Bobek Pale Ale

[Fallen]

Well, I was raking around my stack of vacuum packed hops the other day and noticed I had loads of Bobek. Decided to try a single hop (kinda) recipe with Challenger as the main bittering hop. Thoughts welcome:

Maris Otter 2.5 EBC 5540 grams 77.7%
Munich Malt 20 EBC 1590 grams 22.3%

Challenger 7.6 % 90 mins 50 grams
Bobek 3.8 % 20 mins 50 grams
Bobek 3.8 % 10 mins 50 grams
Bobek 3.8 % 80 steep 50 grams
Bobek 3.8 % Dry hop 50 grams

Final Volume: 40 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.040
Final Gravity: 1.009
Alcohol Content: 4% ABV
Total Liquor: 58.3 Litres
Mash Liquor: 17.8 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 37.3294994878316 EBU
Colour: 9 EBC
Yeast: 2 x sachets of US-05

Brewday went like a dream and finished with 40 litres at 1.042 (a little high but I'm happy with this).

[escapizm]

Looks good, interested on how it tastes in 6-10.

[Fallen]

Cheers escapizm.

4 days into primary fermentation and it tastes fantastic already. Haven't measured SG but there's still plenty of sweetness, biscuity smoothness and plenty of citrus from the Bobek at the moment.

Keep you posted

[Jolum]

Recipe looks great. I made the mistake a while back of making an all Bobek ale with Bobek as the bittering, Flavour and Aroma hop. Tastes OK but it really needs a bigger bitter note. Next time I make I'll follow your lead and add something like Challenger as the bittering hop, God knows it needs it

Hope it turns out OK.

[Fallen]

Cheers Jolum. I've been tasting it all the way through the fermentation. It's been getting drier, more bitter and less sweet as the fermentation progresses (fancy that eh?). However, with this and the previous batch using low colour MO, it seems a bit thin, almost lager-like even when using >20% Munich.

I was hoping for something a bit fuller bodied with a smoother/creamier mouthfeel which is why I added 20% Munich in the first place. Is it the low colour MO (2.5 EBC), is it the lowish ABV (4.5%), is it the yeast strain (US-05), is it mash temp (66 deg), fermentation temp (18 deg) or could it be something else?

What could I try in the next batch? I really want to brew a nice, lowish ABV, smooth golden ale but all my attempts so far have suffered from this thinness. Nice enough and perfectly drinkable but not what I was aiming for.

[Jolum]

Mouthfeel, that old chestnut

More unfermentables in your grain bill and a higher mash temp would be a good place to start but keep in mind that you have to keep a balance between sweetness and bitterness.

I'm sure others will be along with more suggestions shortly.

Btw, the biggest mouthfeel I've experienced in an ale was an oatmeal stout made with toasted porridge oats, it coated the glass, the tongue and anything else it came in contact with....bloody lovely

[Deebee]

carapils helps with the mouthfeel i have found.

[Fallen]

It's been in the secondary for ~1 week now with 25g of Bobek in each one (I use 2 KKs for secondary).

I take back everything I said about thinness. It's bloomin' lovely! My only concern is that at 4.2% it's not going to last long!!

Question: I've just thrown the dry hops into the KKs (no muslin bags or other containment). What's the best way to filter out the bits when transferring to a bottling bin? I usually siphon with one of these: http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/index.php ... yphon.html

If i tied a piece of muslin around the plastic moulded end, do you reckon that would do the job and stop most of the hops getting through? Anyone got any other suggestions?

[raiderman]

I'd endorse carapils, it seems to add body a little sweet=ness, and maltiness

[Jolum]

If i tied a piece of muslin around the plastic moulded end, do you reckon that would do the job and stop most of the hops getting through? Anyone got any other suggestions?

That would work but it may get gummed up. How a about some steel gauze - you could stuff it in the moulded part or perhaps a pipe filter\screen.