Rods brewday

[Rodcx500z]

bought a wort chiller today and a few grains maris otter crystal 120, I can't wait so fired the kettle up it's mashing now, found a great little HBS 20 miles from me so we had a day Southport spot of dinner and called on the way back, https://www.leyland-home-brew.co.uk/ semi retired couple been doing it years only open thurs fri sat they will post stuff if you ring them, I was in there an hour talking to them very knowledgeable, got some challenger hops as well, I don,t know if these are cheap or not corny kegs £100-00 they have a very well stocked shop, reet back to the brew

 

[Rodcx500z]

All done o why o why did I not get a chiller sooner , Here's what I brewed
x bitter
Extra Special/Strong Bitter (ESB)
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 21.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.400
Total Hops (g): 70.20
Original Gravity (OG): 1.045 (°P): 11.2
Final Gravity (FG): 1.010 (°P): 2.6
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.54 %
Colour (SRM): 29.3 (EBC): 57.7
Bitterness (IBU): 32.3 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
3.500 kg United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (79.55%)
0.500 kg United Kingdom - Crystal 140L (11.36%)
0.200 kg Flaked Oats (4.55%)
0.200 kg United Kingdom - Roasted Barley (4.55%)
Hop Bill
----------------
25.2 g Target Leaf (11.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.2 g/L)
25.0 g Challenger Leaf (8.5% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Aroma) (1.2 g/L)
20.0 g Target Pellet (11.5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Nottingham Ale Yeast

Recipe Generated with Brewer's Friend
The only target i did not hit today was og only got 1.040 i got more or less bang on 21l and the clearest wort i have ever had, i have always had a passion for bitter but i am going to try something completley different next, earlier i had one of those light bulb moments we have a Hi Sense american fridge freezer, it has 2 freezers which are programable you can use one as a fridge how high a temp it will go i don't know will have a play in the morning i know i can get a 25l fv in with all the drawers out if it works out i think swmbo is going for a fancy meal one way or another i am having a fridge

 

[Rodcx500z]

Never had wort this clear

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi Rod

Looks Good ... not a lot of beers use Target late in the boil (being a high AA% hop it's usually used earlier, more) but I quite like the honey-ish taste it gives when used late

Just one question though, are you sure the Crystal Malt you used was the 140L, dark crystal malt you've got in your recipe? I know wort/beer looks lighter in trial jars but at 57.7 EBC (and I'm pretty sure Brewer's Friend calculates colour using the Morey formula, so that's around 150 EBC in "old money" (by MCU)) that beer should be looking much darker than that if you did ... darker than Old Peculier, as an example, which (at just over 100 EBC (by MCU)) is a dark brown mahogany colour, but not as dark as Guinness (200 EBC by MCU)

Meanwhile, it's worth go backing to the Brewer's Friend calculator and revisiting that recipe and using their calculators to assess the efficiency you actually achieved and record that. If you get in the habit of doing that over a few brews then you should have enough info to more accurately predict your Brewhouse Efficiency, for you to use in future recipes, to hit your numbers and to get out just what you expected

Cheers, PhilB

 

[Rodcx500z]

Soory Phil it's 120 ebc, and I will try and get my head round brewers friend, and I left the roasted barley out would that explain the gravity points doh it's in my tub weighed out ready must have forgot

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi Rod

Don't beat yourself up, we've all done it ... the combination of events i) forgetting to add the roasted barley (but then only 200g of that wouldn't have added even 1 extra point of gravity, probably, it's just there to colour the beer up and give some roasty flavours, really) ii) achieving low to mid 60s% efficiency instead of your estimated 70% and ii) using more "standard" colour crystal instead of the dark in the recipe ... has turned your beer from the dark ESB (Old Peculier/Riggwelter/Sneck Lifter) type of beer in the recipe you posted ... to looking like exactly the sort of Best Bitter I'd be wanting to drink, personally :small ... just don't you dare go calling it an Amber f****ing Ale

Like I say, it'll be good practice with Brewer's Friend to revisit your recipe, adjust it to represent what you actually used on your brewday, then use the calculators to calculate your actual efficiency ... you could even go on from there to alter the recipe "assumptions" (the figures it uses for efficiency and losses, etc) to get the recipe to reflect what actually happened on brewday

Cheers, PhilB

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Phil, I am just pleased that my brews are getting better the chiller made it a lot easier to get the temp down still had to pitch this morning at 22c , it,s all stop now no more storage space, although I may get through a few tonight watching Liverpool lol, amber ale there is no such thing it's all rebranded bitter for the posh gits think i will look round for cheap fridge the idea I had of using one of ours is a big no no

 

[Andymoz-70]

bought a wort chiller today and a few grains maris otter crystal 120, I can't wait so fired the kettle up it's mashing now, found a great little HBS 20 miles from me so we had a day Southport spot of dinner and called on the way back, https://www.leyland-home-brew.co.uk/ semi retired couple been doing it years only open thurs fri sat they will post stuff if you ring them, I was in there an hour talking to them very knowledgeable, got some challenger hops as well, I don,t know if these are cheap or not corny kegs £100-00 they have a very well stocked shop, reet back to the brew

It's a great little shop. That's where I get all my stuff from. About 20mins fromy house. So helpful too

 

[Rodcx500z]

It is Andy I am about 20 miles away down the 61 then 65 about a 1 hour round trip

 

[Rodcx500z]

This gervin yeast is a beast, just racked the bitter I did 6 days ago into secondary took a sample 1.004 from 1.040 it's going in the shed now for a week then into bottles, sample tasted nice

 

[Andymoz-70]

It is Andy I am about 20 miles away down the 61 then 65 about a 1 hour round trip

Yes I'll be in there tomorrow picking up some more yeast and maybe a stout kit and other stuff. Was off work today so after a trip to Southport (To enjoy the fine weather!!!) Made up these beauties. The one on the left is a raspberry and lime cider. The right one is a ginger and rhubard cider from home grown rhubard. So see how these turn out :)

 

[Rodcx500z]

Yes I'll be in there tomorrow picking up some more yeast and maybe a stout kit and other stuff. Was off work today so after a trip to Southport (To enjoy the fine weather!!!) Made up these beauties. The one on the left is a raspberry and lime cider. The right one is a ginger and rhubard cider from home grown rhubard. So see how these turn out :)

Hi Andy they look nice I have never brewed cider but I am going to soon, happy brewing

 

[Andymoz-70]

Hi Andy they look nice I have never brewed cider but I am going to soon, happy brewing

Cheers Rod :)

 

[Rodcx500z]

Been to HBS today got 4kg mo, 1kg munich, I have some crystal 120ebc, about 200g of carafe 3, hops I have 10g target, 50g bramling cross, 100g challenger, 100g citra, suggestions welcome

 

[Slid]

Been to HBS today got 4kg mo, 1kg munich, I have some crystal 120ebc, about 200g of carafe 3, hops I have 10g target, 50g bramling cross, 100g challenger, 100g citra, suggestions welcome

I suppose it depends on what you want. Challenger and Bramling Cross would get you a nice English brew and a Citra based beer, using the 10g Target to bitter would give you a very different sort of beer altogether, using the MO and Munich with 200g -300g of Crystal.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I suppose it depends on what you want. Challenger and Bramling Cross would get you a nice English brew and a Citra based beer, using the 10g Target to bitter would give you a very different sort of beer altogether, using the MO and Munich with 200g -300g of Crystal.

Thanks for the pointers Slid , all this grain and hops is still new to me, I like both those styles so I may get some more grain and do both, advice much appreciated

 

[crowcrow]

You must have a huge bottle supply to be meeting all the beers you are making, I bet you are popular right now

 

[Rodcx500z]

Not really crowcrow but I did buy another pb today, that's 3 pb's 3 fv'v and 80 bottles + a few at friends houses

 

[Andymoz-70]

Not really crowcrow but I did buy another pb today, that's 3 pb's 3 fv'v and 80 bottles + a few at friends houses

I've got bottles everywhere but thinking of getting a pressure barrel for storage (because it's a bit of a pain spilling everything on the floor and bottling). But also for batch priming in the barrel. Don't know anything about them though and never batch primed either. But surely must save time and effort. Does the beer last as long in them as in bottles?

 

[crowcrow]

I have a pb that I've not gotten around to using yet - let me know how you get on with it. I have a handpull and planning on making something to drink at my birthday with a few friends, but think most people will be going for the corny kegged beers. Will see.

bought a wort chiller today and a few grains maris otter crystal 120, I can't wait so fired the kettle up it's mashing now, found a great little HBS 20 miles from me so we had a day Southport spot of dinner and called on the way back, https://www.leyland-home-brew.co.uk/ semi retired couple been doing it years only open thurs fri sat they will post stuff if you ring them, I was in there an hour talking to them very knowledgeable, got some challenger hops as well, I don,t know if these are cheap or not corny kegs £100-00 they have a very well stocked shop, reet back to the brew

Price is OK but depends on what you get. For brand new that is OK, but reconditioned is quick pricey. Can get them for £50, or even cheaper if happy to sort them out yourself.