Holy isomerization Batman! These hops need boiling.
A quick update from the brewcave. I had a few hours on Saturday afternoon, a big load of malt and some hops, so I got a brew done. I had a good Hobgoblin clone recipe (the one from Jamil and Tasty’s Can You Brew It show when they interviewed Wychwood’s head brewer).
Fermentable Colour Grams Ratio Pale Malt 5 EBC 4290 grams 90.3% Crystal Malt 130 EBC 360 grams 7.6% Chocolate Malt 1050 EBC 100 grams 2.1% Hop Variety Type Alpha Time grams Ratio Fuggle Whole 4.8 % 60 mins 14 grams 13% Golding Whole 4.8 % 60 mins 14 grams 13% Styrian Goldings Whole 4.5 % 15 mins 64 grams 59.3% Cascade Whole 5.7 % 15 mins 16 grams 14.8% Final Volume: 23 Litres Original Gravity: 1.043 Final Gravity: 1.011 Alcohol Content: 4.1% ABV Total Liquor: 33.1 Litres Mash Liquor: 11.9 Litres Mash Efficiency: 70 % Bitterness: 34.5 EBU Colour: 53 EBC
I didn’t quite hit 23 litres, despite putting 35 litres through the grain! Not sure what’s up there, I might need to adjust my equipment profile. The mash temperature was spot on though!
66 degrees C, exactly what I was aiming for
While that lot was mashing I sterilised my pressure barrel and some bottles and got cracking with the saffron bun beer I’ve been fermenting. I primed the barrel with 100 grams of sugar in a pint of boiling water and racked the beer into it, and then filled fifteen bottles from there. If it does turn out to be good beer, I want to keep some as a record and I want to be able to take it with me.
It had fermented down to 1.006, presumably getting a bit of a boost from the sugars in the raisins. The sample I took tasted good; not too bitter, nice delicate flavours, and an intense golden colour. I’m looking forward to trying it in a few weeks time.
The Hobgoblin had a good boil, plenty of hops thrown in for the last fifteen minutes, and then emptied into the no-chill overnight. I pitched another Wyeast smack-pack for this one, American Ale II 1272. It took a really good smack to break the yeast pack inside, but after that it swelled well over the next few hours. Fermentation took off after about eighteen hours, and it’s still holding a good krausen now, four days later.
I’m really, really looking forward to trying this one. Hobgoblin is in my top five favourite beers, so if I get anywhere near it I’m going to be really happy.