Ordinary Bitter Tasting

When brewing a bitter a few weeks ago, I had in mind a flavorful but low-alcohol beer that would drink well in hot weather. Since it's now about 80F in my un-AC'ed place, it seems logical to see how well the bitter goes down when summer heat is in full swing.

Appearance: Deep copper in color. Moderate chill haze, and a small head despite a fairly aggressive pour. No lacing.

Aroma: I get some caramel, bready notes, with perhaps a tiny bit of earthy English hop aroma. A hint of sweetness. The aroma improves as it warms to the proper serving temperature of around 55F.

Flavor: I would say that it has a grainy, earthy maltiness, with a touch of bitterness at the end. Moderate to low sweetness. It has kind of a bread like character. Quite pleasant in my view.

Mouthfeel: Low carbonation, and despite its low gravity the beer does not have a thin or watery mouthfeel. In fact to me the body seems moderate. I think its the slight sweetness combined with the bready quality that gives it body. Perhaps the body is not light enough to be thirst-quenching, but hey, it's beer, not Gatorade.

Overall: A flavorful but low alcohol English session beer with a malty, slightly sweet and bread like character. Not much hop presence. I would say that it goes reasonably well in the summer but would be a good session beer at any time of the year. Since it's not spritzy and dry it may not be as refreshing as a Hefeweissen or Pils in the summer.

 I don't think I would change anything besides of course trying to reduce the chill haze.

Bitters Brew Day

The warm days of summer seem to call for an easy drinking, low ABV beer. In addition to the Kölsch I brewed on May 25th, on the 26th I brewed a Bitter - a sort of British pale ale with firm bitterness but not a lot of hop flavor or aroma. The British malts are supposed to shine through. And, since it's a fairly low gravity ale it should be ready within a few weeks, unlike the Kölsch

Ordinary Bitter
3.25 gallons

4.812# UK Pale 2-Row
4oz Crystal 120
2oz Special Roast

.825oz Kent Goldings, 5%AA, 60 min
.25oz Kent Goldings, 5%AA, 30 min
.25oz Kent Goldings, 5%AA, 5 min

WLP002 - English Ale

Brewed on 5/26/13

Mashed at 151F for 75minutes, added mashout water and held for another 10 min. I was aiming for a mash temp of 152F. Collected 2 gal of 1st runnings. Added sparge water and collected another 2.05 gal of 2nd runnings. Got a pre-boil OG of 1.035, for about 73% efficiency. Again, better than I've usually gotten in the past. According to my calculations, this will get to a post-boil OG of 1.045 @ 3.25 gallons, which is a little higher than intended but oh well.

Got 3 gallons into the fermenter. Pitched the yeast when the beer was around 62F and placed in an area at 65F ambient. Two days later and the beer was fermenting vigorously in the 3 gallon Better Bottle. I'll leave it at room temp for another week, then transfer to the cooler basement where it is around 62F. I plan to bottle after two weeks of fermentation.

Bottled on 6/8/13, going for 1.6 volumes of CO2. Let the bottles sit in the basement, where the temp is around 63F.