markcurling
Well-Known Member
Firstly...I MADE BEER!!!!!!!!
This was my 5th-ish all grain batch, and while the others have had varying levels of success, this is the first batch which has really blown me away with it's deliciousness. This hobby is clearly here to stay!
Anyway, I kind of invented the recipe, and now I'm interested to know what style this beer should really be defined as!
I used a malt base similar to a Hobgoblin clone I found, and the hops I had left over from a (poorly) attempted London Pride clone:
Pale 2 row 89% 8.9kg
Crystal (dark) 5% 460g
Cara-pils Malt 4% 370g
Dark Chocolate Malt 3% 280g
Hops:
Challenger and Northdown on a 60 minute boil up to 35 IBU, plus a small amount more and a small handful of leftover East Kent Golding in the last 15 minutes (if I remember correctly!)
S04 yeast, OG 1.092, FG 1.028 (8.4%ABV), efficiencyathetic
It came out a little sweeter than expected as I mashed a bit high, and a little stronger than expected to due a slow sparge (gave up on the last few litres!), but it tastes great. A beautiful dark red/black colour with loads of complex malt flavour.
Anyway, Hobgoblin is listed as a premium bitter. Having beefed it up, does it then become a extra-special-premium-bitter?! Or given that I beefed up the whole grain bill and not just the pale malt, does the amount of chocolate malt push it into more of a dark beer style? I know I love drinking it, I just want to be able to tell people what it is!
This was my 5th-ish all grain batch, and while the others have had varying levels of success, this is the first batch which has really blown me away with it's deliciousness. This hobby is clearly here to stay!
Anyway, I kind of invented the recipe, and now I'm interested to know what style this beer should really be defined as!
I used a malt base similar to a Hobgoblin clone I found, and the hops I had left over from a (poorly) attempted London Pride clone:
Pale 2 row 89% 8.9kg
Crystal (dark) 5% 460g
Cara-pils Malt 4% 370g
Dark Chocolate Malt 3% 280g
Hops:
Challenger and Northdown on a 60 minute boil up to 35 IBU, plus a small amount more and a small handful of leftover East Kent Golding in the last 15 minutes (if I remember correctly!)
S04 yeast, OG 1.092, FG 1.028 (8.4%ABV), efficiencyathetic
It came out a little sweeter than expected as I mashed a bit high, and a little stronger than expected to due a slow sparge (gave up on the last few litres!), but it tastes great. A beautiful dark red/black colour with loads of complex malt flavour.
Anyway, Hobgoblin is listed as a premium bitter. Having beefed it up, does it then become a extra-special-premium-bitter?! Or given that I beefed up the whole grain bill and not just the pale malt, does the amount of chocolate malt push it into more of a dark beer style? I know I love drinking it, I just want to be able to tell people what it is!