Brew 5: Baggers & Mash Summer Ale

Starting all-grain brewing is an intimidating prospect for a novice brewer. But as The Beatles sung, 'I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends'. Brewing comrade Tom, from St. Ares (home)brewery, was keen to do an all-grain brewday at his place. Because we didn't have a large enough pot to boil the 25-23 litres of wort, we decided to do half the brew each in our 20 litre stove-top pots.

Tom had a handmade cooler mash tun he was keen to try and I wanted to attempt a single vessel brewday with my stove pot and a brew bag. We decided to halve the brew: I'd do 10 litres on the stove-top and Tom would do the remaining 15 litres or so in his mash tun.

Brew in a Bag

Tom's mash tun in action

 

The brewday was a first for both of us so we decided to do a really simple, traditional English style ale. We wanted the malt characteristics of the Maris Otter to really shine through. We balanced the malt with traditional English hops: Northern Brewer and East Kent Goldings.  

The all important wort taste test!

Due to the excitement of the day (and numerous homebrew tastings throughout the afternoon) my notes are pretty rough. But from memory we mashed at around 67 degrees Celsius for about 75 minutes. Everything on the day went smoothly (although Australia did lose the cricket). It was a dream first all-grain brewday which instilled in us a inaccurate estimation of our brewing abilities (more of that to come!).

Two for the price of one. Both pans before the boil.

Recipe

Fermenter Volume:	23l
Yeast:	Notingham Ale Yeast
Grains:	5kg Maris Otter
	500gs Pale Malt
	250gs Medium Crystal
Hops:	Northern Brewer	20gs	60min
	Goldings	20gs	20min
	EK Goldings	20gs	15min
	EK Goldings	20gs	10min
	EK Goldings	20gs	5min
	EK Goldings/Northern Brewer	20gs	Dry
Mash temps:	67 Degrees Celsius	75min
OG:	1.055
FG:	1.013
Estimated ABV:	6%

At the boil with wort coolers ready to hook up 

Tasting Notes

Cloudy and pale in the glass with low carbonation and small head. Strong malt character with subtle honey and spice notes. It's bitter and easy drinking. A very tasty session ale that has improved dramatically with age.

Baggers & Mash in the Glass

 Brew again star!

Brew 4: Sump Oil Stout

Once upon a time I spent a week in Ireland. The unwritten law for our Ireland adventure was to consume at least one Guinness before midday. This simple rule had a dramatic effect on my general well-being and my digestive system. Black gold alright. 

At Guinness headquarters in Dublin there is a room full of famous Guinness advertisements. The advertisements that caught my attention were from the 50s and 60s. They all had a fascinating and rather specific theme: Guinness is good for you. 

I wouldn't go as far to say it's a health drink but a couple Guinness's do feel like a meal, and Guinness is actually a relatively light dry stout. Inspired by my Ireland experiences I had the dubious idea to create a massive caloric, sweet, blackest of black stout for all those cold Tasmanian winter evenings. Sump oil stout is what I have come up with.  

Sump oil is the last of my four kit beers. The idea was to pretty much throw all my leftover ingredients and a few tablespoons of treacle into a large 24 litre batch of black gold.

Recipe

Volume: 24 Litres 
Yeast: 2 x Kit yeast
Kit: Coopers Stout
LME: Coopers Dark Malt Extract 1.5kg
DME: 800gs Light Malt Extract
Adjuncts: 200gs Treacle
Specialty Malts:  250gs Chocolate Malt

                         250gs Caramalt

Hops:   EK Goldings  18gs  - 20min           
            EK Goldings  14gs -  5min 

            
OG: 1.065 
FG: 1.014 
Estimated ABV: 7.3%

Sump oil in the fermenter

Fermentation temperature: around 22 degrees

Thoughts & Tasting

Viscous and black in the glass, with a thin dark head. Tastes like a sweet chocolate milkshake. A slight estery alcohol flavour, with a little green apple and subtle bitterness. Black, sweet and bold.

Black gold. Sump oil in the glass.

Sump Oil Review

by local beer lover Iain James

Eddie Van Halen the world famous guitarist and recovering alcoholic once said, “never drink anything you can see through” … he was right.

Should we change the name of “Sump Oil” to “Black Hole”? Yes we should, because not a single photon of light gets through this one. If Steven Hawking were to take a sip, he’d be out of his chair in no time and back to solving the mysteries of the universe, plus he’d stop sounding like a 1990’s GPS.

Sump Oil, like a Black Hole, draws the drinker in and doesn’t let go in a hurry, you get caught up in mellow caramel flavours coupled with a cold smokiness which gives the palate a great workout. One also becomes instantly relaxed and warm, wondering what’s at the end of this unusual drink... in my case it was a headache.

Somewhat thick in texture but well worth a bottle or two if you drink it slowly and savour the flavour.

Score: 7.5/10