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Brewing Sunday

S

Shakey_Dog

Just wondering what everybody is brewing this weekend.  I am trying a new one.  Bitter Bald Guy!!

8 lb 2 row
2 lb Crystal 80L
1 lb of flaked corn
1 oz target at 60min
1 oz fuggles at 5 min left.
Going to use WLP005 Brithish ale

I am going to batch sparge for the first time.  I have only ever done the fly.

Let me know what you think and if there are any suggestions out there.

Save the Ales,

Don
 
I have the ingredients for this and I'm thinking of brewing it tomorrow:

 http://www.beersmith.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Recipes;action=display;num=1095097483

Brad
 
It's a 10am brew start for me.  The wife has to work in the afternoon and I can't brew with all the kids running around.  2 of them are just too small.  Or I could just feed them some of the Dubble that is in the fridge.  ;D

This is my first time with this recipe.  If you make let me know how it turns out and I will do the same.

Save the Ales,

Don
 
Don--looks like a fairly straightforward recipe, and it should be pretty tasty. You might consider cutting back the crystal a bit, or swapping it for a lighter variant (ie. C-40). The darker crystals can lend some pretty potent flavors, and it might become too dominant. You might also consider splitting your Fuggles addition in half, with 50% at 10 minutes, and 50% at flame-out... just a thought. I think you'll like the yeast selection!

I'm brewing a modified version of my Broken Spring ESB, now called Broken Fall Bitter (how clever!). Our recipes aren't too awfully different:

8.0# pale
0.5# carastan
0.5# biscuit
2.0 oz roasted barley

0.5 oz Willamette FWH
1.0 oz Cascade 60 min
0.5 oz Willamette 5 min

WL028 Edinburgh Ale yeast

At any rate, have a good brew session! I'm starting at about 6:30am  :eek:  Good luck!

colin
 
6:30!!  I will be up then but if I brew I might burn down the the gurage :-*.  

I thought about splitting the Fuggles and probably will.  This is the most crystal I have ever used.  I usually make my beer big and hairy so I thought why not!  You never know until you try.

Save the ales man!

Don
 
Brew day went great.  This was the first time I have batch sparged and it must have cut an hour off of my time.  I was done with everythihg including clean up in 4 hours :D.  

Hit my gravity right on at 1.050 and it tasted great into the fermenter.  Hope your day went as well as mine.

I think I will kick back with a Spotted Dog Brown.

Brew on!!

Don
 
Sounds good, Don! Congrats on the excellent brew day. I haven't batch sparged since my second all-grain (almost 20 batches ago!), but I may have to revisit it. What was your efficiency?

I had a pretty good brew day, myself. Pretty good... hmm... I think I should say excellent! I nailed my volume (in fact, may have overshot somewhat), but my efficiency went from my standard 75% all the way up to about 88%! I couldn't believe it. I crushed my grain a little finer this time, mashed out, and sparged a greater volume of wort than I usually do. I also extended my boil by about 15 minutes, and really kept the heat rockin'. I'm thrilled! I hope that I can maintain about 85% now... that would be great.

I'm really anxious to try this batch, as I think it's going to be excellent. Hope yours turns out well, too!

Brad: how'd your brew day go?

colin
 
I lost some efficiency,  As I understand that is normal.  So it looks like I will have 70%.  Just have to wait and see what the ending gravity is.  But if hit that 70 - 72%  not bad.  It will still hit about 5 abv.  right in the middle for a bitter.

I think I need to start crushing my own grain or the place I go to make it a littel finer.  

But anyway glad to hear that it went well Colin.\

I am now having a Dubble and whatching the game.  (Brownies)

Don
 
Hey Colin,

I live in Toledo but I cover Southern Michigan.  There are a ton of good breweries in MI.  I love Acardia, Redwood Lodge and there are several others.  

Are there any that you visit when you fancy a pint of somebody's other than your own?

I will be at Redwood Monday night :)

Don
 
Actually, there's not too much for local beer selection up where I live. I'm a little to the north of all the good stuff :)

There's a couple brewpubs/restaurants that are decent, but I don't go out of my way to visit them. There's a fairly new brewpub a little north of me called Short's Brewing, in a town called Bellaire. It took the owner and brewer, Joe Short, a long time to open up because of some old law where a drinking establishment could not be within such-and-such distance from a church. He had to fight for awhile to be able to open up. I've heard that he makes some excellent beers, but I've not had the opportunity to try them for myself. There's also a microbrewery called Traverse Brewing Co. up by me. They make some pretty solid brews. In fact, my wife and I had a keg of their brown ale at our wedding... big hit!

In general, I'm a big fan of Michigan beers. I particularly like Arcadia, New Holland, and Bell's. I'm likely going to be moving toward the southwest corner of the state before too long, so I'll actually be able to visit those establishments now and again. For the time being though, I gotta say that I've spoiled myself on my own beer!

Take care!
 
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