chromosphere

More grain on the way - though unfortunately Tucker’s Maltings can now only ship in multiples of 25kg - so no more ordering a sack and then bits and pieces. Bugger. Landed up ordering some wheat, amber, cara and roasted barley from Hop and Grape (and got some yeast while I was at it).

Back brewing shortly we hope.

Bottled up my last brew (Bearskinful-ish) on Weds - FG of 1010 giving 40 bottles (mix of 500ml and pints) at about 3.6% ish. Tastes good from the FV too.

All grain brewday number 6 on the 19th May - and that’s it for that sack of pale malt! I had almost exactly 3.5kg left over and decided to go for the following recipe (which is pretty much like Norm’s Real Ale Almanac version of Beartown Bearskinful but with a slight alteration on the malt and hops):

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Ages since I actually posted here - and time for a bit of a catch up on brewing activities.

First off was AG brew 4 on 23rd April. Following Dave Line’s BBLTYB recipe for “Harvey’s Sussex Best”.

3.8kg Maris Otter
300g flaked maize

Mashed for 90min at 66C

Goldings 50g (4.1%) 90min
Northern Brewer 20g (7%) 90min
250g light soft brown sugar

Treated water (30L) with 30ml CRS, 1 1/2tsp Gypsum and 1/2 tsp Epsom salts

OG - 1041 (23L)
Yeast: Safale-04

Went off like the clappers but then halted suddenly at about 1022 (think it got a bit cold), so warmed, roused and finally and repitched - finally finished at 1012. Bottled up 44 bottles with 3/4 tsp brewing sugar in each to prime. It’s a bit yeasty at present from the first few samples (probably from the re-pitch), but if it lasts long enough to mature properly, it’s going to be a good pint!

Second up was a bank holiday brew in preparation for a Badger BBQ in July. Following the recipe for Townes IPA:

4.45kg Maris Otter
180g Wheat Malt

Treated water (30L) with 30ml CRS, 1 1/2tsp Gypsum and 1/2 tsp Epsom salts.
Mashed for 1 3/4 hr at 65C and fly sparged.

64g Cascade (5.4%) - 90min
19g Cascade - 15min
Irish Moss 15min

Yeast: US-05

Landed up with 21L @ 1044 according to the refractometer. Cool - smells gorgeous in the FV.

Pitched at 21C - first time with this yeast and it fermented way past where I was expecting. It finished up at 1004 giving me somewhere about 5.3%ABV. I had to get out the hydrometer to check this - it seemed way too low! Racked this to keg with finings (very cloudy) and 55g table sugar. The US-05 is notoriously hard to clear and it looked a lot cloudy. A lot had settled out in the FV but there’s a fair bit more to go, so hoping the two part kiesesol/gelatine finings (Kwik Clear) will do their job - they’ve got 6-7 weeks to do it, and with any luck it’ll clear in time left to it’s own devices…

RA: 05h 35m 17s, Dec: -5°23′28″
The Orion Nebula (M42 (NGC 1976) & M43) is located in the “sword” of Orion and is a large emission nebula that is easily visible to the naked eye. It is an area of star formation - the closest such to Earth at a distance of 1500 light years. The nebula is an estimated 30 light years across, and contains a young star cluster (the Trapezium) in the bright core of the nebula. The reflection nebula at the top of the image is the “Running Man” nebula (NGC 1973, 1975 and 1977) - so named due to the resemblance of the silhouetted dust lanes.

I had lots of trouble with this image (taken on 6th Feb, 2007) - the flats I took didn’t work out (there’s the odd artifact here and there!), and I’m not quite happy with the colour balance - have another go at this later I think…

RA: 06h 41m, Dec: +9°53′
The Cone Nebula and Christmas Tree Cluster are part of a larger star forming complex within the constellation of Monoceros. A 2.5 hour exposure in H-Alpha light taken 22nd December 2006 using an Astrodon filter shows only glowing hydrogen gas and stars - the blue reflection nebula near to the “Fox Fur” nebula (below the bright variable star S Monocerotis) often seen in photos of this region is largely invisible as most light is of the wrong wavelength and is rejected by the filter.

RA: 06h 33m 45s, Dec: +4°59′54″
The Rosette Nebula is a large H II region located in the constellation of Monoceros, just to the left of Orion. The nebula is a large star forming region with a cluster at the centre that , through the action of the stellar winds, has blown a large cavity out of the nebula from which it formed. The nebula itself is often referred to simply as NGC 2237 (though NGC 2238, NGC 2239 and NGC 2246 are all parts of the same nebula). The cluster is designated NGC 2244.

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