Scalawags

From here, but using homegrown hops. The first Birra di Primizie for 2011.

Recipe

Batch size: 5 gallons

Mash temp: 67 C / 153 F

Grain bill:

  • 4.5 kg Marris Otter
  • 360 g Carastan malt
  • 100 g pale chocolate malt

Hops:

  • 45g Harvest mix @ 60 (about which see below)
  • 65g Harvest mix @ 15
  • 25g Cascade mix @ 10

Yeast: Windsor

Prep

October 14, 2011: The usual overnight mashing. I hit 69 C / 157 F -- considerably higher than intended. Added a bunch of cold water just to get it down that far.

Brew Day

October 15, 2011: Down to 59 C / 138 F overnight. I left my chiller in for the entirety of the boil, at the suggestion of my homebrew club's secretary; I've been fighting infection for a while, and she said this would help. It came out very clean...squeaky clean.

So yeah, the hops: as noted elsewhere, the homegrown hops were all mixed up this year. Most of what I got is a mix of mostly Willamette and Cascade, and then some Sterling and Mount Hood; the Harvest Cascades were mostly Cascades. So the beer is a bit of a dog's breakfast, but what the hell.

The kids helped me pitch the yeast, as always. Yay!

5 gallon yield, and OG was 1.059. 'Way higher than called for, but so it goes.

Fermentation

The usual: sitting in the upstairs bathroom. I'm starting to pay a bit more attention to temperature; it was 15 C or so to start, and has risen to 20 C or so.

Bottling

October 30, 2011: Did this one up in the bathroom where I ferment; the space was on the cramped side, but OTOH it was nice to have everything close by.

15 litres yield. FG was a whopping 1.021, which makes for 5.1% ABV. Tasted noticeably sweet, of course, with a lot of malt and caramel.

I was hoping to save the yeast for a big October beer, but fresh hops from the boil were in the fermenter and made it hard to recover the slurry. Not sure what I'm going to do now.

Tasting

November 4, 2011: First bottle. Sweet. Still too young, but I couldn't wait.

December 5, 2011: I've had this a few times now. It's very fruity, and I think that's the Windsor yeast. I've brewed w/it before but haven't really paid attention. I can't say I'm a fan of it...it's okay, but too much for my taste. Once I get past that, it's fine. My wife really likes this, though.

I tried it side-by-side with the real Hobgoblin to see how close I'd come, and the answer is: not very. H. is considerably darker, less fruity and more astringent (interesting...wonder where that comes from); hops are different too -- more restrained. Mine is lighter, fruitier and sweeter, with none of the astringency; the hops are more Cascade-ish, I think. Overall, you can see that the two beers are related, but that's about it. (Not that I'm real het up about cloning Hobgoblin, but I thought it was interesting to see the differences.)

I think I like the recipe, but the yeast has to go. Next time it's Notty or 1968, maybe even 1056.