circle line esb
brewed: 23/04/14
pitched: 19/05/14
bottled: 03/06/14
subsequent batch info: n/a
ingredients:
3.65kg simpsons maris otter
400gm light dry malt extract
220gm simpsons medium crystal
40gm simpsons dark crystal
50gm east kent golding (pellets, 5 aa%, 45 mins)
20gm east kent golding (pellets, 5 aa%, 15 mins)
28gm hallertau (pellets, 3.2 aa%, dry hopped after fermentation complete - for 2 days)
1L starter wyeast 1968 london ESB ale yeast
1.0 tablet whirlfloc
0.5 teaspoon yeast nutrient
process:
20L batch, single infusion, no sparge, mash in 65C for 90 mins, boiled 90 mins, no-chilled, 19C fermentation, 3 day diacetyl rest, 2C cold crash
after loss:
10L batch, 17C fermentation, 3 day diacetyl rest, 2C cold crash
estimated OG: 1.050
OG: 1.049
estimated FG: 1.012
FG: 1.010
%AbV: 5.7%
australian standard drinks (1 x 340mL glass): 1.7
ibu: 34-43 (no chill)
brewing notes:
12/03/14 - planning ahead for an extra special bitter i've been keen to try for a while. very simple recipe but will by first time trying east kent golding hops. they are a very signature, traditional english hop variety which have a lovely florally/earthy combination flavour (for my tastes). very excited to brew this one soon. the name comes from the london underground's circle line. i was lucky to visit europe years ago and on my first night in london, i was taken on a night out with many people on the famous 'circle line party'. this beer is to celebrate and remember that fun experience and holiday. it will be the unofficial second version of the mini minor esb done last year.
22/04/14 - so this will be the beer i make tomorrow. as i'll be using a notoriously low attenuating yeast, i'll be increasing the gravity a little in case it doesn't attenuate to the proper gravity. i'll be adding some dry malt extract to beef it up AND i'll be having to no-chill it as the bloody cider is still fermenting! should be a fun day.
23/04/14 - brewed this up today. nice easy brew day. a few hitches (my brew bag broke and i added the late addition ops at the wrong time but it's all good!) turned out pretty spot on and what i was hoping it would so very happy. should be a nice malty english bitter. will hopefully pitch this in the next few days.
05/05/14 - VERY upset. while i had this beer chilled, one of my two trusty no-chill cubes must have somehow leaked and 10L of this bitter are is now ruined. i had to tip it out as it became infected. the beer was placed in 2 x no-chill cubes and one of them leaked. it must have been dribbling out slowly, which then got infected by something, and then spread into the rest of the beer. not happy at all!
19/05/14 - pitched this morning. pitched the yeast planned for 20L into 10L so probably over-pitched but i wasn't about to piss around halving the starter as this could cause infection. it will be fermented at about 17C (so about 18C). the mL was about 200mL pure yeast.
30/05/14 - the beer is currently diacetyl resting and i just threw in some hallertau hops. i've had them for about a year or more so wanted to get rid of them. figured this beer would be as good as any to use them in. will leave them in one more day then begin the cold crash.
01/06/14 - only realised this morning that although i'd only brewed up 10 litres, i'd accidentally dry hopped with the full amount of dry hops! she'll be a little noble hoppy early on in the nose i'm sure but who cares. will be good nonetheless i'm sure.
tasting notes:
03/06/14 - VERY green going into the bottle but this is because i doubled the bloody dry hops and didn't cut the amount in half. should mellow out in a few weeks i'm sure.
19/06/14 - had a taste tonight and while the noble hallertau hop flavour adds a slightly astringent flavour, it's actually quite nice and bitey. i think the yeast has subdued the dry hop enough and it tastes quite nice! still very young but not too bad for only 2 weeks in the bottle!
24/06/14 - just tasted a sample and it is very grassy. it looks like the hallertau has made its presence known, and it isn't good. will hopefully be nicer in a few weeks.
10/08/14 - the beer has cleaned up a lot but sadly it is still very grassy. it's not undrinkable but is very noticeably bitter. the goldings is evident early however the hallertau sadly quickly overtakes it and gives a big bite. even though it's been a few months now in the bottle, i think i'll keep some to see how it ages.
brew day / beer pictures:
pitched: 19/05/14
bottled: 03/06/14
subsequent batch info: n/a
ingredients:
3.65kg simpsons maris otter
400gm light dry malt extract
220gm simpsons medium crystal
40gm simpsons dark crystal
50gm east kent golding (pellets, 5 aa%, 45 mins)
20gm east kent golding (pellets, 5 aa%, 15 mins)
28gm hallertau (pellets, 3.2 aa%, dry hopped after fermentation complete - for 2 days)
1L starter wyeast 1968 london ESB ale yeast
1.0 tablet whirlfloc
0.5 teaspoon yeast nutrient
process:
20L batch, single infusion, no sparge, mash in 65C for 90 mins, boiled 90 mins, no-chilled, 19C fermentation, 3 day diacetyl rest, 2C cold crash
after loss:
10L batch, 17C fermentation, 3 day diacetyl rest, 2C cold crash
estimated OG: 1.050
OG: 1.049
estimated FG: 1.012
FG: 1.010
%AbV: 5.7%
australian standard drinks (1 x 340mL glass): 1.7
ibu: 34-43 (no chill)
brewing notes:
12/03/14 - planning ahead for an extra special bitter i've been keen to try for a while. very simple recipe but will by first time trying east kent golding hops. they are a very signature, traditional english hop variety which have a lovely florally/earthy combination flavour (for my tastes). very excited to brew this one soon. the name comes from the london underground's circle line. i was lucky to visit europe years ago and on my first night in london, i was taken on a night out with many people on the famous 'circle line party'. this beer is to celebrate and remember that fun experience and holiday. it will be the unofficial second version of the mini minor esb done last year.
22/04/14 - so this will be the beer i make tomorrow. as i'll be using a notoriously low attenuating yeast, i'll be increasing the gravity a little in case it doesn't attenuate to the proper gravity. i'll be adding some dry malt extract to beef it up AND i'll be having to no-chill it as the bloody cider is still fermenting! should be a fun day.
23/04/14 - brewed this up today. nice easy brew day. a few hitches (my brew bag broke and i added the late addition ops at the wrong time but it's all good!) turned out pretty spot on and what i was hoping it would so very happy. should be a nice malty english bitter. will hopefully pitch this in the next few days.
05/05/14 - VERY upset. while i had this beer chilled, one of my two trusty no-chill cubes must have somehow leaked and 10L of this bitter are is now ruined. i had to tip it out as it became infected. the beer was placed in 2 x no-chill cubes and one of them leaked. it must have been dribbling out slowly, which then got infected by something, and then spread into the rest of the beer. not happy at all!
19/05/14 - pitched this morning. pitched the yeast planned for 20L into 10L so probably over-pitched but i wasn't about to piss around halving the starter as this could cause infection. it will be fermented at about 17C (so about 18C). the mL was about 200mL pure yeast.
30/05/14 - the beer is currently diacetyl resting and i just threw in some hallertau hops. i've had them for about a year or more so wanted to get rid of them. figured this beer would be as good as any to use them in. will leave them in one more day then begin the cold crash.
01/06/14 - only realised this morning that although i'd only brewed up 10 litres, i'd accidentally dry hopped with the full amount of dry hops! she'll be a little noble hoppy early on in the nose i'm sure but who cares. will be good nonetheless i'm sure.
tasting notes:
03/06/14 - VERY green going into the bottle but this is because i doubled the bloody dry hops and didn't cut the amount in half. should mellow out in a few weeks i'm sure.
19/06/14 - had a taste tonight and while the noble hallertau hop flavour adds a slightly astringent flavour, it's actually quite nice and bitey. i think the yeast has subdued the dry hop enough and it tastes quite nice! still very young but not too bad for only 2 weeks in the bottle!
24/06/14 - just tasted a sample and it is very grassy. it looks like the hallertau has made its presence known, and it isn't good. will hopefully be nicer in a few weeks.
10/08/14 - the beer has cleaned up a lot but sadly it is still very grassy. it's not undrinkable but is very noticeably bitter. the goldings is evident early however the hallertau sadly quickly overtakes it and gives a big bite. even though it's been a few months now in the bottle, i think i'll keep some to see how it ages.
brew day / beer pictures: