Strong Arm Tactics - Hoppy Best Bitter

[Simonh82]

Planning this one for the weekend. The recipe started life as a strong golden ale but as the night have drawn in I tweaked it by upping the crystal and knocking it down a few ABV point to become a very hoppy best bitter.

I'm going to be reusing yeast from my last brew. Its only been in the fridge for a week so I'll probably just chuck it in without a starter.

I don't think all English/Continental hops stand up to being used in large quantities for dry hopping but I've had good success with EKG, First Gold and Pilgrim.

Recipe for 30L

Brew Method: BIAB
Boil Time: 30 min
Efficiency: 76% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.043
Final Gravity: 1.009
ABV (alternate): 4.6%
IBU (tinseth): 34.8


FERMENTABLES:
2.8 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (50.9%)
1.3 kg - Ireland - Ale Malt (23.6%)
0.8 kg - German - Munich Dark (14.5%)
0.2 kg - United Kingdom - Crystal 45L (3.6%)
0.2 kg - German - CaraAroma (3.6%)
0.2 kg - German - Melanoidin (3.6%)

HOPS:
15 g - Admiral, Type: Pellet, AA: 13.3, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 13.39
50 g - East Kent Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.2, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 4.53
50 g - First Gold, Type: Pellet, AA: 9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 7.83
50 g - Pilgrim, Type: Pellet, AA: 10.4, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 9.05
50 g - East Kent Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.2, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days
50 g - First Gold, Type: Pellet, AA: 9, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days
50 g - Pilgrim, Type: Pellet, AA: 10.4, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 65 C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 22 L
2) Dunk sparge, Temp: 85 C, Time: 10 min, Amount: 14 L

YEAST:
White Labs - Essex Ale Yeast WLP022
Attenuation (custom): 78%
Fermentation Temp: 19 C

TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Ca2: 150; Mg2: 4; Na: 24C; Cl: 48; SO4: 220; HCO3: 20

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/675558/strong-arm-tactics-hoppy-best-bitter-

 

[dan125]

Great name for a beer

 

[foxbat]

I was expecting a Cameron's Strong Arm clone! Recipe looks good, hard to go wrong with first gold and EKG.

 

[Simonh82]

I was expecting a Cameron's Strong Arm clone! Recipe looks good, hard to go wrong with first gold and EKG.

I've not come across that beer. It was originally called summer stunner but that felt a bit inappropriate for the time of year, so it got tweaked to be a bitter instead of a golden ale.

 

[Simonh82]

The brew day went well. In fact it was one of the smoothest brew days in a while. I've been concentrating on speeding up my brew days so did a 45 min mash and 30 minute boil. I also skipped the 20 minute hop stands I've been doing, replacing it with a 5 minute addition and immediate chilling at flame out. I was worried that this might make it less hoppy but a quick taste of the wort suggested that it was plenty hoppy enough. Despite the shorter mash, I still got 80% brew house efficiency which is about what I normally get with a 60 minute mash.

In the moment I swapped dark Munich for light Munich as I had an open bag that was well past its best before date.

I reused yeast from a previous brew. I chucked in a small jam jar's worth. I was surprised to find that it had only just started fermenting almost 24 hours later. I'm sure there are enough yeast cells in there but making a starter makes a huge difference to how quickly it takes off.

 

[Simonh82]

Just took a gravity sample and this one is down to 1.009, bang on target. The taste is great straight from the fermentor.

I chucked the dry hops in and gave it a blanket of CO2 to protect it from any oxygen I let in to the fermentor.

I'm going to start cold crashing tomorrow and maybe keg it on Wednesday. Looking forward to this one.