Brew Number

65

Style

Four Hop Ale FHA 5/5

 Ingredients

Morgans unhopped pale malt, ebc 5, 1.5 kg tin

Light liquid malt from Osb Pk, 1.5 kg

15g super alpha hops

20 g Hallertau hops 8-9%

30 g Cascade hops

30 g Saaz hops

Safale yeast

Some dextrose, maybe about 400 g?

Brewing notes

Put 2 L water in pot.  Bring to boil.  Add both types liquid malt.  Bring to boil.  Hop additions:  0 mins, 15 g Super Alpha in stocking bag, 30 mins 20 g Hallertau in stocking bag, 40 mins 15g Cascade and 15 g Saaz in stocking bag, 42 mins end boil.  Remove super alpha hops.  Cool pot in bath of cold water for few hours. Add to fermenter with cold water to make 22L at 25 degrees. sg 1.032 - bit low. Add rest of bag of dextrose dissolved in boiling water. 23 L at 27 degrees, sg 1.040 - better. Rehydrate safale yeast in warm water 15 mins. Add spoonful of wort. Big bubbling within 15 mins. Pitch into fermenter 7 pm 30 April. 1 May, 7 am, going off, 1 bubble per second, 27 degrees - warm night. Turn air conditioner on. 2 May, another hot day, 27 degrees, 1 bubble every 5s. Add 15 g Cascade and 15 g Saaz hops in stocking bag. 3 May, 25 degrees, 1 bubble every 17s, sg 1.013. 4 May 24 degrees, 1 bubble every 30s, sg 1.011. 5 May 25 degrees, 1 bubble every min, sg 1.010. Decant through siphon tube, bulk prime 5 oz dextrose, stir bottling bucket, bottle on 5 May. Bottled in a hurry and in the dark, waiting for work call, dextrose may not have been completely dissolved.

Tasting notes

ABV 4.7%

13 May - 1 week old. Carbonation OK for age, slight toffee sweetness probably still some carb sugar. Colour maybe a bit lighter than the FHP. Some cascade aroma but a bit disappointing. Nice rounded flavour, has a good cascade tang, but the up front bitterness and the late lingering bitternes is less than in the FHP. Will be a very nice beer but more hops would be better for Simon.

24 June. Nice carbonation, head OK, but retention not so good yet. Still not completly clear. Nice almost fruity flavour from the hops, not so much bitterness, but a well rounded flavoursome ale... Actually, once it warms up there is some nice bitterness there, a rather nice drop.

26 July. Real pop on opening this one maybe overcarbonated. Nice colour, nice head, reasonable carbonation in glass. Nice well rounded fruity flavour with some lingering bitterness. Very nice beer, not hugely flavoured, but certainly more interesting than a commercial lager.

10 October. OK gas, reasonable head on puring, retention not so good. Ok light bodied mildly hopped slightly fruity ale. Definitely taste less malt complexity than the more recent partial mashes, also lacking in hop character compared to recent efforts. But an OK beer.