Brew #62: Traditional Bock

Last year I made a spiced Christmas. This year I wanted to drop the spices and make something more plain, so I ended up with an attempt at a traditional bock. The result is very drinkable, but I feel that it has little bitterness. Next time, I'll add more bittering hops and a little flavouring hops to cut the malty dullness. A higher alcohol content would not have hurt it either. I'll drop the mineral additions as well.

Added 2/3ts NaCl (salt) and 1/3ts NaHCO3 (baking soda) to enhance maltiness.

The batch was brewed 2008-09-24.

Style:
Traditional Bock
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
26 EBC (Deep amber)
Bitterness:
22 IBU
Malts:
4600g Münchener malt, Weyermann
2200g Pilsener malt, Castle
400g Cara Münich malt, Weyermann
200g Dark Crystal malt 300 EBC, Thomas Fawcett
200g Melanoidin malt, Weyermann
Mash:
68C, 60 min
74% efficiency
Hops:
20g Magnum pellets, 13.5%, 60 min
Yeast:
2 packs Wyeast 2663 Octoberfest, 2.5 liter starter
Boil:
90 min
Fermentation:
9.5 C

OG: 1.066 FG: 1.016 abv: 6.5%

Brew #61: Extra Special Bitter

This beer was made for an event at work. I was hoping for something easily drinkable. As I had little time to make it I had to skip the yeast starter and throw in some dry yeast. In the end I think that the recipe worked out well. The beer was light and refreshing with a crisp dry EKG hop bitterness. It was far from complex, but it had a dry and grainy mouthfeel with a crisp bitterness. Not really what I would consider an ESB, but rather more like a really dry Special Bitter.

The batch was brewed 2008-09-10.

Style:
Extra Special Bitter
Type:
25 liters. All grain, batch sparge
Colour:
26 EBC (Deep amber)
Bitterness:
45 IBU
Malts:
4500g Golden Promise malt, Thomas Fawcett
350g Aromatic malt, Dingemans
200g Cara Amber, Dingemans
200g Carapils, Weyermann
150g Dark Crystal malt 300 EBC, Thomas Fawcett
Mash:
67C, 60 min
70% efficiency
Hops:
60g Challenger pellets, 6.7%, 60 min
40g East Kent Goldings pellets, 4.8%, 10 min
60g East Kent Goldings pellets, 4.8%, 1 min
Yeast:
1 pack Safale S-04, rehydrated dry yeast
Boil:
90 min
Fermentation:
21 C

OG: 1.048 FG: 1.012 abv: 4.7%