Blackoat Mild

12#  Bairds Maris Otter

1#  Simpsons Golden Naked Oats

1#  Bairds Black Malt

1.75 oz  Styrian Goldings pellets - 5.2%  AA  (90 min)

Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale & 1068 London ESB

Irish Moss & Wyeast Brewer's Choice Yeast Nutrient

4 grams of CaCl in the Mashtun.

Mashed @ 153.

OG : 1.036

TG : 1469 @ 1.009, 75% AA & 3.6% abv, 1968 @ 1.010, 72% AA & 3.5% abv

In this beer I could get a little of the berry fruitiness of the Golden Naked Oats that people had written about- also some oaty, grainy notes.  Some coffee in the nose as well.  Pretty balanced.  I think twice as much of the Golden Naked Oats would've been better.

The 20 : Scottish 60/-

11 3/4#  Baird's Maris Otter

6 oz    Baird's Roast (3%)

1.5 oz  Styrians (5.2% aa) 60 min

Wyeast 1728

Moss & Yst Nutrnt

Salts in Mash Tun : 2g CaCl, 1g CaSO4, 1g CaCO3

Thick mash @ 158.5

OG: 1.031   TG: 1.009  71% aa, 2.9% abv

I love the 2.9% beer.  Biscuity and much fuller in flavour than it's meager gravity would suggest.  A great quaffer.  Next time I might add 1% dark crystal malt.  Maybe.

Dobbie's Best Bitter

15#  Great Western 2-row Brewers Malt

1#  Simpsons Dark Crystal (80L)

6 oz  Crisp Amber Malt

Cascade Hops : 35 IBUs @ 90 min, 1 oz @ 30 min, 1 oz @ KO, 1 oz Dryhop

Wyeast 1026 Cask Ale & 1028 London Ale

Moss, Yst Nutrient, & 4g CaSO4 in Mash Tun

Mash @ 152

OG: 1.047

TG: 1026: 1.011, 76.6% aa & 4.8% abv.   1028: 1.009, 81% aa & 5% abv.

American Pub Beer.  Nicely fruity, citrusy, and piney.  Pleasant and drinkable with some biscuity maltiness and medium body.

The Goals in producing beers for the Yard City Cask Festival were:

Low alcohol, quaffable, sessionble beers

Young beers

Priming them in the keg to produce appropriate carbonation

When I made the Mild & first Bitter I could then set the date for the event.  I set it for 3 1/2 weeks out.  Brad had already made his bitter the previous Saturday, making his beer four weeks old before tapped.  Worried about not having enough festival beer, I made yet another bitter only 2 weeks before the event!  (Crazy, I know.)  I'm very happy to report that all the beers were ready with all of the goals achieved.

I used information on priming beer for low carbonation in the keg from multiple sources: Sutula's Mild Ale book, Foster's Pale Ale, and the Tastybrew priming calculator.  I decided to go with priming the kegs at different rates.  Some were 7/8 oz of sucrose, some 1 1/8 ounce, and Brad primed his at 1 ounce.  All were refermented in the keg warm (68-72F), then chilled to celler temperature a few days before dispense.  All primings worked fine.  What I really learned was that, just like a cask coming into a pub celler in London, one needs to actively manage the refermenting beer during this time of conditioning.  I monitered the pressure in the keg with this, bleeding off excess as needed, and comparing with common pressure/temperature/volume charts.

Side spiel about the two stuck mashes I had on the 10th, right here.

W Feb 10, 10

Major Tom Mild

• 12.5#  Baird's Maris Otter
• 1.5#    Castle Kiln Coffee  (180L)
• .25#    Briess C-120
• 1.75 oz.   UK Styrians 5.2% aa  (18 ibus)
• Wyeast 1968 London ESB & 1028 London Ale
• Irish Moss & Wyeast Brewers Choice Yeast Nutrient & 3g CaCl (kettle)

5 gallons H2O @ 152F: 30 minutes, no mashout (ala English Brewers).  Vorlauf & run off.  Such great extraction in the mash that I had to liquor down in the kettle to achieve desired OG.

OG:  1.037

Captain Hastings Bitter

• 13#     Baird's Maris Otter
• 1.25#  Briess C-120
• 3 oz.    UK Styrians 5.2% aa, 75 minutes (31 ibus)
• 1.5 oz. UK Styrians 5.2% aa, K.O.
• Wyeast 1028 London Ale & 1882 Thames Valley II
• Moss, Yeast Nutrient, & 2g CaSO4 (kettle)

5 gallons @ 149F: 30+ minutes, no mashout.  Vorlauf & run off.

OG:   1.039

F Feb 19, 10

Grampa Wigan Bitter

• 13#   Gambrinus Pale Malt
• .75#  Briess C-20
• .25#  Thomas Fawcett & Sons Amber Malt  (50L)
• 1.5 oz.  Weyermann Chocolate Rye  (188-300L)
• 3.25 oz.  Cascade Pellets 5.4% aa, 90 minutes (35 ibus)
• .5 oz.    Cascades, 5 minutes
• 1 oz.     Cascades, K.O.
• Wyeast 1968 & 1098 British Ale
• Moss & Nutrient, no salts (I think) and unfiltered water

5.5+ gallons @ 154: 30 minutes, no mashout.  Vorlauf unt run off.  A speedy 4 hour beer!

OG:  1.039

I made this today:

13.5# Crisp Marris Otter
2.5# Briess Victory Malt
1/2# Briess Chocolate Malt
1/4# MFB Kiln Coffee
3.25 oz WGV Hop Pellets - 5% AA
Wyeast 1028 London Ale (Two 16 oz starters)
1g each NaCl & CaSO4 to boil for 'flavour'


c. 30+ quarts at 165F fall to 154F (-11) for 1 hour. Ramp up to 171 over 15 minutes.
Ph 5.3


10 gallons of 1.046 OG

I'm hoping for 4.2 - 4.6% abv beer.



Oh, and I'm drinking my WGV pale out of this glass... RIGHT NOW!