.

They poured lively and maybe a bit too carbonated. More of the belgian IPA level. The 34/70 was a bit more carbonated than the m76 and hazier.

Aroma - 34/70 I am struggling to get much of any aroma, maybe a hint of citrus and mint but not much else. This one is more pleasant
M76 I get yeast and some of that citrusy that is in the 34/70 version
Both are way too light on the aroma

Flavour - 34/70 its a hard flavour to describe, its a light creamy malt with a strange fruitiness that borders on the herbal onion flavours, kind of similar to mozart. Its like a black currant but less sour but has that meaty character. Medium light earthy bitterness and very light mouthfeel that doesnt linger. Maybe a bit of caramel candy and cardboard oxidation.
M76 is very similar to the 34/70 with a little more fruitiness. Finishes exactly the same.

Overall - these were bottled on the 25th of October and unfortunately they have lost almost all of their hoppy goodness. I am wondering if there was some hop creep happening over the course of the 6 weeks. These were much much better flavour and aroma wise right after they were carbonated. I am not sure if I am a fan of olicana or lemon drop, they seem to be mediocre hops with little staying power. It was much nicer earlier on, fruity tropical and citrusy, I seem to remember me comparing it to a galaxy replacement which I do not agree with anymore. The beers are not bad and are pretty easy drinking but I will definitely not be brewing with those hops again. There are much better options out there to spend your time and money on. I also think I will start dropping the flaked barley, acid malt and melanoiden malt from my recipes and also targeting at minimum a 3/1 sulfate to chloride ratio with no table salt additions to the RO water.

As for the yeast 34/70 is the winner, I do not like the yeasty aroma I a getting from M76.

Fun learning experience, I will do something like this again. I have a batch of Imperial harvest yeast going I my go head to head with 34/70 in a dark czech pilsner.

 

[Pennine]

203 - Hoppy Brown Ale
11l batch - 1.059/1.015 - mash 67c

Looks like I will brew this tomorrow, still tinkering with the recipe a bit. I don't have any us-05 hence the T-58. I am also trying to use a higher percentage of oats to get a creamy feel per here A Case for Brewing With Oats - Scott Janish

I am open to critiques for the next 18 hours or so.

1.00 kg​	BEST Munich (BESTMALZ) (15.0 EBC)​	35.7 %​
0.70 kg​	Pale Ale, Golden Promise®™ (Simpsons) (5.0 EBC)​	25.0 %​
0.50 kg​	Oats, Flaked (2.0 EBC)​	17.9 %​
0.20 kg​	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (39.4 EBC)​	7.1 %​
0.20 kg​	Munich II (Weyermann) (16.7 EBC)​	7.1 %​
0.10 kg​	Carafa II (Weyermann) (817.5 EBC)​	3.6 %​
0.10 kg​	Oats, Golden Naked®™ (Simpsons) (18.0 EBC)​	3.6 %​
15.00 g​	Cascade [5.50 %] - First Wort 30.0 min​	15.1 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Flyer [12.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min​	15.7 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min​	13.9 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min​	4.3 IBUs​
1.0 pkg​	SafBrew Specialty Ale (DCL/Fermentis #T-58) [23.66 ml]​	-​

 

[foxbat]

I am not sure if I am a fan of olicana or lemon drop, they seem to be mediocre hops with little staying power. It was much nicer earlier on, fruity tropical and citrusy, I seem to remember me comparing it to a galaxy replacement which I do not agree with anymore.

I've been toying with the idea of Lemon Drop hops in a light lager. Do you think they have the sort of character that would work in a lager?

PS. I moved your bottle of Imperial Stout from the warm house to the cold garage last weekend to let it condition a bit before drinking it after Christmas. I'm looking forward to sampling it and will definitely report back with pics and a review.

 

[Pennine]

I've been toying with the idea of Lemon Drop hops in a light lager. Do you think they have the sort of character that would work in a lager?

PS. I moved your bottle of Imperial Stout from the warm house to the cold garage last weekend to let it condition a bit before drinking it after Christmas. I'm looking forward to sampling it and will definitely report back with pics and a review.

I am really not sure about lemon drop I haven't used it on its own yet so it's hard to give a recommendation. The beer is definitely lemon citrus but also a bit herbal it seemed.

Hope you enjoy it, the flavours are much more subtle now. relatively speaking.

 

[Pennine]

201 - Vienna Lager
11l batch - 1.059/1.012 - mash 65c

Couldn't think of what to brew today, so figured it was a nice day for a vienna lager, and I have a packet of Harvest yeast that needs to be used up. Longest brewday ever, had to increase the boil to 120 minutes to run some errands. Finsihed up a bit on the highend, but wort tasted great, spicy hoppy. I really like saaz.

I also bottled the 199 with Sabro, and have to say I am not a big fan of Sabro. It's very woody and green resin hops, no pine. Kind of like a chinook with no citrus or pine.

1.00 kg​	BEST Vienna (BESTMALZ) (9.0 EBC)​	Grain​	39.7 %​
1.00 kg​	Lager Malt (3.9 EBC)​	Grain​	39.7 %​
0.30 kg​	Munich II (Weyermann) (16.7 EBC)​	Grain​	11.9 %​
0.20 kg​	Rye, Flaked (3.9 EBC)​	Grain​	7.9 %​
0.02 kg​	Carafa II (811.6 EBC)​	Grain​	0.8 %​
20.00 g​	Sladek [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min​	Hop​	22.0 IBUs​
15.00 g​	Saaz [3.75 %] - Boil 30.0 min​	Hop​	9.7 IBUs​
15.00 g​	Saaz [3.75 %] - Boil 12.0 min​	Hop​	5.3 IBUs​
1.0 pkg​	Harvest (Imperial Yeast #L17)​	Yeast​	-​

just bottled this one and it is delicious the hop malt balance is perfect.

 

[samale]

Vienna lager is on the brew list for January. Going to try brewing a dark German larger as well

 

[Pennine]

This was delivered yesterday so the belgian partigyle is on! Brew a strong trippel in my brewzilla then transfer 12l of the rich wort to my braumeister to boil and then add an additional 15l of water for the second 5% beer to use the 655 in and let it sour. It's going to be a very simple recipe, 2-3 malts. Thanks for the idea @strange-steve and @samale.

 

[Pennine]

204 - Belgian Single and Sour Split Batch
22l batch - 1.064/1.012 - mash 65c

Gonna give the easybrewer one more brew and will split it up in two 10l fermenters and use Wyeast 1214 for one and WLP 655 for the other. Should be a fun little experiment to sample the yeasts.

Well dammit, I seem to have hit the max brewery efficiency today and ended up with 22l of 1.064 rather than the 1.051 I planned. I hit 84% vs. the estimated 70% I have gotten in the past. I guess this will be a belgian blonde ale. Tastes stunning out of the fermenter.

5.00 kg​	Lager Malt (Simpsons) (3.0 EBC)​	91.3 %​
0.30 kg​	Carabelge (39.4 EBC)​	4.8 %​
0.20 kg​	BEST Munich (BESTMALZ) (15.0 EBC)​	3.8 %​
30.00 g​	Sladek [6.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min​	21.3 IBUs​
30.00 g​	Saaz [3.75 %] - Boil 15.0 min​	6.8 IBUs​
1.0 pkg​	Belgian Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1214) [124.21 ml]​	-​

 

[Pennine]

190 & 191 - Festbiers
2x11l batch - 1.056/1.012 - mash 66c

well the temps have finally dropped, and now time to make a lager for october. i am going to split this one in 2 and compare two yeasts 34/70 and M76 bavarian lager. Wort tastes amazing!

2.00 kg​	Lager Malt (3.9 EBC)​	35.4 %​
1.75 kg​	Vienna Malt (6.9 EBC)​	31.0 %​
1.25 kg​	BEST Munich (BESTMALZ) (15.0 EBC)​	22.1 %​
0.30 kg​	Munich II (Weyermann) (16.7 EBC)​	5.3 %​
0.25 kg​	Carahell (Weyermann) (25.6 EBC)​	4.4 %​
0.10 kg​	Melanoidin (Weyermann) (59.1 EBC)​	1.8 %​
15.00 g​	Tettnang [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min​	7.7 IBUs​
10.00 g​	Hallertau Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min​	16.0 IBUs​
20.00 g​	Tettnang [4.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min​	5.1 IBUs​
1.0 pkg​	Saflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70) or 1 M76 Bavarian Lager​	-​

190 & 191 Festbier tasting notes
Doing a side by side on these after 3+ months of lagering.

Both pour copper and clear, with a nice white head that lingers for a while.

Aroma in the 3470 is bready malt, toast and caramel and a very light hint of yeast. M76 has a lager sulphur at first and then the maltiness shines through a bit. Smells a little more like a lager should, where the 3470 smells a bit more like an ale.

Flavour 3470 is very much like the aroma, malty and biscuity with some sweetness. Very little bitterness. Mouthfeel is relatively light and carbonation is medium high some fruitiness at the back end. M76 is a bit more effervescent up front and has that sulphur that makes its feel lighter on the palate. It's less sweet but still quite malty and has a hint of fruity esters at the end. It's definitely easier drinking of the two.

Overall, these actually turned out really nice. They are both really good flavourful lagers not really festbiers but probably more a marzen or maybe even a strong alt bier. Next time I will definitely need more hops, probably closer to 40 ibus in the bittering addition. I am also not sure if the fruitiness is coming from the yeast or hops, I get it from both yeasts so I am assuming from the Tettnanger.

I also tried these blindfolded. I was able to tell these apart every time by both the aroma and taste, although the taste was a little closer.

As for preference? I didn't really have one, although it's really interesting to me how aroma affects the flavor. I would say if you like the more lager like sulphur yeasts go for M76, if you like a cleaner maltier yeast use 3470.