Anyhow, I brought two Coopers Aussie lagers among the general detritus that I ran out of the store with (on four occasions) grinning like a 1980's twoc'er who had just got his hands on a Cosworth. Oh, and some Brew Enhancer #1 (why?!?!).
Now we all know this is really an ale, and I'm thinking a fairly bland one at that. So, time to experiment at very low cost, thus justifying my extravagance to myself.
So I'm going to do 2 brews tomorrow, both of them Aussie lagers with BE1 and hop / malt additions. I know which hop additions I am going to use for each brew, I've got that sorted from previous experience. I'm also going to steep / mash 250g of lager malt, approx 125g of crystal malt in 5 litres of water (per brew) before adding the hops. That is slightly less crystal than I wanted, and I also want to add a bit of rosy red colour.
But, the only other malt I've got in stock is chocolate. I'm thinking about 25g per brew just to add a bit of colour and perhaps a hint of some kind of flavour. Does that sound about right, or too much? I'm sort of aiming for a Wychcraft colour.