Codename : Golden Slumbers

As I was scrolling through assorted styles, I discovered a British Golden Ale. In stark contrast to the darker beers I have brewed since I started, I decided to go much lighter. The title is once again inspired by the Beatles Song, “Golden Slumbers”.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs Maris Otter malt
  • 0.2 oz East Kent Golding hops at 60 minutes
  • ¼ Whirlfloc tablet at 15 minutes (optional)
  • 0.1 oz Fuggles hops at 10 minutes
  • 3 ml Nottingham ale yeast

Vital Stats

  • Anticipated IBU : 26
  • Anticipated ABV : 5%
  • Target OG : 1.050
  • Target FG : 1.012
  • Arbitrary Brewhouse (in)efficiency : 65%

Brew Day

  • Prepare 9.5L strike water, 154F
  • Add the grains to the bag.
  • Calibrate sonic screwdriver.
  • Place the bag in the hot water, set the timer for 90 minutes, and maintain the temperature at 149 F. Looking for a minimum SG 1.020
  • Lift the bag out of the pot, allow the contents to drip back in.
  • Bring wort up to 212F to boil for 10 minutes, then bring down to 210 F. Total boil time is 2 hours.
  • Add hops and Whirlfoc as prescribed above.Looking for a minimum SG 1.050
  • 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

  • Pre-boil SG 1.025 (yay!)
  • Based on previous brewhouse efficiency, I had calculated a much lower OG of 1.042. I hit 1.053, so I kept tweaking the efficiency numbers until I reached something much closer. My estimated efficiency is now 65%.
  • The significant change I made for this was steeping for 90 minutes, up from 60, and boiling for 2 hours.
  • After one week, I filtered, and transferred the wort to a sanitised carboy. SG was measured at 1.024, that brings me to an ABV of 3.9% currently. Yay!
  • Since my gravity readings were wonky with what was originally calculated, plus other unknown factors (stuck fermentation, maybe?) the FG was still 1.024. With bottle conditioning I can hope for a small bump, so hopefully 4.1%, which before revisionist history, was the expected ABV.

Tasting notes

An easy drinking ale, no complexity.


Brew day : 2-Apr-2022
Bottling day : 15-Apr-2022

NFT : https://opensea.io/assets/0x495f947276749ce646f68ac8c248420045cb7b5e/98547572266092688542004199927995955645241771819026625145362064313131592581121/