Fermenting: 26/02/2008 Bottled: 10/05/2008
The first batch of beer I’ve brewed at my new residence, I’m having another crack at making a bitter beer, something I’ve not done since June 2005. This extended gap was partly due to other interests I’ve discovered and the fact that I didn’t seem to like these bitters very much.
Anyway, I’m making up one of the Country Brewer’s seasonal recipes – Mozzie Ale. This beer contains a can of Wal’s bitter, 1 kg of Brew Booster (500g Dextrose / 250g Maltodextron / 250 g Light Malt), 150g of chocolate grain and 12g of Willamette hops.
The mix went okay, but a little too much grain made it through my strainer into the fermenter. It is summer and therefore hot, so the yeast was pitched a little warm at 26°. The wort appears quite dark in colour – very brown on it’s way to black. Should be interesting to see how it comes out in a month or so.
What didn’t you like about the previous Bitter’s you made?
One thing I’ve found with bitters is that dry hopping really helps, as does using a nice yeast – I’ve found S-04 to be quite good with a dark beer.
I guess I found them too bitter – I didn’t enjoy the nice malty flavour I was expecting or any good hop aroma. They just seemed a strange flavour that didn’t appeal to my tongue.
I’ve taken your advice and chucked some hops in dry – hopefully it will add a little aroma and hope flavour to the brew.
I just used the yeast that came with the can – 514 ale yeast, according to the packet.