I chose this recipe from homebrewtalk.com (Common Room ESB). I liked that it had a very simple and traditional grain bill and the classic UK hops (East Kent Golding and Fuggle). I followed the recipe almost exactly and had a relatively smooth brew day. I really enjoy the smell and flavor of the Maris Otter. The recipe calls for first wort hopping which replaces the 60 min bittering hop addition. It is reputed to create a smoother bitterness than normal hop scheduling and somehow also preserve more flavor and aroma. I'd like to test this theory myself some time down the road.
I think this is going to turn out to be a pretty good batch.
Recipe Details:
- Grain:
- 10 lbs Maris Otter
- 12 oz Crystal 60 L
- 4 oz Crystal 120 L
- 3 oz Acid Malt
- Hops:
- 1.5 oz East Kent Golding Hops in First Wort
- 0.25 oz East Kent Golding Hops at 20 min
- 0.25 oz Fuggle Hops at 20 min
- 0.25 oz East Kent Golding Hops at 0 min
- 0.25 oz Fuggle Hops at 0 min
- Yeast:
- S-04
- Water:
- 10 gal RO water
- 2 tsp 5.2 pH Buffer
- 1 tsp Calcium Chloride
- 1 tsp Gypsum
- 1 tsp Irish Moss at 20 min
Process Details:
- Batch Size:
- 5.5 gal
- Mash:
- 154 F for 60 min (Target 154 F)
- Boil:
- 60 min
- Fermentation Temp:
- 63 F
Results:
- OG:
- 1.055 (Target 1.054)
- Efficiency:
- 74% (Target 72%)
- FG:
- 1.015 (Target 1.014)
- ABV:
- 5.25% (Target 5.21%)
Brewing Notes:
- 4/27/14 Brew day - 6 AM to 11 AM including setup and cleanup
- Added calcium chloride and gypsum to 5 gal of bottled water
- Brought 4.5 gal of RO water up to 192 F in my small pot - took 17 min
- Added 13.75 qt to the mash tun for a 1.25 water to grain ratio
- Let sit for 10 min to settle down to strike temp of 166 F - was 177 F after 10 min - stirred for a bit and got it down to 166 F
- Added the 11 lbs of grain - stirred well to eliminate dough balls
- After 5 min the mash was at ~154 F which was the target - the mash measured anywhere from 152 F to 158 F in spots - I let it go as I figured it would even out over time. I measured pH as less than 4.6. Added 2 tsp (unplanned) of 5.2 pH buffer and let sit for 5 more minutes. pH was around 4.6 when I measured again. This isn't what I wanted but I wasn't sure I could trust my pH measurement strips so I let it go rather than taking further action.
- After 60 min the mash was down to 151 F. I did an iodine starch conversion test and the iodine turned a reddish brown which told me that the starch had been converted.
- Added 8 qts of mash out water at 190 F, stirred the mash, and then drained the first runnings
- Added the first wort hops to the kettle while draining
- Double batch sparged with 2 gal each of 198 F water. I stirred the mash, let it settle for 5 min, and then drained
- Brought the ~8.5 gal of wort to a boil - took about 15 min
- At 30 min I rehydrated the yeast
- At 20 min I added hops and irish moss
- At 15 min I put in wort chiller to sanitize
- Added flame out hops at the end of the boil - let it sit for 10 min
- Chilled to ground water temps (~80 F) - took about 20 min. Got a very nice cold break this time
- Transferred to fermentor - avoided hops and much of the break material. Mixed the yeast in half way through. I only ended up with 4.5 gal
- Added 1 gal of RO water to get up to 5.5 gal
- Shook to aerate
- Put into the fermentation chamber at 63 F
- Measured the OG of the 4.5 gal concentration as 1.062 at 83 F. Per my hydrometer calibration this measurement is under by 6 points so my actual OG was 1.068. With the additional 1 gal of water my diluted OG is 1.055
- 4/28/14 - 18 hrs later the airlock is bubbling
- 5/8/14 - Moved into 80 F house while cold crashing my previous batch
- 5/10/14 - Moved back into the 63 F fermentation chamber
- 5/15/14 - Increased the fermentation chamber to 70 F to allow my next batch to finish up fermentation
- 5/21/14 - Cold crashed down to 33 F
- 5/22/14 - Added gelatin for fining
- 5/24/14 - Bottled with 3 oz of priming sugar. Ended up with 35 12 oz bottles and 14 17.25 oz Russian River bottles. Got about ~5.25 gal of beer in total - yeast cake was very nice and compact due to the gelatin. Measured final gravity as 1.010 at 73 F which is 1.015 per my hydrometer calibration - right about on target. The sample was a very nice golden color and had a pleasant balance between hops, malt, alcohol, and ester. It seems like it's going to be a nice easy drinking beer.
- 6/6/14 - First Tasting - the beer has a nice balance between malt sweetness and hop bitterness. It does not have the same alcohol burn I detected in my Oatmeal Stout even thought I basically followed the same yeast pitching process. This is a big relief. It will be pretty easy to finish this batch. The one negative is that it is a bit richer/fuller bodied than I'd like. Might be worth trying something a bit different if I brew this again to try to address this.
- 10/1/14 - Drank the last bottle. The hops had faded quite a bit in last 5 months but it still had a really nice malt character which was fine compensation. Sort of sad to not have any more - I'll have to make another English Bitter fairly soon.
- I have been working to get a better handle of my gravity readings and efficiency. I believe I now have things pretty well understood on that front - last two batches I've gotten efficiencies of ~72%. My understanding and control of mash pH still has a way to go though. This was the first batch I used acid malt to try to keep the pH in the optimal 5.2 to 5.5 range. Somehow it didn't end up where I thought it should be. I wasn't planning on using pH buffer but I threw it in there anyway - not sure if it helped (didn't impact my measured pH anyway). I ended up with pretty good efficiency so I'm not sure that I'm actually getting an accurate measurement of pH. I think next time I will try a batch without checking pH but with acid malt to see if my efficiency is still okay - might not be worth worrying about.
- Still trying to get my water usage dialed in - last time I used 9 gal and ended up with 5.5. Somehow this time I ended up a gallon short at the end. I really need a sight glass.
No comments:
Post a Comment