Friday night – time to get a brew on for Christmas drinking – this will be kegged and tapped for the festive season (and hence a nice drinking bitter – the Imperial Stout will wait for next year 
).
3.7kg Maris Otter
165g Crystal Malt 120LMash 90min at 66C. Water: 40L liquor treated with 36ml CRS, 4g gypsum, 9.5g CaCl.
Hops:
Target (9%) 16g (90min)
WGV (8.7%) 8g (90min)
Styrian Goldings Bobek (3.7%) 4g (90min)
Styrian Goldings Bobek 9g (15min)~29IBU
Dry hop in barrel with 2g Styrian Goldings
Yeast: Hopback
The water treatment was worked out with the use of Graham Wheeler’s Water Calculator – the alkalinity for which was worked out by titration of tap water with diluted CRS an methyl orange indicator – I reckon about 185mg/l as CaCO3. Something must have gone right as the pH of the mash looked bang on, and my efficiency was a bit higher too.
Helping the efficiency was the newly redesigned hop strainer – less (virtually no!) deadspace in the boiler and much easier to clean now I’ve done away with the mesh strainer. The boiler drained almost completly to leave me with 5 gallons (imperial!) at an OG of 1038.
The Hopback yeast was used again in this brew – I think this will be the last before I ditch it and start again – I have dried yeasts, and I have some Brakspear yeast on the stir plate at the moment too for future use! Anyhow, after a day and a half, it went apeshit and twice has now made its way through the airlock… I’m having to skim the krausen off daily at the moment just to stop it erupting out…
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