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Beechworth Ale


BrewingBenny

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I haven't tried their red ale, I'll have to pick a few up!

 

I reckon I'll do two brews with different hops to see which one I like more, they may not end up being like what I planned but hopefully nice regardless, considering Ben 10's post I need to get more hops now, I will do one like Lusty said and another like Ben 10's quote.

 

Hey Ben 10, I don't really understand the context of that quote you posted, do you have a link to where you found that?

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Thanks for the input Ben 10,

I really don't understand how all the different hops work, but I'm willing to have a crack.

I was a bit chicken with the hops this time around, I can up them next batch to test the difference.

So what I did was,

 

1.7kg apa tin

1kg dme

250g dex

250gm caramalt steeped for 30 min

Boiled that for

16 min 15gm chinook

16 min 10 gm simcoe

flame out 20gm amarillo

Us 05 yeast

19c-20c

 

I did a slightly different version a couple of days ago with bry-97, but it didn't grow whatsoever, after 2 days there was no white foam at all, assuming by then bad stuff would have happened I didn't want to waste anymore time on it so I just tipped it and started again.

 

The US 05 has only been in a few hours now but I can see healthy growth already.

 

I was planning to try a small amount of dry hops for aroma, let me know if this sound wrong, or if I need to grow some nuts and chuck more in.

 

amarillo10gm

citra 10gm

centennial 10gm

 

What day do you guys normally dry hop?

I remember seeing antiphile dry hopped on something very late and still had a good result.

 

Cheers MM

 

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What day do you guys normally dry hop?

I remember seeing antiphile dry hopped on something very late and still had a good result.

 

Cheers MM

 

My dry hopping has progressivley become later and later in recent months.

 

I reckon around days 5-7 is about right' date=' around the time the most agressive part of fermentation has happened.

 

I think early dry hopping (day 1) can lead to a grassy unpleasant flavour, particularly if you are using a fair amount of hops and they stay in the FV for a long time.

 

It has also been said that when dry hopping early (day 1) you lose a fair amount of the effects of the hops due to it leaving the FV along with the C02, via the air-lock or otherwise, I used to just add more hops at the start to counter that, which I think lead to the grassy unpleasant flavours.

 

Also, I suggest you use a nice big hop bag for the late hop additions, I tried doing it "commando" a few times, but had some issues with it blocking/slowing the bottling tube, it also seemed to add significantly to the amount of trub and started getting that 1 less bottle out of the FV when bottling. (Can't have that!)

 

Just be sure to be very sanitory when using the hop bag, I boil it first (the bag, not the hops), then carefully, sanitorily (is that a word?) add your hops and plop it in.

 

Thats how I do it anyways [img']smile[/img]

 

Guzz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi Guzz,

thanks mate, I was looking at doing a late dry hop, glad to see you do it too.

 

7.50pm now and the fv has a full cover of foam now, screw that bry-97 I'll never use that again!!

 

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Hi Mustang Mark.

 

Sorry I haven't replied with anything given your post earlier on. I have been following your thread though. The advice you've been getting has been good, so I didn't want to interrupt that.

 

You display a great enthusiasm for your brewing & a willingness to learn & apply that learning as quickly as possible. cool

 

All I would say in that regard, is to temper that enthusiasm with some patience particularly when it comes to hopping. What I mean by that is try a few single hop brews using your favourite kit as the base. This will give you a much better knowledge bank to work from for your future brews.

 

It's easy to read descriptions about hops, but it is not until you brew with the hop do you really begin to understand those descriptions. When you combine a number of hops together that you are somewhat trusting of, but not completely familiar with, the overall flavours in the final beer can at times be a little hard to determine the origins of which hop they came from & why they were at certain levels.

 

Some brewers look at using a single hop as being somewhat boring, but you'll often find that in most cases a single hop variety often has a number of obvious attributes. Some are more complex than others with those attributes, but I find almost all hops have at least two obvious ones that can if used in certain points of the boil, present these influences in your final beer.(i.e. citrusy & earthy, floral & spicy, lemony & resiny, piney & woody etc..etc.)

 

So don't feel like you are missing out by single hopping brews, because in a lot of cases you are actually benefiting more than you realise. wink

 

Good luck with your current brew, it looks the goods! smile

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

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Thanks for the advice guys,

Lusty, yeah I hear you. I always bite off more than I can chew.

 

One thing I did learn is that chinook is very powerful if used over a certain point.

My failed brew a couple of days ago had 20gm of chinook @15 min vs 15gm on this one.

The aroma coming from the pot was far far far less with the 15gm, with 20gm it was quite potent indeed.

I have a feeling it's under done this time.

 

Funny you should say about doing a single hop, Ella single is on the to do list, I can't seem to get it in Melb now so I'll order it from craftbrewer.

 

Cheers MM

 

Edit 9.40am it didn't need a hydro test yet but I wanted to taste it, it actually has a fairly strong hop taste, so probably not underdone. BTW OG 1050, this morning 1044, very frothy greeny foam.

Yaaay for US-05biggrin

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Lusty' date=' yeah I hear you. I always bite off more than I can chew.[/quote']

Me too. Don't ever think I would try to discourage you from that way of thinking. I'm all for it. smile

 

Funny you should say about doing a single hop' date=' Ella single is on the to do list...[/quote']

When I bought my Amarillo & Chinook for my Karl Strauss Pale Ale attempt I also picked up some Ella for a crack at something like this brew. wink

 

Yaaay for US-05biggrin

Yes Yay indeed for US-05! What a great yeast & ultra reliable. cool

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

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Funny you should say about doing a single hop' date=' Ella single is on the to do list, I can't seem to get it in Melb now so I'll order it from craftbrewer.

[/quote']

 

Ella should be available from HDA today - I know he has some, and he is in Melbs

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Thanks Ben 10, your a handy fella to have in the trench!

I just did an order of ella and willamete.

Thought I would try that styx river recipe from Valley Brew.

 

Cheers MM

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well after a few hydro samples the same I was planning to keg tomorrow.

I don't think it will turn out anything like beechworth though.

It seems to be fruity and not bitter enough. I need to do the first boil probably 30 min and use a tad more.

I'm naturally carbonating in the kegs so I'll see how they are in a couple of weeks.

 

Lusty, I took your advice and did a single hop Ella APA 20gm@20 and 20gm @0

 

Cheers MM

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Hi Mark.

 

Good luck with Ella influenced Pale Ale. What you are doing by single hopping the beer, is giving you a good understanding of this hop & its properties going forward. That is something money can't buy.

 

I haven't brewed with this hop yet, but am suspecting it is somewhere in the hop mix for the Beechworth Pale Ale. I'm putting down a wheat beer this weekend, & will then be looking at conjuring up a recipe in an attempt to emulate this beer to put down next weekend.

 

That will most likely involve me purchasing a few more bottles of the commercial version just to get a feel for how to construct a hop schedule for it. I'll look forward to the liquid research side of that....probably next Thursday. whistling

 

It's a tough gig, but someone's got to do it! biggrin

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

 

 

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Hey Anthony,

thanks for the words of encouragement, the Beechworth attempt will be a mile away from what I wished it to be, but hey I have only been doing this for 5 or 6 weeks!

 

I don't know yet how things taste finished VS hydro samples, but mine seriously tastes way too fruity and not bitter enough, do they change a lot when maturing?

 

Good luck with your attempt.

Cheers Mark

 

PS it will probably be of no use, but if you would like a bottle as a reference of my hop schedule I could mail you one.

 

PPS for some bloody reason the hydro samples have been the friggin clearest I have ever seen, possibly something to do with the hops I presume as every other factor is common to my other brews.

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Well bugger me,

I did two 6L kegs naturally carbing and one force carb, and a few bottles.

Just had a sample, F me sideways! this is bloody good.

I'll have to get another bottle of beechworth to compare, but mine is certainly slightly more bitter, the aroma is nice and has great flavour.

When I compare them side by side they will probably be different as chalk and cheese but what I made I'm really happy with happy

Lusty I did a few bottles if you want me to send you one let me know, it may help with your attempt, what to do/not to do.

 

Cheers MM

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Well bugger me...

sideways!

Cheers MM

 

Hi MM

Like most members, I'm willing to help anyone on this forum with brewing related problems and advice, and sometimes I'm even willing to go above and beyond the call. But since I have a bad back and dodgy knees, there's only so far people on here can be of assistance.

I'm sorry, mate, but I thought someone had better point out the truth.

Cheers, Phil

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Hi Mark.

 

Congrats on the brew! happy

Well bugger me' date='... Just had a sample, F me sideways! this is bloody good.

I'll have to get another bottle of beechworth to compare, but mine is certainly slightly more bitter, the aroma is nice and has great flavour.

When I compare them side by side they will probably be different as chalk and cheese but what I made I'm really happy with [img']happy[/img]

Your recipe was always going to make for a nice beer with all those lovely citrusy hops involved in combination with the Coopers APA kit.

 

You now have something to compare with the commercial brew.

Taste them side by side & take note of the differences & apply that to your next attempt at reproducing the commercial beer. Bounce a few thoughts that you gathered from the tasting comparison on the forum here, to gain a few perspectives on directions you might take to get closer to the commercial beer, then Robert's your mums brother! wink

 

You will eventually get something very close with some persistence. It's all a matter of how far & how many attempts you are willing to make to reach that point.

 

Lusty I did a few bottles if you want me to send you one let me know' date=' it may help with your attempt, what to do/not to do.[/quote']

I appreciate the offer Mark. cool, but I wouldn't dare take any of this current beer off of you. It comes across as a real 'breakout' brew for you, so enjoy the fruits of your hard work! I'll certainly continue to be part of the conversation until we nail a recipe for this Beechworth Pale Ale. wink

 

I wish the concept of a "case swap" would actually take off on this forum. I've raised the subject before with little interest unfortunately. Most of the really good home brewing community forums are involved in this type of activity at least once annually. It is certainly something I would enjoy being part of as a member of the Coopers Club/forum.

 

On a side note, I'll be putting down a hybrid Pale Ale of sorts this weekend using a couple of new hops I've yet to use before. They being Ella (that I believe is in the Beechworth Pale Ale), & Ahtanum that is part of a very popular British IPA beer mix, that being the "Punk IPA".

 

I'm looking forward to it. cool

 

P.S. I have no idea what PB2 & Hairy are on about. Not a razoo! unsure

 

Cheers & good brewing,

 

Anthony.

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Ha ha, sorry Phil, it was just a figure of speech, not an offer.

 

Got me stuffed what PB2 and Hairy Maclairey are on about, maybe they put magic mushrooms in their brews instead of hops?

 

Lusty, no trouble at all to mail a bottle, I would appreciate the input from someone that is familiar with the different hops. I have 6 FV's going right now, and a pantry full of kegs, so no shortage of beer around here, perhaps Ben 10 or Phil might like to do an evaluation?

 

Cheers MM

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Hi again Mark.

 

If I thought for one second that sampling your brew would help us both in gaining a better idea of what makes this Beechworth Pale Ale tick, I'd have you go to the trouble of sending it.

 

I personally need to brew an attempt of what I think it may comprise of first. I've been pretty quiet of late on the forum because I've been doing a lot of reading & researching. Basically I love a challenge. Due to the fact that Bridge Road are being very secretive about the make-up of their recipe(s), I like to use a situation like this to test my knowledge, & apply that to a recipe aimed at recreating the commercial version.

 

I already have a good idea for the malt base I will use, & 2 of the 3 continent hops that are possibly used. The NZ hop is actually the sticking point as I've only used Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, & Riwaka thus far, & I'm getting the impression neither of them are involved in this latest incantation of the brew. I say this because they are constantly refining this recipe to keep it "New World" apparently.

 

I'll post a genuine recipe attempt soon.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

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' date=' perhaps Ben 10 or Phil might like to do an evaluation?

 

Cheers MM[/quote']

 

Thanks for the kind words but I must say my palate is not that well trained that I'd be able to offer more than, hmm, that's close....

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OK I was going from memory, now I have a beechworth in one hand and mine in the other I can tell how far apart they are.

Mine is certainly more bitter

and no way near as malty

my flavour although nice is totally wrong

It has a similar smell though

The beechworth has a lingering after taste that I have no idea how to replicate or what hops is doing it.

 

Next time I'll do the dry hop the same but the boil hops need to be less bitter and a different flavour.

 

Cheers MM

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