Falconers Flight Hops Review
A quick video review for falconers flight hops, they are great. The beer involved is here.
Author: HisDudeness
English Gold
I made this a few months back as a golden ale for the summer, it was a development of the Olicana recipe I did previously but with a couple of classic English hops thrown in and a slight tweak to the grain bill to add a touch more colour and depth. I also used it as a test recipe for Mangrove Jacks Liberty Bell yeast which performed very well and really helped to bring out the fruity notes in this brew.
Blending the lager and pale malt seems to work really well for keeping the beer light and crisp, I wanted a deeper golden colour than on the previous brew but without excess sweetness from caramel grains so I added a little pale chocolate malt for colour adjustment and to hopefully add some subtle depth to the grist. Hopping was classic English combinations in the boil with Target to bitter and EKG and Challenger for late additions, I decided to dry hop with Olicana to add some extra fruity aromas on the nose.
Galaxy Steam Beer
This was another experimental brew that I did using the 30/30 method. It is still conditioning so not sure how it will turn out but taste tests at bottling were looking good (although I don’t think I would use dark crystal again, I had to sub this in as I didn’t have any 60-80L). Apparently you aren’t supposed to use big fruity hops in steam beers but hey rules are there to be broken right! Northern Brewer is the standard hop for this but I didn’t have any and Northdown is related apparently.
When brews go bad……
….don’t lose hope too soon! This post is about a batch of oatmeal stout I did which suffered almost every conceivable fuck up during the brewing process and yet almost miraculously has emerged as a really nice smooth and drinkable beer. I was pretty much convinced this one would end up down the drain but I soldiered on anyway and for now at least it looks like its beaten the odds and produced something drinkable. The moral is if it smells and tastes ok it probably is so don’t rush to ditch a brew if things aren’t going to plan stick it out and the brewing gods may yet favour you. Anyway heres what went down.
Boltmaker(ish)
I did this one a about a year ago but it remains one of my best Bitters to date, it was loosely based on some information I found about Timothy Taylors Boltmaker which is a lovely beer and a multiple award winner. As with most brews in this style I put it into a pressure barrel which gave a great pub style pour to the beer. The yeast is key 1469 is supposed to be the actual Timothy Taylor strain and it has bags of character, you could use something else but make sure it has some fruity esters or the beer will be lacking in flavour. If you do use 1469 a blow off tube is recommended, its a lively one! I found it attenuated higher than the specified range so my version was a bit stronger than intended but it was still very drinkable.
Wild Mild
Here is a not so traditional recipe for an English Mild, it has some unusual elements to the grist and hop schedule hence the name but it produces a rich dark and malty brew which drinks really well and was delicious served from a pressure barrel.
How to use a Pressure Barrel for homebrew beer
Another old tutorial but again getting a few views on the old tube so thought I’d post it here as well for reference, lots of people have issues with PBs and they get a lot of stick online but if you get a decent one to start with (avoid the cheapest ones from wilko etc) and follow these methods you should be good. Its the best way to get a handpump style dispense without having a beer engine/cask set up in my opinion and works great with english style ales.
How to Re-Use Mini Kegs for Homebrew Beer
I did this video a while back but as it seems pretty popular I thought I’d pop it up on here too, be aware a lot of the newer mini kegs now have a solid plastic bung in the top, apparently these are a bitch to remove and will be destroyed in the process but you can buy the rubber bungs to replace them.