Brew #20: Summer Pale Ale
Hit the OG spot on at 1040 and got 24 litres into the FV.
| name | Summer Pale Ale | ||
| “style” | APA | ||
| IBU | 47 | ||
| EBC | 13 | ||
| OG | 1040 | ||
| brewing date | 25-May-12 | ||
| yeast | Nottingham | ||
| fermentables | grain | kg | % |
| grain 1 | Pale Ale | 3.5 | 80% |
| grain 2 | Munich | 0.495 | 11% |
| grain 3 | Crystal 150EBC (76L) | 0.205 | 5% |
| grain 4 | Wheat | 0.15 | 3% |
| total | 4.35 | 100% | |
| hops | hop | gram | minutes |
| bittering | Willamette 5.6% | 20 | 60 |
| bittering | Target 10.7% | 15 | 60 |
| flavour | Willamette 5.6% | 15 | 30 |
| flavour | Willamette 5.6% | 15 | 20 |
| aroma | Citra 15% | 20 | 10 |
| total | 85 | ||
| mash schedule | minutes | degrees c | |
| step 1 | mash in | 45 | |
| step 2 | 30 | 45 | |
| step 3 | 15 | 55 | |
| step 4 | 30 | 62 | |
| step 5 | 15 | 68 | |
| step 6 | 10 | 74 | |
| Protafloc tablet | |||
| Cascade aroma hop oil 2ml at bottling | |||
| mash with | 26 | litres | |
| sparge with | 6 | litres | |
| into FV | 24 | litres | |
Tasting notes #19: Citra Hop Burst
Citra Hop Burst turned out to be very dry, light and clean. There is some hoppiness up front but not much and the late additions provide some citrussy aroma but again, not much. Not that challenging but works well as a nice session ale. There is a gentle suggestion somewhere in there as to what Citra is and could do.
The problem again is my very soft water – I should start treating it for these kinds of beers. I should also take the plunge and dry hop.
Tasting notes #18: Diamond Jubilee ESB
Fruity, malty, raisiny with some slight smokiness in the background. Clear amber copper colour, half a finger head, moderate carbonation. Soft and round, with almost a full mouthfeel. Some hops but clearly in the background. Would pair nicely with barbecued pork chops due to smoked malt in the recipe.
Tasting Thomas Hardy’s Ale
I was fortunate to be invited to share a bottle of 28-year-old Thomas Hardy’s Ale brewed by Eldridge, Pope & Co. The bottle was numbered #29994 in 1984 and had been stored upright in the dark and in a constant 12°C since then.
The beer was without head, no carbonation was present either. The colour was dark ruby red and the aroma and taste was like Port or Madeira, aged dessert wine with slight sweetness. No hops were detectable. No oxidation whatsoever.
There is a sister bottle stashed away and I have put myself forward to taste that one too, 9 more years to wait…
Tasting notes #16: Saison
Had a taste of my first Saison earlier here but now to the final verdict. The beer has cleared nicely and looks delightfully pretty with good carbonation and head.
The aroma and flavour still have that Moinette fruity spiciness but not as pronounced as before, everything seems to have a softer and rounder flavour which results in a very balanced beer. And still the hops provide a nice and firm bitterness. No need to really change anything later this summer when I’ll be brewing this beer again although with a different yeast, WLP566 Belgian Saison II.
Brew #19: Citra Hop Burst
Mash efficiency 92%, efficiency into the FV 86%. Mashed and rinsed with 34 litres in total. Gravity for the final drops in the rinse 1010, left the grain extremely dry: 32 litres of sweet wort when the boil started. Two litres evaporated (hops got their share too), a litre left as trub and another litre for cooling. Measured every litre going in and coming out so the figures should be fairly accurate. However, keeping track of these efficiencies is total madness and a waste of time at this scale so from now on I’ll just aim to hit my gravity and bottle 21+ litres.
| name | Citra Hop Burst | ||
| “style” | Session APA | ||
| IBU | 45 | ||
| EBC | 13 | ||
| OG | 1040 | ||
| brewing date | 25-Apr-12 | ||
| yeast | Safale US-05 | ||
| fermentables | grain | kg | % |
| grain 1 | Pale Ale | 3.53 | 83% |
| grain 2 | Munich | 0.51 | 12% |
| grain 3 | Crystal 150EBC (76L) | 0.21 | 5% |
| total | 4.25 | 100% | |
| hops | hop | gram | minutes |
| flavour | Citra 15% | 20 | 20 |
| flavour | Citra 15% | 20 | 15 |
| aroma | Citra 15% | 20 | 10 |
| aroma | Citra 15% | 20 | 5 |
| total | 80 | ||
| mash schedule | minutes | degrees c | |
| step 1 | mash in | 40 | |
| step 2 | 70 | 66 | |
| Protafloc tablet | |||
| OG | |||
| mash with | 26 | litres | |
| sparge with | 8 | litres | |
| start of boil | 32 | litres | 1037 |
| end of boil | 30 | litres | 1040 |
| into FV | 28 | litres | |
| left in trub | 1 | litres | |
| cooling loss | 1 | litres |
Recipe: Citra Hop Burst
“Style”: American Pale Ale
Brewed: 4/25/2012
Bottled: 5/4/2012
OG: 1.040 SG
FG: 1.009 SG
Alc%vol: 4.1 %
In FV: 26.50L
Bottled: 23.83L
Tasting notes #16: Saison, early days
The saison is still in its infancy mere six days after bottling but I detect great potential.
The yeast is WLP565 Belgian Saison I and the aroma and taste are very close to Moinette Blonde, the super-saison from the Dupont brewery – those peppery spicy, fruity notes dominate.
