#18 Sam's Colab ESB
| Brewed: | Dec 2012 |
| Style: | Bitter |
| ABV: | 6.2% |
| Original Gravity: | 1.059 |
| Final Gravity: | 1.011 |
| Bitterness: | 91 IBUs |
| IBU/OG: | 1.555 |
| Batch Size: | 19 ltr |
| Method: | Batch Sparge |
| Mash Temp: | 64°C |
| Mash Volume: | 16 ltr |
| Sparge Volume: | 16.3 ltr |
| Mash Time: | 60 min |
| Boil Time: | 60 min |
| 4.0kg | Pale Malt (Maris Otter) | |
| 1.0kg | Medium Crystal Malt | |
| 20g | Southern Cross 12.7% | Boil 60 min |
| 20g | Waimea 14.9% | Boil 60 min |
| 10g | Southern Cross 12.7% | Boil 30 min |
| 10g | Waimea 14.9% | Boil 30 min |
| 20g | Southern Cross 12.7% | Boil 0 min |
| 20g | Waimea 14.9% | Boil 0 min |
| 50g | Southern Cross 12.7% | Dry Hop 3 Days |
| 50g | Waimea 14.9% | Dry Hop 3 Days |
| Wyeast Labs American Ale II Yeast | ||
| 100g Dextrose | ||
Sam had some some yeast that needed using. I had just converted a fridge into a fermentation chamber and needed a brew to test it out on. Mix the two together and we get a colab brew. I thought ESB (after a few bottles of Mussel Inn Bitter Ass) and then Sam came up with the recipe.
Notes
The brew went well. It was good to brew with someone who had brewed a few more times than me.
23/12 Not sure what activity is going on – have not seen any bubbles and it is nearly 18hrs after pitching. Not sure what to expect as first time I have used the fridge (set at 18.5C) and the yeast.
27/12 Temp increased to 19.5C
28/12 Temp increased to 20.5C
31/12 1.025 so not there yet. Sam’s suggesting racking to secondary for 4 days at 21C then dry hop. Should drop another 10 points. Another first – using secondary (Sam’s glass carboy).
1/1 Into the carboy. Lovely and clear!
5/1 Dry hop – without a bag and boy it is no longer clear. The SG is still 1.025 which is not a good thing – stuck!
9/1 Temp crash started today.
10/1 Nearly at 1deg and can see stuff just dropping to the bottom
12/1 Bottle time! Here is the one down side of doing a Colab… half the beer walks out the door! It tasted sweet although our bigger sample was after the priming solution went in so that accounts for some of that.
Tasting Notes
25/1 First bottle. It is bitter/sweet, dry. Caramel. More sweet/caramel than expected – could be too much crystal malt, although potentially Diacetyl. There was a bit of a lag in the start of the fermentation and it sat after moving to the secondary (which was probably done too early) so potentially produced more diacetyl than the yeast can consume at the end of the fermentation. If the flavour gets stronger then there is definitely more diacetyl than is good. Will have to look at the timings for the next brew. Nothing I have read (after Sam put me onto diacetyl) talks about it making the beer dry, so that should mean the hops did well for that dry bitter taste given it is meant to be an ESB
1/02 It is tasting a lot more mellow caramel wise which is good. Suggests may not have been Diacetyl as that normally gets worse not better.