First Meet Up: SUCCESS!

A very belated thank you to all the people who turned out for our first meet last month. To everyone who brought along beers to try - thank you, the standard generally was very high, and I hope you enjoyed sharing your beer in an atmosphere of positive support.

Special thanks must go to Dean at Mr Foley's for giving us the time and space to hold the event, and also to James from Summer Wine Brewery for coming along and sharing his experiences of moving from a home-brewer to a pro-brewer, something that I'm sure everyone in the room listened to with great envy!

The next meet is scheduled for mid-January, and we'll start taking submissions for people who want to showcase their beers at the start of January. Let's aim for 6 or 7 people presenting their beers, over the second hour of the meet. If others want to bring anything to share after that, fine, but the feedback received suggests that giving a smaller number of people 8 or 10 minutes to present their beer and get feedback worked well.

Onwards and Upwards!

Broadford Black IPA

Grist:
Maris Otter Pale Malt (5.45kg) – 77.9%
Munich Malt (1kg) – 14.3%
Crystal Malt (350g) – 5%
Carafa III (200g) – 2.9% (I added a further 300g Carafa before I sparged.  Aiming for maximum colour, minimum roastiness).

Hops:

Magnum 45g – 12.7% @90mins
Chinook 20g – 12.4% @20mins
Cascade 20g – 7.6% @20mins
Chinook 20g – 12.4% @5mins
Cascade 20g – 7.6% @5mins
Chinook 20g – 12.4% @0mins (steep 20 mins)
Cascade 20g – 7.6% @0mins (steep 20 mins)

Final Volume: 23 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.069
Final Gravity: 1.017
Alcohol Content: 6.8% ABV
Bitterness: 79.2 IBU
Colour: 100 SRM
Yeast: Safale US-05
Mash: 90mins @ 67c
Boil: 90mins
Water treatment: 4g gypsum, 2g epsom salts, campden tablets.

A long awaited brewday (night!) and one that I decided to coincide with local fellow brewers @brotherlogic and @pdtnc #blackipaoff.  This was my fifth full mash brew (AG#5). The Brief was to brew a Black IPA, swap some bottles, taste, discuss.

Beer styles are always a topic for discussion and I know that the oxymoronic Black India Pale Ale is a debate in full flow.  I’m not here to discuss it, just to brew a beer, but I was interested to see what others had said on the subject Stout Fellow, Called to the Bar,  Into the Brew, Craft Beer and Hop Press.  All things considered I’m sticking with Black IPA.  If it’s good enough for Kernel, Brodies, Windsor Eton Brew, Thornbridge and Buxton then it’s good enough for me!

I’ve now brewed with this setup a few times and I’m really happy with the results this time around.  On day 3 of the fermentation the hydrometer reading is down to somewhere between 1.030 and 1.020 (difficult to tell through the krausen and I’m not messing around dipping trial jars. One of these days I’ll treat myself to an FV with a tap!).

You can see some pics of the brew night here.

Looking forward to the next Leeds Homebrew meeting in January 2012.

Contributor: David Bishop (@broadfordbrewer)

Guest Speaker Announced

Ladies and gents, we're pleased to announce that for our first meet on the 20th October, James from Summer Wine Brewery has agreed to come along and say a few things about, well, whatever he wants really, but hopefully about beer and (home)brewing.

We're especially delighted as we know that James was a keen, nay, fanatical homebrewer before founding Summer Wine Brewery with his business partner Andy. Should you need any further proof of his credentials, please see the picture below, and the accompanying comment! (twitpic link here)



"this is what my kitchen looked like when i knew my hobby had got out of hand!!"

Running Order - Thursday 20th October

Here's a draft format for the evening, based on some suggestions received from a member of the London Amateur Brewers. None of this is set in stone, so if you have any strong feelings either way, please let us know.

The hour slot from 19.00 to 20.00 is intended to be a bit of a structured part, and maybe we can persuade one of the many great brewers close to Leeds to come along and say a few words about how they got started in brewing. If anyone is reading this and fits the bill, particularly if you got going through an interest in homebrewing, please email our admin Zak Avery (zak (at) thebeerboy.co.uk)

18:30 Arrive and get a beer
19:00 Welcome / Talk / Q&A
20:00 Tasting of members' beers
21:00 Meeting adjourned. Carousing optional.

What has also been suggested is that we limit the tasting slots to around 6, spread over the tasting hour. We'd like to allocate the slots on a first-come first-served basis, although we could also draw lots if we are oversubscribed.

Again, please let us know which you think would be better - if you'd rather a more free-for-all bottle swap type event, we can do that too!

First Meet-Up Confirmed - Thursday 20th October 2011

I'm happy to announce that the first meet-up for readers and contributors to this blog will be Thursday 20th October, at Mr Foley's Cask Ale House on The Headrow in Leeds.

Dean, the manager of Mr Foley's (and blog contributor) has very kindly offered us space in the pub. I'm unsure yet as to whether his hospitality will extend to dropping the bottles off beforehand!

The format of the evening is as yet undecided, but will certainly involve drinking each others homebrew, and giving constructive and supportive feedback. Exactly how that will pan out, I've no idea, but let's use that as a guide, and see how far it gets us.

Any comments on how the evening should work are welcomed.

Blanche de St. Oswald

Grist

2.043kg (39.3%) German Premier pilsner malt (Weyermann)

2.043kg (39.3%) Wheat malt

424g (8.2%) Oat malt

340g (6.6%) Flaked Oats

243g (4.7%) German spelt malt

102g (2%) German acid malt

Hops & Additions

20g German Tettnang (4.5 %) Whole hops FWH

30g Czech Saaz (3.0%) Whole hops 15 mins

7g fresh orange zest 15min

7g coriander seed (ground) 15min

1 tbsp. Seville marmalade 15mins

4g pure camomile flowers at flame out

Yeast

Safbrew T-58

Water

Adjusted to ‘general purpose’ as per http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/water/water.html

Method

Mash at 68 degrees for 60 minutes

Boil for 60 minutes with additions as above.

Cool to 20 degrees and pitch yeast

Target Specifications

OG: 1.052

FG: 1.012

ABV: 5.3% ABV

IBU: 14.5 (Tinseth)

SRM: 3.5

Mash efficiency: 80%

Batch Size: 20L

Comments

After visiting Bruges in May I was fascinated by how varied this

style can be. I wanted to try and emulate the fine balance of flavours that good Belgian wit beers such as ‘Blanche de Namur’ and ‘St. Bernardus Wit’ demonstrate.

I chose to include camomile in the spices as I hope it will add a herbal note without being overpowering the other additions, or the fermentation characteristics.

I’m hoping to get another version of this beer brewed with WLP410 (Belgian Wit II) and with more flaked, unmalted grist additions before the Leeds HB meet for a comparison.

Contributor

Neil Gardner (Leedsbrew)

New Zealand Pale Ale

Grist
4kg Maris Otter pale malt
300g Torrified Wheat
500g Vienna Malt

Hops & Additions
10g Motueka (13.8%AA) at First Wort
10g Nelson Sauvin (12.6%AA) at First Wort
1x Protofloc tablet at 15 minutes
20g Motueka at 10 minutes
20g Nelson Sauvin at 10 minutes
20g Motueka at 1 minute
20g Nelson Sauvin at 1 minute
50g Motueka dry hop (1 week)
50g Nelson Sauvin dry hop (1 week)

Yeast
Safeale US-05

Method
Mash at 68 degrees for 90 minutes, second mash for 45 minutes.
Collect 25 litres total.
Boil for 60 minutes with additions as above.
Cool to 20 degrees and pitch yeast

Target Specifications
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.014
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 62.76
SRM: 5.3
Mash efficiency: 70%
Batch Size: 23 litres (5 gallon)

Comments
I have high hopes for this brew. The hops gave off a great aroma in the kettle so I am hoping that this will follow through for a flavourful beer. It was brewed on Monday and is currently fermenting, with another 100g of hops to be added whilst conditioning. I collected slightly to much, however this doesnt seem to have effected the OG too much, although it may be closer to 1.054.

Contributor
Dean Pugh