Codename : Old Brown Shoe

The chosen caramel & chocolate malts have higher Lovibond rating (darker colour) than the original recipe as I tend to prefer the darker ales. Paying hommage to the Beatles with the title selection.

Recipe inspiration

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs Maris Otter malt
  • 2 oz Caramel malt
  • 2 oz Rye malt
  • 1 oz Chocolate malt
  • 0.20 oz East Kent Goldings hops at 60 minutes
  • 0.10 oz Fuggles hops at 20 minutes
  • ¼ Whirlfloc tablet
  • 4 ml Nottingham ale yeast

Vital Stats

  • Anticipated IBU : 26
  • Anticipated ABV : 4.6%
  • Target OG : 1.048
  • Target FG : 1.013
  • Arbitrary Brewhouse (in)efficiency : 55%

Brew Day

  • Prepare 8L strike water, 154F
  • Add the milled grains to the bag.
  • Place the bag in the hot water, set the timer for one 90 minutes, and maintain the temperature at 149 F. Looking for SG 1.027.
  • Calibrate the refractometer, aka the sonic screwdriver, the refractometer to ensure accurate measurements.
  • Lift the bag out of the water, and allow it to drip into the pot.
  • Bring wort up to 212F to boil for 10 minutes, then bring down to 210 F.
  • Set the timer for 90 minutes. Add hops and Whirfloc as prescribed above. Looking for SG 1.048.
  • Sanitise everything required for fermentation.
  • Cool to room temp, an ice-bath or a snowbank work effectively.
  • Prepare yeast mixture.
  • Add wort to the jug. Pitch yeast.
  • Store in a cool place for primary fermentation for 14-21 days.

Bottling Day

  • Sanitise everything required for bottling.
  • Transfer from carboy to bottling pot.
  • Prepare 19g corn sugar with enough hot water to dissolve it. Add to pot.
  • Bottle.
  • Preferably conduct bottle conditioning for at least 2-4 weeks. 

Brew Notes

  • I hit pre-boil SG, 1.029.
  • Towards the end of the boil, the SG was about 1.040, so with 15 minutes remaining, I opted to add about 2 tbsp of brown sugar, keeping with the brown theme to reach a final SG of 1.049.
  • This is a clue that maybe a two hour boil might be in order.
  • Fermentation gushed/trickled out of, and filled the airlock.

Tasting Notes

  • Sampled during the bottling process, the cheat addition taste of brown sugar is a little too present for my liking.
  • Now the beer has aged, the taste of the brown sugar has mellowed. The ABV is low, but it does have a decent taste.

Brew day : 25-Mar-2022
Bottling day : 8-Apr-2022

NFT : https://opensea.io/assets/0x495f947276749ce646f68ac8c248420045cb7b5e/98547572266092688542004199927995955645241771819026625145362064312032080953345/