Adnams Southwold Bitter

[clarets7]

Dry hopped in fermenter today with 20g of Fuggles. Gravity down to 1.011.

Dave Line's book arrived yesterday, certainly an eclectic mix of beers! Interesting to note there are five Greene King recipes in there, they did have an exceptional range of bottled beers back in the 70's, but we weren't happy with that so we often tried mixing them for even more variety! A particular popular one was half Abbot Ale with a half a Suffolk Strong Ale...

[Eric]

Yours is well ahead of mine, definitely an underpitch here and just today got up to what might be considered a decent pitching count. Hopefully it will be ready to crop in the morning and gentle cooling started later in the day. A reading taken tomorrow morning before making any decision.

The Fuggles I have are still in date, but not what I would consider as good enough to dry hop, had I planned to do that,

Fine on the book, sounds like you will find pleasure from it and might imagine how groundbreaking it was in its time. Half and half was a common drink in those days.

[Eric]

Yeast cap sagging this morning suggesting fermentation near completion. Brix reading 4.4 of sample suggests a gravity of around 1008, so 3.7%.

Will top crop the yeast, then slowly cool the wort to around 10C and prepare for racking on Monday.

[clarets7]

Into the King Keg today, and still too much headspace! How much do these things hold? Gravity doesn't seem to have changed much, still around 1.011 but that's estimated via a refractometer. Tasted a bit sweet too, but fine, so far so good. I have heard the Empire Ale does carry on very slowly?

I won't get a chance to try the KK for at least another 10 days as I'm off to Suffolk for a week, but I did fill a 500mL bottle as well which I will take with me to do a side by side test with some draught Adnams bitter

[Cobnut]

You've not said where in Suffolk you're going. I live in Ipswich and so get to drink Adnams Bitter regularly (as well as their other beers).

Bar far the finest pint I've had was at the Anchor in Walberswick which is just across the River Blyth from Southwold (where the beer is made). Worth a trip if you are nearby.

Regardless, enjoy your visit to Suffolk.

[clarets7]

You've not said where in Suffolk you're going. I live in Ipswich and so get to drink Adnams Bitter regularly (as well as their other beers).

Bar far the finest pint I've had was at the Anchor in Walberswick which is just across the River Blyth from Southwold (where the beer is made). Worth a trip if you are nearby.

Regardless, enjoy your visit to Suffolk.

Not Southwold this time (we go there every spring), but Eastbridge near Minsmere. The Eels Foot is the local and the Bell at Middleton not too far away - that's the one that serves Adnams bitter and Ghostship straight from the barrel

[Eric]

Squeezed into a 5 gallon pressure barrel yesterday, other commitments delayed the planned racking. 3.9 Brix on the refractometer, 1007 by hydrometer. I don't know of any computation that compensates accurately for a refractometer reading with alcohol in beer and believe beer is too complex for one algorithm to fit all.

Tasted very malty today, far more than I expected for which I presently suspect the yeast. Not much from the Fuggles, but there's still time.

[Eric]

.

[Cobnut]

Eastbridge near Minsmere. The Eels Foot is the local and the Bell at Middleton not too far away - that's the one that serves Adnams bitter and Ghostship straight from the barrel

If you're willing and able, it is certainly walkable from there to Walberswick. And worthwhile for the quality of the ale at the Anchor!

[clarets7]

Eastbridge near Minsmere. The Eels Foot is the local and the Bell at Middleton not too far away - that's the one that serves Adnams bitter and Ghostship straight from the barrel

If you're willing and able, it is certainly walkable from there to Walberswick. And worthwhile for the quality of the ale at the Anchor!

Ha, walking there is not a problem, it's walking back! I've not been to the Anchor to be fair, only pub in Southwold and Walberswick I've not been in. Stayed at the Bell a few years ago and that's where we normally end up if we are there but I shall check out the Anchor, the wife has stopped drinking so can drive us

[Meatymc]

Not Southwold this time (we go there every spring), but Eastbridge near Minsmere. The Eels Foot is the local and the Bell at Middleton not too far away - that's the one that serves Adnams bitter and Ghostship straight from the barrel

We're an annual in Southwold, Brixham and Broadstairs - the latter for some excellent micro-pubs/breweries. Maybe not Brixham much longer - seems a bit dingier year on year. Never ventured across to Walberswick - maybe next time.

[clarets7]

Update on the beer - although it's only been a week in the bottle I couldn't resist trying it. Colour was spot on, probably could do with being more bitter but that might be masked by the fact it is too sweet still, maybe because it's not fermented the priming sugar fully. You can tell it's late hopped with Fuggles but not like the draught Adnams, in fact what it reminds me of is bottled brown ale, which I'm not surprised at as I'm sure the Empire yeast is the same as their old M03 Newcastle Dark Ale yeast. So probably more Fuggles late on, and somehow get more out of them? Maybe at flameout and 80C, in a bag and then make sure you squeeze every last drop out of them?

[Eric]

Bottled Brown Ale's not a bad description for mine. It certainly isn't a patch on the real thing and I'm sure I've made better attempts in the past. The Fuggles are as disappointing as they looked from the packet, not a lot more to say really. It was more than hazy until the third day and the taste improved a lot when it cleared, but not as hoped. On a beer engine it would be better, but not enough to make the difference.

[Eric]

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Clearing nicely, tasting better, slight Fuggles type on the nose and less like brown ale with just enough carbonation.

[FUBAR]

Green hop brew day coming up soon Eric ? .