It's pretty cold in Ohio right now so I had trouble hitting my mash temp at first (138°F instead of the target 154°F). I figured that might happen so I mashed a little thick at first expecting I'd need to add a couple of quarts of near boiling water to get the temp right. The second addition was more like 157°F which was good since it's dropped a bit even in my cooler. I did a starch test due to the temperature issues to make sure I got full conversion and ended up with slightly more than a 60 minute mash. The grain bill is mostly pale malt with a mix of UK and Belgian 2-row since that's what I had leftover. A small amount of chocolate malt for some color and a little roast rounded it out.
A 60 minute boil with 2 hop boil additions and some at flame out clears most of my hops. The Styrian Goldings was a little more aromatic than the Fuggles and Amarillo so it's going in at 30 for some flavor. I bought Challenger and Pilgrim (both UK sourced) for some aroma and both go in during cooling. Pre-boil gravity was a smidge low at 1.028 but I suspect my efficiency was low because of the lower volume (greater percentage lost to dead space)
An unfortunate problem I encountered during my cold weather brew experiment is that a turkey fryer thermal valve will not stay open in 20° weather and occasionally catches fire since the o-ring shrinks. Luckily, my stove will boil 3.5 gallons without a problem so I just moved indoors. I eventually got up to a full boil at about 4:15 in the afternoon.
The boil was uneventful after that. I decided the cold was going to help me this time so I'm chilling outside right now. The aroma hops went in at chill time. Two new varieties for me: challenger and pilgrim. Challenger has been a staple for British styles for a while but I've always used the older varieties. Challenger seems to have a nice spicy and slightly musty smell. Jenn thinks it smells like mustard greens and I can't say I disagree. The pilgrim is a little less powerful with a spice and lemon nose.
I'm planning on drinking this one young so watch for updates and tasting notes in a few weeks.
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com Recipe: Pantry Clearing Bitter Brewer: Trevor Asst Brewer: Style: Standard/Ordinary Bitter TYPE: All Grain Taste: (35.0) Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Batch Size: 3.50 gal Boil Size: 4.66 gal Estimated OG: 1.039 SG Estimated Color: 9.2 SRM Estimated IBU: 27.6 IBU Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % Boil Time: 60 Minutes Ingredients: ------------ Amount Item Type % or IBU
3 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 59.88 % 1 lbs 14.6 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 38.12 % 1.6 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.00 % 0.25 oz Fuggles [4.20 %] (60 min) Hops 5.4 IBU 0.30 oz Amarillo Gold [7.20 %] (60 min) Hops 12.4 IBU 0.50 oz Styrian Goldings [4.50 %] (30 min) Hops 9.9 IBU 1.00 oz Challenger [7.50 %] (5 min) (Aroma Hop-StHops - 1.00 oz Pilgrim [11.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-SteeHops - 1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 5.01 lb ---------------------------- Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Mash In Add 6.26 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F
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