Homebrewer03’s Weblog

Brewing Roster 2009

A quick resume of what I’ll be brewing in 2009 as I doubt I’ll create a page with pics for each brew.

A Hint of Heaven           Brewed 21st Feb 2009     20 litres

OG. 1048  IBU 40

3000g Pale Malt
322g Crystal Malt
318g Lager Malt
152g Torrified Wheat
144g Chocolate Malt
150g Dark Muscovado Sugar
20g Hallertau (2.1% AA) 90 mins
21g Goldings (3.5% AA) 90 mins
57g Fuggles (4.4% AA) 90 mins
14g Fuggles – steep
20g Hallertau – steep
Nottingham yeast

This is basically a brewed comprised of leftover malts and hops purchased back in October. Most of my brews have turned out
spectacularly unhoppy so I wound up the IBUs to an
unprecedented 40. I’m fairly pleased with the results so far but laying off drinking it too early. Despite what is said about conditioning I maintain that an ale (especially a heavily hopped one) doesnt reach peak condition until at least 4 months in the bottle.

Summers Here     Brewed 28th March 2009     20 litres

OG. 1040     36 IBU

3000g Pale Malt
180g Torrified Wheat
170g Flaked Maize
135g Crystal Malt
56g Challenger (5.1%) 90 mins
20g Dried Elderflowers – 15 mins
20g Goldings – steeped in wort
Safale 04 yeast

More than a nod in the direction of Badgers ‘Golden Glory’ on this one. I was looking to create a pale malted summer drinker with my favourite Challenger/Goldings hop combination finished off with the peach aroma of elderflowers. As I’m brewing a few ‘big beers’ at the moment this will be a welcome brew to sit in the garden with on a nice Saturday afternoon.

Authentic IPA     Brewed 4th April 2009     20 litres

OG. 1050       51 IBU

4908g Pale Malt
285g Crystal Malt
14g Fuggles – 90 mins
14g Fuggles – 80 mins
14g Fuggles – 70 mins
14g Fuggles – 60 mins
14g Fuggles – 50 mins
14g Goldings – 40 mins
14g Goldings – 30 mins
15g Goldings – 20 mins
15g Goldings – 10 mins
22g Goldings – steep
Safale 04 yeast

I have plans to brew an APA later in the year so thought I’d have a go at a more traditional English IPA with hops and malts to suit. I expect this’ll have to age for the best part of 9 months to ensure smoothness rather than harsh bitterness. The hop schedule should keep me on my toes on the brew day!

Bumbling Bee     Brewed 25th April 2009     20 litres

OG 1062     IBU 33

3250g Pale Malt
170g Flaked Maize
140g Torrified Wheat
80g Crystal Malt
23g Fuggles – 90 mins
27g Challenger – 90 mins
17g Challenger – steeped
680g Orange Blossom honey – steeped 4 days after pitching
Safale 04 yeast

Looking to get a nice honey taste into this one. As Honey is 100% fermentable then adding it after the main fermentation has died down will hopefully preserve some of its flavour and aroma.

Flints Return     Brewed 29th April 2009     12 litres

OG. 1070    IBU 34

4000g Lager Malt
180g Torrified Wheat
160g Flaked Maize
90g Pale Malt
80g Hallertau – 90 mins
20g Hallertau – steep
US-05 yeast

Around 2002-2003 I used to enjoy tins of Flints Super Strength Lager which was imported by the now defunct Robert Cain brewery in Liverpool. I’m attempting to replicate this smooth high strength lager and age for well over 12 months to ensure full maturity.

Third Time Lucky     Brewed: 27th June 2009     20 litres

OG. 1056      IBU. 46

3000g Pale Malt
220g Brown Malt
180g Wheat Malt
140g Roasted Barley
80g Chocolate Malt
60g Black Malt
28g Progess (6.25% AA) – 90 mins
17g Northdowns (8.0% AA) – 90 mins
22g Challenger (5.1% AA) – 90 mins
20g Challenger – Steep
Safale 04 yeast

As the name suggests, I’ve had 2 unsatisfactory attempts at brewing a dark porter. Hopefully I haven’t relied too heavy on any one particular dark malt to give this brew its ‘roastiness’. Harshness is all too easy to impart in a brew like this.

Festival Ale     Brewed: 18th July 2009     25 Litres

OG. 1037    IBU 31

3440g Pale Malt
150g Wheat Malt
120g Brown Malt
120g Crystal Malt
60g Roasted Barley
50g Black Malt
16g Northdowns (8% AA) – 90 mins
28g Progress (6.25% AA) – 90 mins
20g Challenger (5.1% AA) – Steep
Safale 04 yeast

A brew to commemorate my 10th consecutive trip to the Great British Beer Festival in London this August. This will be out in the garage for conditioning a day before we go.

Looking to create a standard bitter round about the 3.5% mark. Bit of an unusual grain bill for the style but what the heck, lets see what it makes!

Blue Ridge Ale     Brewed 29th August 2009     23L

OG. 1054     IBU 45

4600g Pale Malt
368g Carapils
41g Chocolate Malt
10g Amarillo (9.5% AA) – 90 mins
13g Cascade (7.6% AA) – 90 mins
25g Amarillo – 15 mins
28g Cascade – 15 mins
20g Cascade – steep
20g Amarillo – steep
US-05 Yeast

This will be the first American Pale Ale I’ve brewed. Looking forward to seeing how the typically American hops will give the beer a citrusy taste and aroma. I’m not sure exactly what the carapils will bring, its supposed to be useful for creating a nice creamy head. I’ve taken advice over the hop schedule and will be extracting half the bitterness 15 mins before the end of the boil. Also ramped up the dry hopping to a massive 40g of hops.

Bramshott ESB     Brewed 5th September 2009     23L

OG. 1052     IBU 35

4710g Pale Malt
254g Special B
103g Crystal Malt (60 SRM)
22g Progress (6% AA) – 90 mins
20g Northdown (8% AA) – 30 mins
35g Challenger (5.1% AA) – 15 mins
36g Cascade – steep
Safale 04 yeast

Started off  life as a Best Bitter but overhit gravity and ended up with an ESB. This is a bit experimental with the Special B as I’ve not used it before. The Cascades will add a nice big hop note at the end.

Noar Hill Bitter     Brewed 10th September 2009     23L

OG. 1036     IBU 33

3183g Pale Malt
205g Torrified Wheat
72g Crystal Malt (60 SRM)
16g Black Malt
147g Sugar
16g Challenger (7.6% AA) – 90 mins
19g Fuggles (4.8% AA) – 30 mins
6g Northdowns (8% AA) – 15 mins
20g Progress (6% AA) – 15 mins
17g Challenger – steep
Safale 04 yeast

This is based on a recipe for Gales Butser Bitter that I got online. The recipe didn’t seem right, entering it into brewing software showed the grain bill was massively short. I also forget to buy any Goldings which was part of the recipe. I ended up adapting it and ended up with this!

Butser Bitter is named after a hill not far from where I live so I’ve named this one after a hill only a few miles from Butser.

Clackmannan 70/-     Brewed 20th Septemer 2009     23L

OG.  1040    IBU 31

1800g Pale Malt
1500g Munich Malt
120g Roasted Barley
85g Chocolate Malt
30g Challenger (7.6% AA) – 90 mins
12g Challenger – 15 mins
20g Challenger – steep
Windsor Yeast

My first attempt at a Scottish style. I went for a 2 hour mash at 69C and a 2 hour boil. I also reduced 4L of wort down to 2L in an attempt to get a caramel taste in there.

JBK Anniversary Ale     Brewed 3rd October 2009

OG. 1044     IBU. 42

LOST TO INFECTION 😦

3880g Pale Malt
209g Light Crystal Malt
176g Wheat Malt
45g Roasted Barley
26g Northdown (8%) – 90 mins
18g Northdown – 30 mins
32g Fuggles (5.4%) – 15 mins
24g Fuggles – steep
Safale 04 yeast

This brew is to commemorate 5 years of ‘Jims Beer Kit’ the best homebrewing forum on the internet. Theres 15 of us brewing different interpretations of the kind of ale that Jim likes to brew over the 2/3/4th October 2009.

Bohunt Best Brewed      17th October 2009     23L

OG. 1045     IBU. 39

LOST TO INFECTON 😦

4280g Pale Malt
180g Torrified Wheat
160g Brown Malt
112g Carapils
25g Chocolate Malt
35g Northdowns (8%) – 90 mins 23g
Fuggles (5.4%) – 30 mins
24g Amarillo Gold – steeped

Its basically a ‘using up old bits’ type brew. As its probably the last one I’ll do this year I’ll probably introduce a few new techniques. Looking to use secondary fermentation to see if it creates a less yeasty beer. I’ll also be using the yeast cake from the JBK brew. If I can source a muslin bag in type I’ll be employing proper hop steeping from day 4 to day 10 in primary.

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