Brewed Orfy's Hobgoblin Today

I thought it would be fitting to brew the Hobgoblin in time for Holloween (or, for Orfy, Guy F a w k es Day) (I had to put the spaces in between the letters because they got edited out!) This was my fourth batch and I finally got it right... my OG. Per one of my previous threads, I've been getting high OGs consistently (like 10 points!) and today I was prepared with pre-boiled water in case of an overshoot. Well, I set my efficiency in Promash to 87% and still got a high OG (4 points), so at least know I know what my efficiency is for next time. I added the right amount of water and voila, hit the target OG dead on. So, I have 11 gallons of Hobgoblin in the Better Bottles and we'll see how it turns out.

Only question is, my LHBS was out of Nottingham, so I used Safale S-04 instead. Any thoughts on how it will turn out compared to Nottingham?

You will like it alot, it is a great recipe. I plan on brewing it again, im getting low.

I think the 04 may be even a better choice because it won't dry out your beer as much as the Notty. It will be a bit milder/maltier.

Let us know how it turns out. I've never brewed the 'Goblin before.

Sounds like a good brew day! S-04 I think is going to be great. Both are dry, and the S-04 is an english yeast. Seems to go perfect with the recipe.

I bought a bottle of Hobgoblin yesterday. Will see how it goes down, I've had so so luck with imported bottled beer.

McKBrew said:

I bought a bottle of Hobgoblin yesterday. Will see how it goes down, I've had so so luck with imported bottled beer.

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I don't recall ever trying Hobgoblin. I just thought the descriptions sounded like my kind of ale. Plus if Orfy likes it so much, it can't be swill!

Sounds good, well done.

I'll be interested in the yeast thing.

I Mash at a higher temp to counteract the yeasts attenuation rate.
I have one in the fermenter now.

orfy said:

Sounds good, well done.

I'll be interested in the yeast thing.

I Mash at a higher temp to counteract the yeasts attenuation rate.
I have one in the fermenter now.

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I wondered why you had the mash temp at 69C. I didn't know a higher mash temp would reduce attenuation. So, I just mashed at 69C like in your recipe. I believe S-04's attenuation is around +/- 5% less than Nottingham. My FG might come in at 1.014 instead of 1.012. How do you think that will turn out?

Tasty.

I brewed a 10 gal batch of this with Deathweed last weekend as his baptism into AG. We used S-04 as well. Can't wait to try it!!

You won't go wrong with the S-04. A better choice than Nottigham IMO.
Got to love the Goblin.
A brewing buddy cut his eye teeth AG wise doing this brew. Still loves it, and like
me don't do without it. And I'm sure you'll find that your brew will be better than
what you'll taste as "an original" on this side of the pond. And the original isn't bad.

So I realize this thread is pretty old, but for everyone that used S-04 for Hobgoblin, how did it turn out?