Fairwater Brewery Logo
Fairwater Brewery

"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy." - Tom Waits

Skip to Content ↓
  • About
  • Brews
    • Beer Designing
    • CBS
    • Equipment
    • Recipes
  • Privacy
    • Cookies
Fairwater Brewery Rotating Header Image

April, 2011:

Angry Yank IPA (AG#10)

Apr 24th, 2011
by bryan.
4 comments

Recipe from Bosium, of Jim’s Homebrew Forum, as brewed by Roosters for the recent JDW Beer Festival.  Such a nice pint that, given we have the recipe on Jim’s Forum, it seemed almost obligatory to give it a bash!  My first brew with dry-hopping, as well.

  • Length: 25 litres
  • Yeast: Nottingham
  • OG  1.050
  • FG 5.8Bx = 1.015
  • ABV 4.5%

Recipe:

Fermentable Colour lb: oz Grams Ratio
Pale Malt 5 EBC 10 lbs. 11.7 oz 4870 grams 84%
Munich Malt 20 EBC 1 lbs. 0.4 oz 465 grams 8%
Caramunich I 90 EBC 0 lbs. 8.1 oz 230 grams 4%
Melanoidin Malt (Weyerman 70 EBC 0 lbs. 4.1 oz 115 grams 2%
Crystal Malt, Dark 300 EBC 0 lbs. 4.1 oz 115 grams 2%
Hop Variety Type Alpha Time lb: oz grams Ratio
Amarillo Whole 9.5 % 15 mins 0 lbs. 1.4 oz 40 grams 48%
Cascade Whole 5.7 % 15 mins 0 lbs. 1.4 oz 40 grams 28.8%
Amarillo Whole 9.5 % 5 mins 0 lbs. 1.1 oz 30 grams 14.5%
Cascade Whole 5.7 % 5 mins 0 lbs. 1.1 oz 30 grams 8.7%
Amarillo Whole 9.5 % Dry-hop 0 lbs. 1.1 oz 30 grams 0%
Cascade Whole 5.7 % Dry-hop 0 lbs. 1.1 oz 30 grams 0%
Final Volume: 25 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.012
Alcohol Content: 5.2% ABV
Total Liquor: 36.3 Litres
Mash Liquor: 14.5 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 36 EBU
Colour: 29 EBC

Comments:

Think my digital thermometer is out – maybe by up to 5C, which is less than ideal.  Mash temp was 66.6 (after 1 kettle), read by both glass thermo and the ATC, but the digital thermo was reading 71C.

Only got 23 litres of wort – the hops ate up an awful lot today!  Refractometer was reading 10.6°Bx at first, but after a while was reading 12.6°Bx, which matches the hydrometer reading of 1.049.  Does it take a while to stabilise?

2011-05-17: Filled 2 x 5 litre mini-kegs, plus 20 bottles.  After the dry-hopping robbed me of more beer, I ended up with about 21 litres.  Tastes good at bottling time, mind you.  High hopes for this one!

2011-06-03: I really should have kept better notes on how I did this one.  It was 3 weeks and 2 days from brewing to bottling.  I believe it was 1 week @ 21C for the fermentation, then 5 more days @ 21C with the dry hops thrown in the top of the FV, then drop the ATC to 1C, which realistically means dropping the brew to around 5C, where it remained until bottling.  Wife and friends all agree that this is the best beer I’ve brewed – hence the need to try and remember how I did it, as another set of ingredients are on their way from themaltmiller.co.uk!

  • Tweet
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Stumble
  • Digg
  • Delicious

Caledonian Deuchars IPA (AG#9)

Apr 17th, 2011
by bryan.
No comments yet

Well… sort of.  I messed up the Bobek aroma hops and put too many in, but their alpha acid content was lower than the Styrians that I’d planned in the recipe, so it should only be ~3 IBU more bitter, which I doubt is noticable.  The recipe shown here is what I actually brewed, rather than the planned.

This is yet another recipe from Mr. Wheeler’s magical book of beers.

  • Length: 25 litres
  • Yeast: Nottingham
  • OG  1.038
  • FG 1.005
  • ABV 4.3%

Recipe:

Fermentable Colour lb: oz Grams Ratio
Pale Malt 5 EBC 8 lbs. 8.1 oz 3860 grams 91.1%
Crystal Malt 130 EBC 0 lbs. 8.8 oz 250 grams 5.9%
Wheat Malt 3.5 EBC 0 lbs. 4.4 oz 125 grams 3%
Hop Variety Type Alpha Time lb: oz grams Ratio
Fuggle Whole 5.2 % 60 mins 0 lbs. 2.1 oz 60 grams 53.1%
Bobek Whole 3.9 % 10 mins 0 lbs. 1.8 oz 50 grams 44.2%
Irish Moss Whole 0 % 10 mins 0 lbs. 0.1 oz 3 grams 2.7%
Final Volume: 25 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.038
Final Gravity: 1.009
Alcohol Content: 3.7% ABV
Total Liquor: 34.7 Litres
Mash Liquor: 10.6 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 39 EBU
Colour: 16 EBC

Comments:

Another sunny day and an outside brew.  Again I had a bit more wort than I needed after sparging, but by my refractometer at the end of the boil I was bang on the money at 9.8°Bx = 1.038.  This time when I read the refractometer it was a very clear line, so something was clearly up with the oatmeal stout.

This is also my first all-grain with a pale malt other than Maris Otter – this one was Golden Promise.  Don’t know if it’s the malt, but the wort was a bit cloudier and had some bits in it.

2011-04-22: Measured gravity at 4.6°Bx = 1.006, so it’s fermented very well! If it’s the same tomorrow then I’ll bottle in the next couple of days.

2011-04-22: FG 4.5°Bx = 1.005, so just about finished, and very fully!  Racked into a second FV with 5g of gelatine in 100ml water, since the Burton Bridge is a bit cloudy still in the barrel and mini-keg.  Bottles are bright, mind you, so it’s just taking a while in the larger containers.

2011-05-02: Bottled 12, 5 litre mini-keg, rest in barrel.  Looks like around 23 litres in the end.

2011-05-21: Dropped clear already, tastes good.

  • Tweet
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Stumble
  • Digg
  • Delicious

California Connoisseur Pinot Noir wine kit

Apr 5th, 2011
by bryan.
No comments yet

Since we like wine almost as much as we like beer, we thought it worth trying a wine kit.  A bit of research showed that I have pretty much all the equipment I need already from the brewing.  The only things missing are a wine filter and a corker, but they can wait until we’ve decided it will become a regular occurrence.

After looking at some comments on the home brewing forums, I settled on a kit from California Connoisseur.  They’re regarded as “premium” kits – it seemed worth trying a decent kit, as if we didn’t like a cheap one then that might just be because it’s a cheap kit.

We bought the Pinot Noir from BrewUK, as we like the grape.

The kit was simple to make, and seemed forgiving that my schedule didn’t allow me to do some of the steps exactly when the instructions said.  I even bottled 10 days late, but I figured that since it was in a demijohn with airlock that it would only have CO2 above it so should last ok.  I also forgot to take a gravity reading at the start, so don’t know how strong it ended up.

The 6-bottle kit ended up as 5 full bottles and 1 large glass of wine: we started with 6 bottles worth (4.5 litres) of must, which after syphoning and losses to the yeast, was a bit over 4 litres at bottling time.

Since there was a glass left over, I forced myself to drink it… Rather fruity, very easy to drink, and quite tasty.  Not the finest bottle I’ve ever had, but I hardly expected so, but certainly not the least pleasant I’ve had even in the last year. Comments on the forums lead me to believe that it should improve with a bit of aging as well, so it will be interesting to see how it tastes in a few months (if they last that long, of course).

It wasn’t completely clear, but it’s not filtered.  This didn’t make any noticable difference to the taste or mouth-feel, so I think we can live without a filter for now.  It will show more with rose and white wines, of course, but I believe it’s mainly a cosmetic thing, though I’m sure it does also remove some of the remaining yeast and so may lessen the risk of bottle bombs!

We plan to try a White Zin and some form of white wine as well.  It certainly seems worth persevering, and I think the 6 bottle kits are the way to go until we settle on some as firm favourites, when a 30 bottle kit might be worth a bash.

  • Tweet
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Stumble
  • Digg
  • Delicious

Oatmeal Stout (AG#8)

Apr 2nd, 2011
by bryan.
1 comment

Based on a version of a version of Aleman’s Effin Oatmeal Stout.  I’m hoping for something along the Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout (hereafter SSOS!) lines.

  • Length: 25 litres
  • Yeast: Windsor
  • OG  1.049
  • FG 1.011
  • ABV 4.9%

Recipe:

Fermentable Colour lb: oz Grams Ratio
Pale Malt 5 EBC 8 lbs. 15.1 oz 4060 grams 66.1%
Oat Flakes 2.5 EBC 1 lbs. 9.9 oz 735 grams 12%
Crystal Malt 130 EBC 0 lbs. 11.6 oz 330 grams 5.4%
Brown Malt 150 EBC 0 lbs. 11.6 oz 330 grams 5.4%
Roasted Barley 1350 EBC 0 lbs. 9.1 oz 260 grams 4.2%
Flaked Barley 0 EBC 0 lbs. 8.6 oz 245 grams 4%
Chocolate Malt 1050 EBC 0 lbs. 6.5 oz 185 grams 3%
Hop Variety Type Alpha Time lb: oz grams Ratio
Bramling Cross Whole 7.0 % 90 mins 0 lbs. 1.8 oz 50 grams 100%
Final Volume: 25 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.053
Final Gravity: 1.015
Alcohol Content: 4.9% ABV
Total Liquor: 36.6 Litres
Mash Liquor: 15.4 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 34 EBU
Colour: 198 EBC

Comments:

As recommended by Aleman, I attempted a Beta Glucan rest with this recipe.  I toasted the oat flakes (45 mins at 130C, but they weren’t looking very toasty, so I raised it to 180C for another 15 mins).  I combined the oat flakes with 145g of the pale malt and around 2.2 litres of warm water.  My water was too warm so I ended up with a sticky mash at around 50C rather than the suggested 35C.  A bit of cold water brought it down to 40C, at which point I left it alone for 30 minutes.  This is all while the main mash is going on in the mash tun.

After it had 30 minutes I put the heat on and raised it to 67C, then I added it to the mash tun.

Notes for future attempts: do the toast the evening before (as the oats were still hot when the went into the mash, hence the temperature overshoot!).  This was my intention, but it’s been a long week and last night I was too tired to be bothered.

A bit more wort than I needed – it’ll be around 35 litres.  Measured at 11°Bx = 1.042.  I collected 15 litres from the first sparge, but the second was more than I expected – I suppose I should have shut the tap off earlier, but it doesn’t really matter.  I’m doing the boil outside again, since it looks like a reasonable afternoon.  The boil should have been reached a bit quicker than it actually was, but that’s because I forgot to turn the socket on, and it took me a while to wonder why it wasn’t making kettle-like noises!

OG measured at a definite 12°Bx, maybe 12.6°Bx at the most (I should probably work out where to read the thing!), which means I have 1.046 to 1.049.  Hydrometer agrees with 1.049, and I have about 24 litres of wort.

2011-04-16: Bottled 12, 5 litre mini-keg, plus ~13 litres in the main keg.

2011-05-21: God, this is good stuff.  Smooth mouth-feel, roasty coffee flavours, enough bitterness.  Lovely stout – my favourite all-grain so far!

  • Tweet
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Stumble
  • Digg
  • Delicious
  • Subscribe to our Feed via RSS
  • Subscribe via eMail
  • My Google+ profile
  • cookies

    This site may send cookies to your browser. In addition, adverts from Amazon and Google may also do so, and I use Google Analytics. If you dislike cookies, stop reading now. If you don't give a stuff (and, let's face it, that's almost everyone), then welcome!
  • search

  • Loading

  • tags

    Ahtanum Amarillo Bitter Bobek BrewDog Cascade Centennial Challenger Chinook Citra Coopers East Kent Goldings Fuggles Fullers Galaxy Golden Ale IPA Lager Magnum Mangrove Jack US West Coast Nelson Sauvin Northdown Nottingham Oatmeal Stout Pale Ale Perle Pilsener Pilsner Porter Ruby Ale S-04 Saaz Simcoe Stout Target Tettnang Thornbridge US-05 WB-06 Weißbier West Coast Style Wheat Beer Windsor WLP002 WLP007
  • I'd like to point out that I don't give a flying firkin about Search Engine Optimisation, about whether I'm using my H tags correctly, or about the plugin for Wordpress that so many people keep trying to persuade me to use in comment spam. If I notice that the same IP address keeps submitting such spam, it will be blocked.
  • Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • categories

    • Beer (147)
    • Books (2)
    • Cider (4)
    • Comment (3)
    • Equipment (14)
    • General (10)
    • Ginger Beer (2)
    • Pubs & Festivals (9)
    • Technique (7)
    • Water (1)
    • Wine (2)
    • Yeast (1)
  • articles

    • Pitching On Yeast Cakes
  • blogs

    • Beer. Birra. Bier.
    • Pete Brown's Beer Blog
    • Real Brewing at the Sharp End
  • faqs

    • DaaB's pages
    • Danstar Yeast FAQ
    • How To Brew (John Palmer)
    • Mr. Malty Yeast Starter FAQ
    • Wikipedia: Brewing
  • forums

    • Jim's Beer Kit (forum)
    • The Homebrew Forum
  • homebrewers

    • broadfordbrewer
    • Growling Dog Beer
    • Homebrew Answers
    • Probably Due To Network Congestion
    • Wuppit's Micro Brewery
  • organisations

    • CAMRA
  • recipes

    • Hop & Grain
    • Hopville
  • shopping

    • Brew UK
    • Hop & Grape
    • The Home Brew Shop
    • The Malt Miller
  • software

    • ABV calculator
    • Beer Engine
    • BeerSmith
    • Brewzor
    • Mr. Malty Pitching Rate Calculator
    • On-line calculators
  • recent posts

    • Zephyr – Citrus Sour (AG#131)
    • Jasmine IPA (AG#121)
    • Huell Melon (AG#119) and Citra Comet (AG#120)
    • Elvis Juice (AG#118)
    • Berliner Style Sour Ale (KT#10, KT#11)
  • Brew Your Own British Real Ale
  • admin

    • Log in
    • Entries RSS
    • Comments RSS
    • WordPress.org
  • calendar

    April 2011
    M T W T F S S
    « Mar   May »
     123
    45678910
    11121314151617
    18192021222324
    252627282930  

© 2019 Fairwater Brewery | Powered by WordPress

A WordPress theme by Ravi Varma