little china girl australian ale
brewed: 08/09/13
pitched: 22/09/13
bottled: 03/10/13
subsequent batch info: 100% i loved this beer but there was not much of it made. 100% i will make this again and maybe re-tweak it a slight bit, but damn the fresh pride of ringwood was just great at 60 minutes.
ingredients:
970gm simpsons maris otter
557gm light dry malt extract
100gm joe white medium crystal 60
14gm pride of ringwood (pellets, 5.6aa%, 60 mins)
11.5gm DCL yeast US-05 - american ale
0.5 tablet whirlfloc
process:
10L batch, single infusion, no sparge, mash in 63C for 60 mins, no-chill, 16C fermentation, 2C cold crash
OG: 1.044 (1.040 expected)
FG: 1.010 (1.010 expected)
%AbV: 4.5. 5.0 bottled
ibu: 21
brewing notes:
today was a great brew day, and kind of exciting as i was using my new set up and testing it out. it worked amazing, and has boosted my efficiency up to 83% (normally 70). today's brew was a leftovers brew; adding malt extract (so it technically was a kind of partial brew) and a few other bits and pieces to make it a sexy Bowie beer. i did a small 10L batch to test the new system and see what my boil losses and things were. it was my first time using pride of ringwood hops, and i'll be using the coopers yeast too, so i'm super excited to make a uniquely aussie-tasting beer. overall, really excited with my new pot and burner, and that sexyfuntime brewing has a new address too; it made it so much easier.
22/09/13 - pitched this one today. i sadly had a problem with my stir plate so couldn't use the WLP009 yeast after all. i could have made a stir plate-less yeast starter for my coopers yeast but this would take a lot longer than i'm willing to wait without a stir plate so i just added the good old us-05 yeast to it like my past american ales. i'll brew another batch down the track with the WLP009.
tasting notes:
29/09/13 - took a sample of this one after checking on it (it's almost finished its ferment). i have to say, i can really tell the pride of ringwood hops in this one. i don't think it needs anymore. very discerning taste and really doesn't need much more. it's a very basic taste but one that is very reminiscent of cracking open a traditional aussie beer after getting home from work. love it! can't wait for it to be bottled and to sample it.
16/10/13 - 'i feel a wreck without my...little china girl'. first taste test tonight, just shy of two weeks in and HOLY SHIT BALLS! niceeeee. just a traditional aussie ale that you'd get down the pub, and i really feel it can get better with age. the pride of ringwood really sticks out although due to the crystal malts and maris otter being how they are (sweetish to my taste) i probably could have added a bit more hops in but at the moment, she's a beauty! very very impressed.
23/10/13 - so cracked one tonight after a hard day of uni prac and it's really really really (great word choice) mellowed out now. the sweetness has subsided and it's turning out into a very fine aussie ale. could still be a tad more on the bitter side but i'm now pretty much in love with it.
30/10/13 - waited another week to try it and it has really come into it's own. the hops, even while not too in your face, are now a lot more bitter than they once were which is what i really wanted. it's taken about a month in the bottle to get to it, but it's tasting nice quite now albeit what i perceive to be a possible slight, slight fusel alcohol fault. not too noticeable though with the bittering of the pride of ringwood. will have to give to some more experienced tasters to check! i'm loving it though!
brew pics: