Start the day with a refreshing cuppa!

We mashed in at a little after 7am, aiming for a mash temperature of 152F. The mash was left to stand for 90 minutes before transfer to the brew kettle. As you may already know the mash system is a single step infusion mash, the milled grain being dropped into the mash tun (via the auger) with the hot liquor and manually mixed.

Judy mashes-in!

Adding leaf hops (Kent Goldings) to the hop percolator.

The wort was tested for clarity and taste (excellent on both counts) and was run into the kettle over a period of about 3 hours. Shortly after the collection volume was achieved the wort came to the boil and the bittering hops were added (Target & Kent Goldings).

Adding P90 pellet hops to the boiling wort.

The wort was boiled for one hour and late hops (UK Fuggles) were added 10 minutes before boil end. Of course during the boil time the mash had to be removed and the mash tun cleaned in preparation for the next brew … hello free labor!

dig, dig, dig (and she's still smiling)!

and scrub, scrub, scrub (and she's still smiling, what's wrong with this woman?)

After the end of the boil we added a portion of our tea to the hot wort to steep until transfer to fermentation vessel. We collected the wort at 71F and pitched with our trusty Oliver Ale (Ringwood) yeast.

Mmmmm .... tea ....

Our collection gravity was 1.054 and we’ll be aiming for about 5.5% abv. After primary fermentation we’ll assess the degree to which the tea is present in the brew and if required we’ll steep a further amount of tea in the conditioning tank. My hope is that we’ll finish with a great Autumnal brew of a beautiful deep amber to red color with a strong malt backbone with hints of caramel and toffee from the colored malts and a subtle flavor of black tea on the palate at the finish. We’ll be releasing the beer around the time of Baltimore Beer Week though, who knows, maybe a cask will make an early appearance at The Union Mills Homestead Microbrew Fest.

Thanks to Judy for her recipe and enthusiasm.

Cheers

Steve

Clone Wars is here people

Ever thought of joining a home brew club? There are obviously a lot of benefits for  homebrewers of every “skill” level, from the beginner to the veteran. What better environment in which to develop your techniques than amongst like minded, dedicated enthusiasts. Your peers will gladly share their experience and the veteran homebrewers have the gratification of acting as benefactors to those of lesser experience (although, truth be told, after 16+ years as a professional brewer, one thing I have come to learn is that there is always something to learn!) One benefit that may not be immediately obvious is the chance to participate to some degree with local brewpubs and breweries. It is commonplace these days for breweries to run competitions with local homebrew clubs to produce one-off seasonal brews, for example the recent Heavy Seas “Letter Of Marque”  (http://www.hsbeer.com/letter-marque-hop-rye-porter ). Many other smaller breweries run similar competitions including DuClaw, Ellicot Mills and of course, ourselves. Last year we ran a competition (see blog post http://www.prattstreetalehouse.com/2009/09/home-brewing-but-not-at-home/) in which we invited homebrewers to submit entries for a new seasonal beer to be brewed here. The winners were invited in to oversee brew day and the subsequent beer was served at the Ale House and at festivals and bars around the area throughout Baltimore Beer Week and beyond. Of course we will be running this competition again this year (details will be posted in August). Another interesting competition is run by the Chesapeake Real Ale Brewers Society (CRABS http://www.crabsbrew.org/) who run a “Clone Wars Competition” annually in which one of our ales is selected to be reproduced by club members. I supply the club with the recipe and brew protocol and yeast (if required) and they try to clone the brew at home. This year the club selected our Ironman Pale Ale  (last year was Best Bitter). There is an interesting post by club president Brandon on his blog post http://huskyrunner.blogspot.com/2010/04/ringwood-yeast-chroniclesthe-ballad-of.html. This competition is particularly dear to me as I enjoy the opportunity to “get my pom-poms out” and do some cheerleading for the much maligned Ringwood Yeast, that is our house yeast strain (see Brandon’s post for his thoughts). The winner of the competition is judged by a select panel here at the Ale House and the winner not only gets to bask in the glory of his/her victory but also a $50 gift token to Wells Discount Liquors and this year will also be invited into the brewery for an Ironman Pale Ale brew day. So, if you’ve been sitting on the fence with regards to joining a home brew club take a leap of faith, you won’t be sorry.

Here’s a few helpful contacts

http://mdhomebrewers.org/

http://www.crabsbrew.org/

http://www.csibc.net/

http://mdhb.com/

On to this week. Two separate questions this week. The first is for homebrewers only. The prize is an 11 lb pack of Celeia hop pellets. A simple question … what is the country of origin of these pellets? First person to correctly answer via the comment section below wins ‘em (though I’m sure that you generous homebrewing types will share them with other like minded brewers!)

The regular Friday question is not so much a question as a plea for help. what the Hell are we going to name our pumpkin ale … anyone out there got any ideas (and yes, we are considering “A Nightmare On Pratt Street”, thank you Julie)? Send us your ideas, if we like one we’ll use it and you’ll win 2 tickets to Oktoberfest at the Timonium Fairgrounds on the 10th October. Sweet!

New on the Brewer’s Choice hand pump is the Nut Brown Ale infused with 6 oz. of raw organic cacao nibs. The cacao gives a slight hint of chocolate upfront which fades into the malt body with a little chocolate in the nose as well.

Look out for the regular Nut Brown Ale on cask soon at Frisco Grille and Metropolitan Coffee House (Federal Hill). Coming soon to the hand pumps of Max’s Taphouse, Fells Point will be our Best Bitter, Dark Mild and Vanilla Porter. Also look out for us on tap at The Parkside and Racers Cafe (both on the Harford Road).

For the homebrewer’s out there, Olivers/Pratt Street Ale House will be running a homebrew competition to coincide with Baltimore Beer Week. We’re inviting submissions from homebrewers during the first week of September. You can brew any style you like but remember this, it must be something that we can replicate at our brewery using our English (Ringwood) Ale Yeast and must be a beer that will be commercially viable (ie we need to sell 7 barrels of it!). Judging will be simple, we will taste all offerings and decide which one will be the best fit with the other ales we have on offer. The winner will be invited to the brewery to oversee the brewing process and the winning beer will debut at the Oliver stand at the BAM Oktoberfest at the Timonium Fairgrounds (October 10th), will be on tap at The Pratt Street Ale House throughout Baltimore Beer Week and will be offered on cask at The Chesapeake Real Ale Festival (October 17th). Good luck. E-mail me with comments or for further details.
Cheers
Steve