Back in the Saddle

[bullfrog]

So after a lengthy period of time off brewing, I got back in the saddle last weekend with a quick APA and I'm following it up again this weekend with an ABA.

Thought I'd share my recipes as I'm starting to dabble with some things that I haven't spent too much time with before and thought they may interest some. I'm still blending styles (BJCP be damned) to make beer that I think will be good, as opposed to being restricted by set guidelines, so any posts of "Looks good but isn't to style because of x, y and z," simply won't be read! Haha.

Brew Day 1
Bullfrog Bright (American Pale Ale)

Original Gravity (OG): 1.053 (°P): 13.1
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013 (°P): 3.3
Alcohol (ABV): 5.21 %
Colour (SRM): 3.2 (EBC): 6.3 <--- This is before caramelising wort so the end product is quite darker.
Bitterness (IBU): 36.2 (Average)

4.00kg [83.33%] Pilsner
0.50kg [10.42%] Wheat Malt
0.30kg [6.25%] Carapils (Dextrine)

8g [0.4 g/L] Centennial (9% Alpha) @ 45 Minutes (Boil)
7g [0.3 g/L] Nelson Sauvin (12% Alpha) @ 45 Minutes (Boil)
15g [0.7 g/L] Citra (10% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil)
7g [0.3 g/L] Nelson Sauvin (12% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil)
5g [0.2 g/L] Amarillo (8.6% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil)
13g [0.6 g/L] Cascade (5% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil)
22g [1 g/L] Nelson Sauvin (12% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil)


Single step Infusion at 66°C for 90 Minutes. Boil for 90 Minutes

Fermented at 17°C with Safale US-05

Notes: ~10L wort caramelised to bring colour up.

Recipe Generated with BrewMate

Over-sparged this one on purpose then boiled down the resulting excess liquid in a second vessel to caramelise it. Obviously brought the colour up and I'm interested to see what the resulting flavours will be.

Brew Day 2
Frog's Leg & Rabbit's Tail (American Brown Ale)

Original Gravity (OG): 1.060 (°P): 14.7
Final Gravity (FG): 1.015 (°P): 3.8
Alcohol (ABV): 5.89 %
Colour (SRM): 29.5 (EBC): 58.1
Bitterness (IBU): 25.9 (Average)

4.00kg [66.67%] Pale Malt
1.00kg [16.67%] Munich I
0.30kg [5%] Carapils (Dextrine)
0.30kg [5%] Chocolate
0.30kg [5%] Crystal 80
0.10kg [1.67%] Black Malt

10g [0.5 g/L] Pacific Gem (16% Alpha) @ 45 Minutes (Boil)
20g [0.9 g/L] Cascade (5% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
10g [0.5 g/L] Nelson Sauvin (12.6% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
10g [0.5 g/L] Pacific Gem (16% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)


Single step Infusion at 66°C for 90 Minutes. Boil for 90 Minutes

Fermented at 19°C.

Notes: Yeast used is recultured from White Rabbit Dark Ale.

Recipe Generated with BrewMate

Haven't used Pacific Gem before and the only commercial yeast I've ever recultured is Coopers, but I have it on good authority that the yeast used by White Rabbit for primary fermentation is the same strain used to bottle condition, so I figured I'd give it a bash.

[bullfrog]

Oh, as a quick aside to Jello, you can pick either of these as your prize from the last lotto, mate. They're both going to be crash chilled and kegged/carbonated at the same time, so it's up to you.

[rotten]

Congrats on your come back bullfrog

Both look very tasty. Let us know what the bitterness is like in that brown ale, I personally would have upped it a bit to balance chocolate and crystal. I did a similar grain bill recently with completely different hops though, loved the choc, crystal and black combo.
Cheers

[bullfrog]

Well I wanted to have it mainly malt driven but with a lot of hop flavour up-front (to give Sonny something to drool over next time he's around, haha) but was thinking along those lines as I brought the strike water to temp. Ended up mashing at about 64.7, as opposed to 66, so it will be a bit drier and let the hops show through a bit more.

[jello]

They both look good, but I like the look of the APA.

Thanks mate. No hurry by the way. I've only consumed 3 of my winnings to date.