Improve my Scooby Brew

[vacant]

We had the dog put down yesterday (all went well, did it soon after his quality of life deteriorated to neutral rather than negative) so I thought I'd rebrand one of my favourite recipes - a lot of this got drunk on sunny afternoons out in the garden with him sun bathing on the patio.

Next "Scooby Brew" is imminent:

• 4000g Maris Otter (using cocktail at the moment)
  300g Crystal Malt
  250g Torrefied Wheat (probably use flaked barley this time)
  
  40g Challenger 7.1% (probably use admiral for bittering this time)
  
  20g EKG last 15 minutes
  
  Nottingham ale yeast

Now, I don't want to alter the colour much as it was roughly the same as his patches (jack russell cross) but hops and yeast are especially up for grabs if anyone has suggestions?

I've got:

• cocktail pm, crystal, amber, caramalt, flaked barley
  admiral, WGV, fuggles, EKG
  nottingham and windsor

though I don't mind jumping on the motorcycle to the nearest HBS.

[WishboneBrewery]

Sorry to hear about the dog.

[vacant]

Sorry to hear about the dog.

Thanks, we feel fine about it. He was fifteen, had some growth therefore didn't feel hungry and just gradually kept losing weight over the past months so we all had plenty of time to adjust. When he didn't have the strength to walk round a single field and just hung around the house the time had come.

The recipe is going to be a celebration for some great times.

[Matt]

Vacant, how about changing your bittering addition to a first wort hopping (same IBUs but more flavour created) but sticking with Challenger, and adding an EKG hop steep during cooling (assuming you use an IC) when it goes below 75°C, for aroma.

Matt

[vacant]

I've not tried FHW but I'm willing to give it a go. I use an IC. I don't have an opinion yet on Admiral as I used it for bittering for the first time in my last brew, but only bottled that 2 weeks ago so may have an early taste.

I'm in a bit of a dilema when it comes to steeping as I reckon I have a poor sense of smell. The choice is between not bothering because I wouldn't notice it, or bunging in loads so I catch a decent aroma.

Anyway, thanks for the suggested tweaks, should add more character.

[Matt]

Vacant, there is some good info on first wort hopping here. Its interesting to try out, I've done most of my brews using FWH this year.

Matt

[vacant]

Vacant, there is some good info on first wort hopping here.

Thanks, I'm looking forward to this.