One step forwards three steps back...

This week saw our three-phase electrics pack up rendering Thursday's brew impossible as we had no hot water to brew with! Annoying as this was, it allowed us to get various other things done around the place to the point where "Project CLT" is now moving along apace with the cooling unit for FV4 now in it's new home, almost cabled up, connected to the FV's cooling coil and the IBC in-place ready to become our cold liquor tank!

Hopefully the problems with the electrics seem to be (we've an electrician coming Monday) simply a blown fuse protecting the contactors, although we'd like to get it all checked over anyhow just in case there's owt else obvious we can have fixed...

Obviously, not being able to brew has set us back beer-wise, so we're now brewing "Who's been sleeping in my Brain?" next Wednesday and a collaboration with the "Space Cadet" on Thursday (he's a prospective brewer who's worked at various West country breweries) which only contains hops named after gods, owing to which it has the stunningly obvious but very good name of "God Complex"... 

On the plus side, however, our new Espresso machine arrived.... !

The return of the most-wanted...

We're occasionally asked if we can re-brew a particular beer from our extensive back catalogue and, being affable people, we always consider the requests.  However, the final say as to what gets brewed when rests with Gazza and he's a hard one to convince that this beer is worthy of an overhaul and being allowed back out onto the main line again...

Well, we've had numerous (more than one) requests for a one-off we brewed in August 2014 which was named after the excellent Alien Sex Fiend album "Who's been Sleeping in my Brain?".... it contained Citra, Eldorado and Cascade which resulted in a fruity, citrussy and quite complex, tasty beer which sold very well.  Now Eldorado hops are in short supply (so short we can't get any) and so we've replaced them with something a little bit different but just as interesting!

Topaz are a strange hop.  Originally grown for the pharmaceutical industry they were first used in beer during the last hop famine and found to give a pleasantly oily, fruity flavour which is quite unique.... just the ticket we reckon, so in comes super-sub Topaz in place of the unavailable Eldorado for what should be a very interesting brew, maybe even more interesting than the original as Eldorado aren't the most flavoursome hop ever; we'll see.

Atlantico Sur

Tuesday was the brewday (in itself not a normal brewday, which are generally Wednesday & Thursday) for our Argentinian Cascade brew, Atlantico Sur (South Atlantic).

The hops weren't as immediately big and aromatic as I'd hoped, but still gave a citrus and evergreen aroma which should hopefully yield something rather tasty; the "twig count" was moderate, mostly spindly, and the oil was noticeable by it's absence meaning no sticky green hands like with some hops we've used!

We're one of the first brewers in the UK to use these hops and are quite interested to see what comes out of the tank in a few weeks... the beer is being dry-hopped with the same hops - so 15kg in total - meaning it's about a pure an expression as you'll find!  The bittering hops used were German Magnum, but only half a kilo and their contribution to the flavour is almost zero, but as Gazza doesn't agree with the principle of "single hop" beers, preferring to use hops for their intended function, we weren't going to be doing that...

Such a little thing makes such a big difference...

.... especially if you've been waiting over 2 years to get it done!

Well, today Gav accomplished one of the items which has been a perennial on our "to do" list for as long as I can remember, which seems such a little thing but is really a big deal to us in the everyday brewing process.

Until now our CIP (cleaning in place) pump didn't have a base and we sat it on the floor wherever it was required and dragged it about accompanied by various amounts of cussing when it got stuck on the drain, fell over, kinked the hose or otherwise conspired to foil our efforts to clean things...

Now, hopefully, victory is ours!  It sits atop a piece of weatherproofed marine ply with castors mounted beneath; we've tested it today and it does seem to neither fall over or get stuck on things now, although with a brewday tomorrow we'll put it through it's paces in a real life environment.... although I'm 100% confident it'll pull through with flying colours.  

Hops from South America!

I've been mithering our hop merchants, Charles Faram, to get some Argentinian hops for a good few years now without much success.... until, suddenly, Argentine Cascade appeared on their availability list!

So, with stocks secured, the recipe which had been written a couple of years ago was pulled out of it's slumber, updated with the current politburo diktats, this pumpclip quickly knocked together and we're ready to go as soon as the hops arrive next week!

First brews of the year, home and away...

Our first brew of the year has turned out to be an away fixture at our bestest mates Waen Brewery up in the wilds of Mid Wales, where we'll be concocting a beer with a decidedly modern twist on a traditional style, not what people will expect from us at all... but that's what we said about "Brown Beer Society" and that didn't shock anyone if we're honest...

Then, next week, our brewing account kicks off with a new brew and a special one for January and a not so subtle dig at those who feel it necessary to declare loudly to all and sundry how they're taking part in the execrable "dryanuary" charade of circle-jerk self-gratifying "oooh look at me, aren't I the bloody philanthropist" gibberish.  Sorry, that just blurted out...

Plenty more brews are being lined up for January (and now, increasingly, February) so if you've got any requests then send 'em in!

Welcome to 2016!

So, it's 2016.... we're not brewing this week (well, not here, although we're off to our besties at Waen Brewery in Llanidloes to concoct a black lager!) so the time will be mainly spent cleaning, organising and moving stuff about into the new office and then cleaning some more ready for another year!

Good to have you along...