Jack McIntyre » Brewing

Brewed: Extra Strong Bitter MKII

Jack — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:15:00 +0000

Today I brewed batch 18 – the second version of my Extra Strong Bitter. I had planned for it to be almost identical to the last one, however a few of the ingredients from last time were not available, so I think it will be a significantly different beer. We decided that the time had come to do another double batch, as the remains of batch 11 (our last double) are coming to an end. I decided on 40L, which (I found out today) is the absolute maximum I can do in my 55L esky. It was almost flowing through the hinge. Time to upgrade this soon… We had a dream brew day. We hit both the target gravity and the target volume, something that I do not remember happening in the past. Also, I managed to get 65% efficiency, which is pretty good for the volume of the brew. We also christened the new 60L fermenter today, which seems to be good, except for some lid-sealing issues (see pics below for solution). This beer is a bit paler than the last one, due to changes to the grain bill. I also replaced the Target hops with Pilgrim. Unless it goes wild like the last one, it should also be slightly lower ABV (5% instead of 6%). For those who are interested, this batch cost me AU$100, and 8.5 hours of time. That works out at less than $1 per schooner of beer (I don’t charge myself for time) :) There are a few pics below, and for the first time, video of the boil in full swing.

Brewed: Oatmeal Stout

Jack — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Today, I brewed an Oatmeal Stout. It was a really smooth brew day, everything went right. I used a different base malt than I usually do – Munich I Malt. I also used Caraaroma instead of Crystal, and of course, this brew included oats! We also bottled the Pacific Pale ale we brewed about a month ago. Fermentation was the most vigorous I have ever seen for this beer. It was constantly bubbling for a week! Normally things slow down after a few days. I am still a bit worried about it – it tastes ok, but it reached a final gravity of 1.007 (much lower than I expected it to go) which may suggest a wild yeast infection. I also did a bottle count today, and figured out that I have 84 bottles (63 Litres) of beer.

Tasted: DrSmurto's Golden Ale (Batch 11)

Jack — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:19:00 +0000

This is from a recipe, it is not my own creation. It is very similar to James Squire Golden Ale – my favourite “bought” beer. Batch 11 was a double batch. We brewed about 45L of this beer (because we loved it so much the first time). That said, the first brew (way back at batch 9) turned out a little bit better than this one I think. I class it as an American Pale Ale, the recipe calls it an English Best Bitter. Its appearance is beautiful. There is a slight haziness, but it is barely noticeable. It is not too pale, and is golden in colour (8 SRM). The beer holds its head nicely, and leaves a lacing on the glass. The aroma is hop-dominated, thanks to the generous amounts of Amarillo used in the recipe.

These hops are widely recognised as having citrus characteristics. It is an easy drinker, with a light-medium body, and a fairly low level of carbonation. It is smooth to drink, however it is quite bitter (41 IBU). Flavour, like aroma, is completely dominated by Amarillo – not a bad thing at all. It starts of sweet, with the bitterness coming through in the aftertaste. This is truly a great beer.