Rich and Dave's Old Speckled Hen Challenge

[Vossy1]

Great post guys, well done :clap: I'm surprised more brewers don't do this sort of thing, or corny swaps, ie, I'll do 2 of this, you do 2 of that and we'll swap a keg each.. etc :hmm:
Love the labels, the Thai head one brings back fond memories (if it's that one, even if it's not :lol: )

 

[BrotherMalice]

Its interestng to see how little the differences were baring in mind the differences in the brewing method :)

 

[rich27500]

Here's the pics as promised. My version is on the left, the real thing is in the middle and Dave's is on the right.

 

[beerguzzler8518]

Great stuff! :thumb: :

I'm planning on doing this recipe in a couple of weeks, hopefully for xmas, providing I can keep my grubby paws out of the stock, :whistle:

 

[rich27500]

I think you'll find quality control is compulsory BG8518

 

[BrotherMalice]

There really isnt much to tell between them visually. - they all look great :)

 

[rickthebrew]

Awesome post !! I also brew with the no chill method - although I sometimes put two full fv's in half a bath of cold water with some ice packs to speed up the process but normally it's left overnight to cool ! ( south west water and a water meter = already hefty water bill :x )

Think I'll brew this recipe for my next brew - cheers

 

[rich27500]

You won't regret it mate and as for consistency I brewed this again yesterday and got 20L at 1.064 exactly my pre-dilution figures from the last brew. BIAB inconsistent my bottom!

 

[jaymondo]

great post and a great experiment :clap: good results aswell proving what we already suspected, homebrewers drink better beer :drink:

 

[mmaguy41]

Looking good! I was thinking of doing a clone of this but i have a different recipe from a book i bought, it uses less crystal malt, cane sugar instead of syrup and has challenger and ekg hops. It also recomends wyeast 1084 or 1028 liquid yeast but im not spending 8 quid on yeast

 

[eggman]

Maybe it's a trick of the light :wha: but Rich's brew looks more like the right colour
I love this beer so when i make the step over to ag in the near future it's going to be my first brew :

 

[rich27500]

Dave's was slightly darker but not as much as the picture suggests. I am making this for the 4th time right now.

 

[eggman]

:party:
Happy brewing mate :

 

[rickthebrew]

Brewing 46litres of this today, grain bill the same almost but i`m aiming for something around 4% as my tun won`t fit enough grain for 46litres and I want more of a session ale

Hops are challanger and EKG - yeast is wlp002 - looking forward to it already :thumb:

 

[BrotherMalice]

Just ordered the hops to get this on :)

Are Maris Otter and Crystal 120 OK to use for this brew?

 

[rich27500]

They are perfectLy ok but we used dark crystal which is more 240ish. We used SO4 in the challenge but I just recently used Nottingham and the tasters whilst bottling last week suggested it was going to be excellent.

 

[BrotherMalice]

I have a pack of SO4 so will be using that :)

Will have to re-organise the "brewery" as I currently have a black currant wine and a coffee wine on the go at the moment and they are taking up much needed beer brewing space...

 

[olriley]

Hello chaps. Inspired by your reports, I've brewed this and got it in the FV.

From what I can interpret, you both had yours in the primary FV for a little over two weeks, and went straight to bottle from there. Is that about right?

Cheers! :

 

[beerguzzler8518]

I brewed this yesterday but my OG was only 1.052, but that was because my mash temp dropped like a stone - 63c after an hour. Ended up adding a couple of litres of boiling water and got it up to 65 for the final hour.

Doing the recipe from the Graham Wheller's book today. Got extra insulation for that.

Doing a blind side by side taste test at xmas. Purchased v Rich/Dave's v Wheeler :

 

[rich27500]

Olriley - yep that's how I did it

Beer guzzler - enjoy :