I decided to do this brew again because I messed up the water adjustment on the last attempt. This time I’m going with completely untreated water. I don’t have enough of the Cafe Malt this time, so I’m going to add some Light Cafe Malt and increase the amount of chocolate malt slightly.
I’m also using a different yeast this time. I find the WLP007 is a little too neutral. I quite like the high attenuation it gives, but it just doesn’t pull its weight in the flavour department. I was pretty impressed with the flavour and aroma I got when I bottled the Preston Bitter a few nights ago, so it seemed a waste to throw that lovely West Yorkshire Ale slurry down the drain. I’m not sure how it will fare in the dark beer like this porter, but Wyeast recommend it for stouts and porters as well bitters and pale ales.
Recipe Specifications
Boil Size: 27.92 l
Post Boil Volume: 23.92 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 19.00 l
Bottling Volume: 17.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 55.5 EBC
Estimated IBU: 27.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 72.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients
3.800 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter, Crisp (6.5 EBC), 67.4 %
0.500 kg Brown Malt (128.1 EBC), 8.9 %
0.300 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt – 40L (78.8 EBC), 5.3 %
0.300 kg Wheat Malt, Ger (3.9 EBC), 5.3 %
0.235 kg CHÂTEAU CAFÉ (500.0 EBC), 4.2 %
0.200 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt – 60L (118.2 EBC), 3.5 %
0.125 kg Chocolate Malt (886.5 EBC), 2.2 %
0.100 kg CHÂTEAU CAFÉ LIGHT® (250.0 EBC), 1.8 %
0.075 kg Amber Malt (43.3 EBC), 1.3 %
26 g East Kent Goldings [6.50 %] – Boil 60.0, 24.2 IBUs
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins)
20 g Fuggles [4.90 %] – Boil 10.0 min, 2.8 IBUs
1.00 Items WLN3200-Servomyces (Boil 10.0 mins)
1.0 pkg West Yorkshire Ale (Wyeast Labs #1469) (400ml yeast cake from Preston Best Bitter)
Mash Schedule: Bubbles’ Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 5.635 kg
Mash In Add 15.78 l of water at 71.2 C 65.0 C 60 min
Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 18.29l) of 77.0 C water
07/11/2015 – No water treatment this time. Fast runoff. Great smell from the wort.
08/11/2015 – Uneventful brew day, apart from the biblical weather. Parasol up on the deck, making sure the rain and autumn leaves didn’t fall into the boiler. Hit original gravity. I think I got a bit more break material in the fermenter than usual, probably because I wasn’t patient enough letting it settle.
21/11/2015 – This West Yorkshire yeast is an unusual beast. The yeast cake has only just dropped into the beer, after being on top of a warm kitchen counter for the best part of two weeks. I’m not sure if I’m going to reuse the yeast in another beer, as the jury is still out on what it contributes to a beer. I was going to use it in my smoked porter, but I think I’ll go back to my old reliable, WLP002.
05/12/2015 – Bottled with 111g of corn sugar (19 litres at 2.4 vol). Got 12 x 750ml and 18 x 500ml bottles from the batch.
17/12/2015 – Only 12 days in the bottle and already tasting very nice indeed! Lovely coffee and caramel flavours, with just a hint of roast. This will just keep getting better and better.
16/01/2016 – Quite astringent, especially when it warms up. Not surecwhy I gave it such a positive assessment on the last tasting. I’m not even sure if I’ll end up drinking all of the batch.
Bubbles Brews Beer! 