Brew #80: Rambler’s Resolution Bitter

This beer was going to be my final one but I never got to brew it – all my brewing gear and books were on sale and they sold very quickly. I really loved my Speidel BM, 98% of the beers I brewed with it and the hobby itself. Not living in a free country and commercial beers being quite expensive and limited in range, BM saved me a pretty penny even when factoring in the high cost of the initial outlay. Should I ever pick up the hobby again I’ll get the BM again but for the time being I will be limited to commercial beer, which should be no problem in England where I’ll be returning to some time next year, earlier the better.

I assume this blog and its recipes will stay open for future reference for anyone interested, I have lost the password and also the other password for the email address linked to it so when those get erased from my laptop it all goes into the cyberspace. I hope some people found the blog useful, thanks for reading, new life new hobbies, onwards and upwards,

cheers!

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I want to drink a very hoppy lowish gravity beer at Christmas.

OG 1046°, IBU 61, EBC 19, yeast MJ British Ale

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Pale Ale 4.2kg 90%

Wheat malt 150g 3%

Crystal malt 120g 3%

Carared 100g 2%

Flaked oats 100g 2%

Black malt 10g for colour

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Herkules AA 15% 25g 60min IBU37

Admiral AA 13% 25g 20min IBU20

Admiral AA 13% 15g 5min IBU4

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Mash in at 55°C, 60min at 65°C, 15min at 77°C.

Tasting Impressions #79: Rambler’s Ruin Bitter

This 1054° ESB got as high as 5.4 per cent abv.

Aroma is malty and fruity. mouth feel is reassuringly full. Nice tingling hop presence, Herkules seems very clean as a bittering hop and Cascade aroma addition is spot on – providing that lift in the end but still barely keeping the beer “English”. It’s on the brink, just keeping away from the colonies.

This beer totally redeems my faith in brewing a cracking beer after the disasters of late.

Tasting Impressions #77: Arse over Tit

So at barely 7 per cent abv not a barley wine. Which in itself is not that important to me, the beer goes off-site for safekeeping until my 50th birthday anyway. I had a glass at bottling and the sample showed promise but also indicated a long time ahead for it to mature. What interests me mostly at the moment is the level of carbonation. Let’s crack one open, shall we?

A small hiss on the opening, no head but when I move the glass in a circular motion there is some lacing and I can clearly see microscopic bubbles rising up to the surface. So very gentle carbonation. Beer is not far from being bright, some murkiness still exists and the colour is reddish russet mahogany.

Aroma is sweet boozy malt. Some dried Christmas fruits like prunes and raisins. Taste is sweet, almost sickly, like bittered dried sugar-coated cherries. Bittering is quite harsh, coarse, and gets in a way of potential fortified wine character. The alcohol is evident in the taste too and together with the hops need to mellow out. Feels heavy too, none of that Belgian drinkability.

The carbonation level is absolutely bang on. Interesting that the bubbles seem to start their upward journey about half an inch below the surface, not from the bottom. And although they are very small they are very dense and almost nitro-like.

All this beer now needs is a quiet and dark place of constant cellar temperature – and time to lose those rough edges.