Brewing: Summer Lightning Clone

I've just finished making my second ever extract brew with the boiler She Who Must bought me for Christmas ages ago. I used the same recipe as before (a clone of Hopback's Summer Lightning from Graham Wheeler's 'Brew Your Own British Real Ale' book), but with some changes. I decided to try using liquid malt extract instead of powdered, because it's cheaper and the powder is a real ball ache. I also now have a proper set of scales so could measure the hopping more accurately. Lastly, I added more liquor so it will be weaker than it should be (the original is about 5%, which explains all of those drunken summer afternoons in the Jolly Brewmaster).

My overwhelming impression of the experience was how long it took to do. Several things lead to it taking much longer than I anticipated:

1. The boiler kept cutting out after the 1st hour of boiling. This is apparently a well known problem with my boiler, and down to the thermostat and the element having temperature cut-outs built in. I don't remember this happening last time, so I'm going to try cleaning the limescale off the element before next time.
2. I had to cool the wort using a couple of frozen coke bottles full of water. This seemed ingenious to me when I thought it up, and I imagined plunging the frozen bottles into the wort with steam flying up round my ears. It was, in reality, much less dramatic and less effective than I thought. It took well over half an hour for the wort to cool to pitching temperature, meaning I didn't get a cold break (the beer will be cloudy), and it took longer.
3. I don't have a hop filter fitted to the tap of the boiler, and couldn't find any hop bags, meaning that the tap got very clogged up with hop debris when I was running the wort out into the fermenter. This took absolutely ages, and I ended up having to blow up through the tap several times to clear it.

After this experience, I have decided that I need the following pieces of equipment:

1. An immersion chiller
2. A hop filter for the boiler (one to fit 'Electrim boilers')

It is my birthday coming up, so my family should really be reading this...

Anyhow, the beer is fermenting now (I hope), I realised after I'd opened the packet of Safale yeast that there is twice as much as such a short brew needs in that pack, so I'm hoping it should go like bajeezus. I ended up getting about 8ltr from the boiler and topped that up to 12 in the fermenter to give me a starting gravity of 1.035. it should turn out as a nice, session type ale, but very very hoppy (possibly too hoppy).

Don't call it a comeback

Things have been deadly quite on here for over a year, which is a real shame. Anyhow, I stopped brewing for a while thanks to a couple of brews going bad in a row and work becoming more hectic. i was also a little worried about how much beer this hobby was making me drink, so I had to think of different ways of doing it.

So, now to the present. I've moved house with my lovely fiancee (can't work out how to get the accent on the 'e') and now live in a lovely cottage. Several friends have pointed out that this house suits homebrewing so it'd be a crime not to do any, therefore: I'm starting up again. Last week I brewed up a kit for Woodforde's Great Eastern Ale and it is doing pretty well. I tested it today (about a week on) and it's down to 1.019 from 1.040, so I'm planning on leaving it in the fermenter for another week (I'm pretty sure I remember leaving things for 2 weeks before) and then whack it into some mini-kegs. That's the other thing: it's my plan to stop me drinking the stuff too much. I'll split the brew into mini kegs so that it'll keep better and I'll only have to drink it up once I've cracked into a keg. It won't last as long once opened as a standard large keg will, but that'll just stop me from tapping one on a whim on a Tuesday night.

Anyhow, I'll update here next week when I've (hopefully) put the Great Eastern in the kegs and talk about what I have planned next...

Update: Yorkshire Terrier

I got back from a lovely weekend in Northern Ireland (or Norn Iron as the natives call it...), which incidentally is a total dry spot for real ale. If anyone knows of any decent breweries in the County Tyrone or County Derry areas it would be great if they could let me know.

Anyhow, I've just tested this brew and it is down to 1.014, which is showing good progress.  I guess I'll check it again in a couple of days then put it in a barrel at the weekend, all being well.  Had a cheeky taste from the test jar and it seems to be losing quite a bit of the harsh bitterness it had when it first went on.

Update: Summer Lightning clone

Checked on this this morning and it has started fermenting away nicely.  I didn't put the OG on here last night, but it was 1.044, which is a bit higher than it should have been (1.041), but that's cool, it'll just be stronger.

Update: Geordie Mild

Just tested the mild and it's down to 1.014 from a start of 1.038 (I think).  That's not bad but I think it's still got a ways to go (still tasting quite sweet).  Will test it again Wednesday with an eye to putting it in a barrel next Sunday.

Update: Brewer's Choice Old Ale

So I've come back to my house after convalescing at my parents' place for a couple of weeks after the operation.  This means I've finally been able to check up on the Old Ale.  I wasn't too hopeful when I smelled vinegar after opening the fermenting bin.  I was even less hopeful when I saw a whiteish film on top of the beer.  Not to be put off, I took a sample and checked the SG (down to 1.010, which is good).  Just to make sure all was definitely lost I took a swig from the sample jar.  Disgusting vinegar taste.  Disaster!

Oh well, I'll tip it down the drain and start the next brew (Geordie Mild).

On a more positive side, I brought the Wherry in from the shed and have drawn off a bit to see what it looks/tastes like.  Pretty happy with it (it's a bit cloudy but I think that's just a chill haze).

Wherry progress

Again, progress as in how it's going, not as in the hops (I think I'll start using the word 'update' instead).

Just check on the Wherry at teh 24 hour point and it's got a healthy frothy head up top, which is encouraging.  Look:

Brewing Woodforde's Wherry

Got home from school earlier than usual tonight (because there are parents evenings this week so I try and get away as early as possible on the other days to make up for it), so I decided that it was finally time to put this Wherry on.  And I took pictures! So here we go:

Started off by cleaning the sink area throughly

Threw all the equipment into the fermenting bucket, added sanitiser powder and filled with hot water

While waiting for the stuff to sanitise, I started getting the yeast ready.  Here it is in the packet: Safale S04, a good substitute for kit yeast, which is normally rubbish.

I poured some boiled water into a sterilised mug and let it cool to 20C or so, then sprinkled the packet onto the top of the water.  Covered the mug with a plate and put it to one side.

At this point I figured I'd get the kit out and start sorting it out.  This is what I'm brewing: Woodforde's Wherry (based on a commercial brew, although I've never tried it).

Put the 2 massive cans into hot water to soften the wort inside

Meanwhile, back in the bathroom...the FV is full of sanitising fluid.

When all the stuff had been in the fluid for 15 minutes, I took it out, rinsed it and left it on the side.

Finally it was time to open the cans up.  This is the first one, after an epic struggle with the tin opener...

Wort being poured into the bucket, the smell that comes off it is heavenly.

Filled each can up with boiled water and stirred to dissolve any wort left on the sides of the can

This is the mixture after both cans and two cans of boiling water were put in.  I normally give it a good stir at this point to dissolve all the wort and stop large globs of it sticking to the bottom and not dissolving properly.

Topping it all up with cold water, note my handy, improvised 2 litre jug...

Hydrometer reading after it's topped up to 23 litres.  You'll have to believe me that it is 1.040

Here we return to our friend S04, who has rehydrated nicely.  Now I just have to pour this into the brew, drop the heater in, plug it in and pop the lid on and we are...

...DONE!

Thanks for reading, hopefully this will show some people how easy this whole business is and make them want to try it...

Temperature Issues

So I've got a Brupaks Linthwaite Light fermenting at the moment but thanks to my latest gadget I have noticed that the temperature has been getting a bit high during the days. The max temp has been up near 30 for the past couple of days...

I'm putting it down to the aquarium heater I hang in the brew being on the fritz possibly. Guess I'll have to check it out in some water after this brew is bottled. This will no longer be a problem after I've sorted my temperature control cupboard (a fridge with a heater in it and one of these). There will be more on this in the future...