Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Time to try a bitter

I just got done making a starter for Sunday's brewday. I'll be brewing Jamil's Best Bitter (minus the aromatic malt since I'm mini-mashing with Maris Otter) and smoking a pork shoulder at the same time. Should be a good time. It's been a long time since I made a starter! I've been using US05 so much that I actually had to look back at an old blog post that I made about starters and check the Mr. Malty site. I ended up using Wyeast 1028 London Ale instead of the 1968 ESB that Jamil recommends but the LHBS doesn't stock it. Oh well.

RAZE meeting tomorrow night, woot! Lots to talk about too, upcoming brewery tours of Mantorville Brewing Company and Pearl Street Brewery, plan for the hopgrowing season, and figure out what we're doing for Big Brew Day. We've got more members trickling in, which is awesome since it's always good to talk to other brewers and beer geeks like myself. I must admit I'm also stoked that I'll be able to drink Hopslam on tap! I'm still trying to decide if it's worth dropping 16 bucks on a 6er, when I can just about brew 5 gallons for that, not a fine DIPA of course, but still, 5 gallons.

The Hopsicle IPA is tasting mighty fine right now. I just tapped the Oatmeal Stout and am drinking my first pint right now. It's a little young, but it's got a nice roasty chocolatey flavor with a little hop bitterness in the mix too. I'm happy! Here's the Hopsicle recipe (partial mash)if you're interested:
  • 3 lbs Golden Promise
  • .5 lbs C60
  • .25 lbs C120
  • .25 Vienna
  • 6 lbs Briess Pilsen DME
  • 1 oz Nugget @ 60 minutes
  • 1 oz Simcoe @ 15
  • 1 oz Centennial @ 10
  • 1 oz homegrown Cascade/Centennial/Zeus mix at 5
  • 1 oz homegrown mix at flameout
  • 1 oz Columbus dry hop

1.070 OG, 1.017 FG (a little high, but the bitterness balances it out), 77 IBUS, 6.9 ABV.

9 comments:

SWART said...

I think bitters might be my favorite. Especially ESB. Sounds like a good recipe.

richt said...

Yeah, I'm hoping it's good. I've never brewed one and only had a few. Have you been brewing lately?

SWART said...

No, havent in far too long. Trying to make a decision on Sara's job has taken up a lot of time and she has been gone a lot. Its hard to do anything when alone with Emerson. I just got the latest Northern Brewers catalog and am inspired. I was thinking about the Patersbier. Ever tried it?

richt said...

I have not tried the Patersbier but was going to brew it soon, maybe even this weekend. I was thinking that or an APA. I think that the Wyeast 3787 in the kit is one of the only Belgian yeasts my LHBS carries, so I thought it would be a nice and quick brew. It sounds tasty. Now that I'm using a keg tub and an aquarium heater, I think that I'll be able to ramp the temps up in a controlled manner to get some good Belgian esters out of it.

SWART said...

So, I ordered the Patersbier and should brew it next weekend. Perhaps if we meet up in Nebraska this summer we can compare yours and mine to our hearts content.

richt said...

Did you get it brewed? I haven't brewed in 2 weekends now and still haven't converted my new keg into a 15 gallon brewpot either. I will definitely brew the patersbier sometime in March or April and we can definitely compare.

SWART said...

Hey...I brewed the Patersbier on Monday. Today I had to adjust for a blow off tube because it is going like crazy. It smells so good. I had almost forgotten the fermenting smell.

richt said...

Did you use the Wyeast 3787? What temp did you pitch at? I was just reading up on the forums about this beer. Sounds like pitching in the low 60s then letting it ramp up to 70 or so is the ticket. Check my To Brew list. I'll hopefully be doing 10 gallons of APA this weekend, then the Patersbier, then later on I'll be using part of the Patersbier's yeast cake for a Tripel later on.

Started cutting the top off the keg I recently acquired yesterday, but I need to get another cutoff wheel for the grinder to finish off the last few inches. I also tapped the bitter yesterday. Tasty, but not quite carbed.

SWART said...

Hey, I used the Trappist High Gravity yeast...I think that is the 3787. I pitched at 68 degrees and only raised it a little to 70. It started going after about 20 hours and then nearly blew off. I am going to transfer to a secondary this weekend and then it should be ready just about the time Im allowed to walk again. It will be a good way to celebrate.