So I have been really happy with the “Super Styrian” hop Aurora. It’s cheap, has good alphas for bittering and has a wonderful tangerine flavor and nice citrus and floral aromatics. To top it off it’s a hybrid of Celia (Styrian Goldings) and they play very nicely together.  Just racked it to the kegs and this batch has an almost candy like flavor and floral bouquet with just enough dryness and bitterness to round everything out. Delicious.

The ongoing water experiment turned out decent this time. Bru-n-water said my water wasn’t alkaline enough when adding about 1ml per gallon! We’re talking water so hard it leaves salt on your car when you wash it. Interesting. So I dialed the acid additions back and it seems fine. Might also be the corn and oats smoothing things out as well. The quest for easy brew water continues. I’ll keep you posted.

11 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.048
Estimated FG: 1.008
Estimated Color: 10.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.2%

Grain
16 lbs Maris Otter(3 SRM) 80%
1.5 lbs Flaked Maize (1.3 SRM) 7.5%
0.5 lbs Flaked Oats (1 SRM) 2.5%
2 lbs Turbinado (10 SRM) 10%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
28.00g Aurora [9.63%] – 60 min 16.7 IBUs
28.00g Aurora [9.63%] – 30 min 12.8 IBUs
56.00g Celia [3.5%] – Whirlpool 5 minutes 0.6 IBUs

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
2tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
100% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
3g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
3.5ml lactic acid added to mash water
3g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
4ml lactic acid sparge water
Mash in 7 gallons water 162F and let stabilize to 152F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 8.3 gallons cold

Yeast
WLP 007 Dry English Ale

Fermentation
Ferment until done 69F
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method

Another take on a bitter but this one leaning more on the dark crystal malt side of things to give it a more rummy and raisin like character. Doing an experiment on this batch to see if I can notice any difference in taste and mouthfeel using 100% tap water. Collecting RO water for 11 gallons is real time consuming affair with my RO filter tank only capable of holding 3 gallons at a time. I wad thinking acid and mineral adjustments might help.

Finished product was a bit too dry for my liking but still quaffable. The actual final gravity was at 10 points so as usual ignore the estimated finishing gravity listed below – I rarely get below 10 point with the Dry English yeast unless its quite a low gravity beer. As for the water, I’m not too sure if the dryness was from the 100% tap, to much acid additions, not enough calcium chloride, or I need to bump up the mash temp. So many variables.

11 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.046
Estimated FG: 1.005
Estimated Color: 10.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.4%

Grain
17 lbs Maris Otter(3 SRM) 85%
1 lb Crystal 120 (120 SRM) 5%
2 lbs Turbinado (10 SRM) 10%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
28.00g Aurora [9.63%] – 60 min 17 IBUs
56.00g EKG [5%] – 20 min 10.7 IBUs
56.00g EKG [13%] – Whirlpool 5 min 1.8 IBUs
56.00g Celia [4.5%] – Dry Hop 3 days

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
2tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
100% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
5g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
7ml lactic acid added to mash water
3.5g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
5ml lactic acid sparge water
2g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
Mash in 7 gallons water 162F and let stabilize to 152F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 8.3 gallons cold

Yeast
WLP 007 Dry English Ale

Fermentation
Ferment until done 65F
Day 4 of fermentation add first charge of dry hops
End of fermentation add rest of dry hops for 2 days
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and keg hops, rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method

I’m going from one extreme to another. Last time I brewed a Burton Ale at over 7 percent and this time around I have brewed a very low gravity bitter approaching the dismal ABV of 3 percent. I’m really looking forward to see how this turns out. I’ve always been very interested in how these beers would have tasted. Even though it has less alcohol then, lets say a Bud or Coors light, does it has to have more flavor and body?

This is another Pattinson recipe. I don’t know when this guy sleeps. If you can’t be bothered to follow the link here’s a little excerpt explaining the possible origins of this style:

At just 1031º, it looks very much like a West Country Boy’s Bitter. These were Bitters with a gravity similar to Ordinary Mild and when Mild went into serious decline, they often took its place. Maybe that’s why this beer existed, too. Something cheap and cheerful for drinkers who didn’t want to sup Mild.

…

It looks like a nice light, easy-drinking Bitter. The stuff you’re meant to drink by the gallon.

Great stuff. I will definitely try to do some tasting notes on this. Oh yeah, since you have to drink it by the gallon I made 11 gallons which should yield two kegs. The BeerSmith estimate below didn’t meet actual – my OG came in at 1.032 points. I still personally haven’t had any English ale yeast get below 1.010 before it flocs. OG of 32 with a finish of 10 gives you 2.9%. Actual bitter came in at a whopping 2.86% so it would be spot on.

11 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.035
Estimated FG: 1.005
Estimated Color: 4.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 3.9%

Grain
12 lbs Maris Otter (3 SRM) 85.7%
2 lbs Turbinado sugar (20 SRM) 14.3%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
28.00g Aurora (Super Styrian) [9.3%] – 60 min 17.9 IBUs
28.00g EKG [6%] – 30 min 8.9 IBUs
28.00g EKG [6%] –  0 min 0 IBUs
56.00g East Kent Goldings [6%] – Dry hop 3 days

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
2tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
50% RO water
50% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
2g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
5 ml Lactic Acid added to mash water
3 ml Lactic Acid added to sparge water
Mash in 4.75 gallons water 160F and let stabilize to 150F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 9.5 gallons cold

Yeast
WLP 005 British Ale

Fermentation
Ferment until done 65F
Day 3 of fermentation add 28g dry hops
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and 28g dry hops rack to kegs and carbonate using your preferred method

Somewhat of a Burton ale. I have done a similar recipe before. The last time it came out bracingly bitter and a bit grassy without ageing so this time I have dropped the hopping rate and couldn’t be bothered to color up with the appropriate invert sugar or caramel. A healthy dose of turbinado will have to do. These beers were traditionally aged in wood barrels and brett would have dried them out after finishing high. Just let the yeast do its thing and it should finish pretty dry with all the sugar in it. Later versions of this style were actually on the sweet side perhaps after moving away from ageing in barrels so the finishing gravity would remain high in the mid to upper 20s.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.065
Estimated FG: 1.009
Estimated Color: 13 SRM
Estimated IBU: 68.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 7.4%

Grain
12 lbs Maris Otter (3 SRM) 84.5%
4 oz Black Patent (500 SRM) 1.4%
2 lbs Turbinado sugar (20 SRM) 14.1%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
28.00g Admiral [13.1%] – 60 min 36.3 IBUs
28.00g Cluster [8.3%] – 35 min 19.1 IBUs
28.00g Cluster [8.3%] –  18 min 13 IBUs
28.00g East Kent Goldings [6%] – 0 min
28.00g East Kent Goldings [6%] – Dry hop 3 days

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
50% RO water
50% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
5g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
2g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
Mash in 5 gallons water 163F and let stabilize to 153F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 4.5 gallons cold

Yeast
WLP 007 Dry English Ale

Fermentation
Ferment until done 65F
Day 4 of fermentation add dry hops
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method

Juicy and tropical seems to be all the rage these days in pale ales and IPAs but what I miss is that good dankness that used to be such a hall mark of the west coast style. Using my  Pale No. 3 base I added a good amount of Columbus, Simcoe and Amarillo to put the dank back. Also had some Stella in the freezer and added that in to the dry hopping.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.059
Estimated FG: 1.016
Estimated Color: 6.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 56 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.6%

Grain
13 lbs Pale 2 Row (2 SRM) 86.7%
1 lbs Crystal 20 (20 SRM) 6.7%
1 lbs White Wheat (3.2 SRM) 6.7%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
28.00g Columbus [15%] – 60 min 44.8 IBUs
28.00g Amarillo [9%] – Whirlpool 10 min 4.8 IBUs
28.00g Simcoe [13%] – Whirlpool 10 min 6.8 IBUs
14.00g Simcoe [9.5%] – Dry Hop  2 days
28.00g Columbus [15%] – Dry Hop 2 days
28.00g Stella [15%] – Dry Hop 2 days
14.00g Simcoe [9.5%] – Dry Hop in keg

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
50% RO water
50% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
2g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
4ml lactic acid added to mash water
2g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
2ml lactic acid sparge water
Mash in 4.75 gallons water 163F and let stabilize to 152F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 4.75 gallons cold

Yeast
WLP 007 Dry English Ale

Fermentation
Ferment until done 65F
Day 4 of fermentation add first charge of dry hops
End of fermentation add rest of dry hops for 2 days
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method

I really have no idea what got me thinking about brewing a stout. Maybe a cooler than normal September or perhaps me getting sick of brewing pale ales and IPAs. The amount of oats in this beer is silly. Over 5 pounds split between flaked and Golden Naked definitely give this beer a viscous texture. Lots of roast and chocolate, plus the addition of 1 ounce of ground coffee hot brewed (I did organic Honduran in 16oz of water) makes this beer heavy duty.

The brew shop only had some unmarked smoked malt that smelled like stepping into a smoke house which is a sign it is definitely not German rauchmalt, so I was judicious in it’s use at 2oz. The clone recipe called for 10 oz. which I would only do if it is Weyermann’s finest.

The brew shop was also out of my favorite WLP 007 so  I tried WLP 004 Irish Ale which I’m assuming is the Guinness strain. I made a 2L starter and it performed extremely well with it  finishing in 4 days and flocculating like a champ.

Give it a few extra days in the keg then you normally would before serving due to the high amount of oats if you like your beer clear.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.079
Estimated FG: 1.023
Estimated Color: 64 SRM
Estimated IBU: 70 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 7.4%

Grain
9 lbs German Pilsner (2 SRM) 43.4%
2 lbs 10 oz Flaked Oats 20 (1 SRM) 12.8%
2 lbs 10 oz Golden Naked Oats  (10 SRM) 12.8%
2 lbs 3 oz Chocolate Malt (450 SRM) 10.5%
1 lb 6 oz Caramunich (51 SRM) 6.7%
1 lb 6 oz Roasted Barley (300 SRM) 6.7%
1 lb 6 oz Special Roast (50 SRM) 6.7% (if you can find brown malt use that instead)
2 oz smoked malt (if you can get German go 10 oz)

Schedule
60 minute Boil
56.00 g Chinook [11.9%] – 60 min 59.1 IBUs
14.00 g Cascade[7.5%] – 60 min 9.3 IBUs
42.00 g Cascade[7.5%] – 1 min 1.2 IBUs

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
25% RO water
75% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
8g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
Mash in 8gallons water 161F and let stabilize to 152F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 4 gallons cold

Yeast
WLP 004 Irish Ale

Fermentation
Ferment until done 68F (5-7 days should be good)
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method

I have been trying to dial in a good base for my paler beers and tired of dealing with Ventura’s hard water, I put my thinking cap on and came up with adding a pound of caramel 20 and a pound of white wheat to smooth things out in my pale ales and IPAs. I’ve noticed that anything that attempts to be dry to showcase the hops like a west coast IPA  just comes out too dry with hard water. On the other hand anything with some crystal or caramel in it is much smoother. I think it was a good choice.

I got a real good deal on a bunch of Stella, the Australian super Saaz, 7C’s, and Saphir hops. The Stella smelled awesome, but the 7C’s maybe had seen better days with little aroma, while the Saphir was in good shape. Saphir is quite a fragrant and under appreciated hop with a really nice citrus and fruit note in the nose.

After using both the Stella and 7C’s for bittering and aroma, I then decide to dry hop in the fermenter with the reamining 7C’s and a little Saphir and then dry hop in the keg with Saphir.

This beer turned out to be a real stunner – perfect body with just a hint of sweetness and a gripping smooth bitterness. Tropical and stone fruit aroma with just a hint of citrus and mint in the taste. Very, very easy to guzzle this beer down by the imperial pint.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.058
Estimated FG: 1.014
Estimated Color: 6.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 56 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.8%

Grain
13 lbs Pale 2 Row (2 SRM) 86.7%
1 lbs Crystal 20 (20 SRM) 6.7%
1 lbs White Wheat (3.2 SRM) 6.7%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
28.00 g Stella [15%] – 60 min 43.3 IBUs
28.00 g Stella [15%] – Whirlpool 10 min 7.9 IBUs
28.00g 7C’s [9.5%] – Whirlpool 10 min 5 IBUs
28.00g 7C’s [9.5%] – Dry Hop  3 days (4th day of fermentation)
14.00g Saphir [3.5%] – Dry Hop 2 days (end of fermentation)
14.00g Saphir [3.5%] – Dry Hop in keg

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
50% RO water
50% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
2g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
4ml lactic acid added to mash water
2g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
2ml lactic acid sparge water
Mash in 4.75 gallons water 163F and let stabilize to 152F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 4.75 gallons cold

Yeast
WLP 007 Dry English Ale

Fermentation
Ferment until done 65F
Day 4 of fermentation add first charge of dry hops
End of fermentation add rest of dry hops for 2 days
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method

I love a well made bitter. Its one of my favorite styles. Highly quaffable, sessionable, and with that “moreishness” teasing you to down another pint. Unfortunately, you just can’t find them around here. You can find a few things at Bevmo! but the age and storage on those bottles is always highly questionable, so I like to make them. Timothy Taylor Landlord is considered a classic right up there with Fuller’s London Pride. Never had the pleasure but looking at clone recipes and the grist for Northern Brewer’s oh so cleverly named “The Innkeeper,” I knew this would be a winner. Golden Promise, Crystal 120, and sugar make for a beautiful amber colored beer with a full mouth feel but with a snappy finish.

As with any recipe kit you might need to adjust your volume outcome or add some ingredients to get the finished result you desire for your equipment. With this recipe I had to add 3 pounds Maris Otter(Golden Promise is hard to find!) and 3 ounces sugar to bulk it up to get 6 gallons in the fermenter with a final yield of a bit over 5 gallons.

The finished product after two weeks was in perfect condition and the keg barely lasted over a week.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.047
Estimated FG: 1.008
Estimated Color: 6.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.1%

Grain
6 lbs Golden Prmise (2 SRM) 57.2%
3 lbs Maris Otter (2 SRM) 28.6%
1 lbs Corn Sugar (0 SRM) 9.5%
4.7 ounces Extra Dark Crystal (120 SRM) 2.8%

Schedule
70 minute Boil
28.00 g Fuggles [3.8%] – 70 min 12.5 IBUs
28.00 g East Kent Goldings [4.7%] – Boil 45 min 13.7 IBUs
28.00g Styrian Goldings [5.4%] – Boil 5 min 3.4 IBUs

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
50% RO water
50% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
2g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
4ml lactic acid added to mash water
2ml lactic acid sparge water
Mash in 3.2 gallons water 164F and let stabilize to 153F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 6 gallons cold

Yeast
Lallemand Nottingham

Fermentation
Ferment until done 70F
Cold crash one day
Add gelatin and rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method