Kent Gold, Maris Otter, Safe ale 04- What?

What can I brew with this? An English Ale?
Any suggestions?

I wish I had some fruit, or something!

Best,
K

That combination would make a fantastic English ale, anything from a mild on up to an IPA.

My favorite English IPA is essentially that combo only with Fuggles instead of Goldings, but most people seem to prefer Goldings.

That by itself would make a great SMaSH beer. Or you can add any of the following to make a great English style beer: any Crystal malt, Victory or Biscuit, Roasted barley, Chocolate and Black patent.

Okay! Thanks guys. I went with those parts along with 1/2 oz Hersbrucker at 15min. Looking for something that has a nice hop at the finish.

So, the OG ended up being 1.038 which sort of blows. I added another 2lbs of corn sugar and got it up to 1.050, which I was hoping for. I'm not a big fan of weak beer.

6lb Liquid Malt Extract
2 lb Maris Otter
1/2oz Kent Golding 15min
1/2oz Hersbrucker 15min
1/2oz Maris Otter 5min (Correction: Kent Goldings!)
2lb corn sugar

Start: 1.050

End: We Shall See.

Best,
K

keithbeats said:

So, the OG ended up being 1.038 which sort of blows. I added another 2lbs of corn sugar and got it up to 1.050, which I was hoping for. I'm not a big fan of weak beer.

6lb Liquid Malt Extract
2 lb Maris Otter
1/2oz Kent Golding 15min
1/2oz Hersbrucker 15min
1/2oz Maris Otter 5min
2lb corn sugar

Start: 1.050

End: We Shall See.

Best,
K

Click to expand...

Um... 2 lbs is way too much simple sugar (IMO). I've done Belgians with 20% max, but you're sitting at 25% in an English style beer. To me, the beauty of English beers is there rich malt character... I think that much sugar would probably destroy any maltyness you had.

yeah this will be a pretty dry beer. Should have added dry malt extract instead of corn sugar, but I guess if thats all you had....

Yeah, oh well, live and learn. Thanks for the heads up. I'll let you know how it turns out. BTW, I added 12 teabags of Ambrosia Plum. Rare White and Green Tea blended with Strawberry leaves, Rose Petals and Plum. .
Should be interesting.

keithbeats said:

So, the OG ended up being 1.038 which sort of blows. I added another 2lbs of corn sugar and got it up to 1.050, which I was hoping for. I'm not a big fan of weak beer.

6lb Liquid Malt Extract
2 lb Maris Otter
1/2oz Kent Golding 15min
1/2oz Hersbrucker 15min
1/2oz Maris Otter 5min
2lb corn sugar

Start: 1.050

End: We Shall See.

Best,
K

Click to expand...

Is that a typo? Did you steep the Maris Otter, and for what temp and how long? Also, what was the temp of your SG reading?

And another question: what was your final volume of wort?

Also - What is the batch size? For a 5-gallon batch, i don't think it's possible to end up at 1.038 with 6lb LME. I think there might be a problem with the measurement.

How exactly did you use the Maris Otter? Did you mash it?


Also how many gallons did you brew? Just the LME alone should have given you over 1.040 SG in a 5 gallon batch.

And I hope the extract was hopped.

-a.

I meant to say 1/2oz Kent Goldings at 5min.
This is a 5 gallon recipe.
The Maris Otter was cracked at BrewCraft in SF.
I am surprised that it only reached 1.038 also.

I may have not used enough water in the boil!

Also it needed a blowoff tube. It is bubbling pretty rapidly.

If you used less water, the gravity would be even higher.


However, another thought has occurred to me. Maybe you measured the gravity when it was hot, which will screw up your hydrometer readings, or you did a partial boil and topped off your fermenter with water, and it didn't mix thoroughly before taking a sample. Either one of those can give you an artificially low reading.

I did top off. I had about 2 gallons of wort. I cooled it to around 100F.

I wonder if I should do another reading. I put my ear up to the carboy and it sound like a machine!

Don't worry about it at this point.

Just let it ferment out and enjoy it!

Weirdboy, those are words of wisdom. I took another reading and it read 1.040. So, I'm just going to relax, wait for it to stop fermenting, bottle it and drink the dayum thing! Will let everyone know how it turns out.
Best,
K

weirdboy said:

Don't worry about it at this point.

Just let it ferment out and enjoy it!

Click to expand...

Taking your reading at 100ºF will give you a lower reading. Most hydrometers are calibrated at 60ºF. I did a quick calculation (using software) on your numbers - 1.038 at 100ºF on a 60ºF hydro would be about 1.044. That fits better with the 6# of extract, but still a little low. I'd be willing to bet that you either didn't mix completely after topping off, used too much top off water, or maybe even didn't read the hydro correctly. Was the hydro floating free, or was it touching the side? Touching the side could throw off the numbers too.

When I first read the OP, I thought you had a pile of Maris and were looking to make an all grain beer. You can't steep Maris because it's a base grain. It needed to be mashed with about gallon of water at 150F for 30-60 minutes to be of any use.

Did you add any hops at the beginning of the boil?

Bobby_M said:

When I first read the OP, I thought you had a pile of Maris and were looking to make an all grain beer. You can't steep Maris because it's a base grain. It needed to be mashed with about gallon of water at 150F for 30-60 minutes to be of any use.

Did you add any hops at the beginning of the boil?

Click to expand...

No hops at the beginning.
The Maris Otter was cracked, and I steeped it for an hour.
I took another reading as a posted earlier and the reading was even lower. I mixed it well and even shook it really well. I did top it off pretty high, but that never seemed to be a problem. It now has a blowoff tube to it and the kruesen is all at the top.

keithbeats said:

No hops at the beginning.
The Maris Otter was cracked, and I steeped it for an hour.

Click to expand...

That's an unusual recipe- most recipes use some sort of bittering hops. Did you used hopped extract?

Oh, goodness this is a great beer. I primed it in bottles and also a Coor's home draft system that I found at a safeway. The beer has such a nice mouth feel. It has the look of a wheat beer but the taste of a nice english ale with notes of rose, and strawberry and a bit of a bitterness of a light hop feel. A 16oz glass was all I needed to feel a buzz yet you can't really sense too much alcohol. I still need to get a final gravity reading. Could this be done out of the bottle? Love this one!


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