Steve showed up ready to brew (but not ready to drink – he had an encounter last evening with the Blue Flame IPA he recently brewed) this morning and we had an uneventful brew session. Things just kind of played out like they should, with no issues. We mashed in right on target at 152 degrees and it just went like clockwork from then on. The aromas off of the 7 ounces of Columbus, Centennial and Cascade hops permeated the air throughout the boil and hinted at the final product this American Amber will be in 6-7 weeks.
Steve graciously offered to bring lunch. This guy now has a permanent place in my heart:) He brought beer soaked brats and the most amazing caramelized red peppers and onions. He also brought a fantastic red potato salad that kicked ass! Damn! This was some of the finest brew day grub I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. Stephen was able to coordinate his family activities so that he arrived just in time for lunch – and an ale or two. Prior to lunch I was able to get some tonic into Steve to ease his discomfort. Last weekend I cleaned out the keggerator and found a keg of Double Tun Imperial Stout that I had completely forgotten about, that was originally brewed on 01/02/07. It was hiding in the very back of the keggerator and was a wonderful find. The Imperial Stout has hints of sherry and the flavors have melded together in the ways that only time can bring about (that is my number one rule of brewing – Time is your friend:) After a short cup of Double Tun Imperial Stout, Steve was miraculously cured and ready to face the day! 
The lunch served to set an ale foundation and we enjoyed numerous ales as the day progressed. Steve brought a bomber of his version of the Blue Flame Imperial IPA (spot on to the recipe I’ve been brewing:) and a great inky black Stout that was enjoyed by all. 
A couple friends stopped by after a round of golf (in 100+ temps!) just as we were dropping the wort into carboys. They had several beers and enjoyed the brews on tap. The amber ale came in at about 14.5 brix – for an original gravity of about 1.058. One of my brewing faults is that I never seem to be ale to put out a session ale, so this is probably the closest I’ll come to this in the foreseeable future.
There were two unseen bonuses to the day! Steve brought his 5.5 month old Boston Terrier, Cooper, with him today as his wife Maggie was in the air, flying back from DC, so he was on dog sitting duty. I have never, ever, seen a more well behaved and adjusted pup as Cooper! He explored the back yard (and had an interesting face to face encounter with our territorial cat) and hung out in his kennel. Hopefully his presence doesn’t cause puppy envy in my family:) The final treat was the stout cupcakes I’d heard so much about on the Modesto Mashers forums. Steve and Maggie brought them to the AHA Big Brew Day at Barley & Wine on May 3. I brewed ten gallons of Old Man Bitter that day, here in Turlock, so I missed out on the stout cupcakes that everyone raved about! I was sooooo jazzed to give them try:) Imagine my joy when I heard Steve mention them, at my place!
You can drool by looking at their loveliness in this picture. Oh, wait – there’s nothing on the plate! Steve got all the way to Turlock and discovered that he had forgotten to bring them (I think this was caused by his encounter last night with the Blue Flame Imperial IPA:) Actually, I think the oversight was carefully planned so that he gets another invite to brew! Next time we’ll meet him at his car to check the inventory.
Steve hung out, and Brenda and I got to know him much better. What a guy (other than the cupcake thing:)! Aside from the heat, it was a great brew day, surrounded by like-minded friends, and in the end, we made beer:)
I slept in until 9:15 a.m. (woohoo!), and walked around in a daze for fifteen minutes. At 9:30, I lit the brew sculpture burners, made a pot of coffee, and pulled my feeder wort out of the fridge to warm up a bit. After a quick shower, I heated the feeder wort, and then decanted off the nasty starter beer from the 1600 ml White Labs Premium Bitter Ale yeast, WLP026 starter, and fed it another 700 ml of wort. It is back on the stir plate and the airlock is bubbling away like crazy.
I turned off the strike water burner at 161 degrees and mashed in. Final mash temp was right on the money at 153 degrees.
I changed the Old Man Bitter recipe a bit, as I’m apt to do in the days leading up to a brew day, to reflect the British nature of this brew. I wish I’d had some Marris Otter on hand for the bulk of the grist, but the closest thing I had was Golden Promise, so I split the bulk of the grains between it and standard 2-row. I also mixed up the crystal malts a bit add some complexity to the bitter. The updated recipe is as follows:
Old Man Bitter
8-C Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)
Size: 10.00 gal
Efficiency: 70.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 272.61 per 16.0 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.061 (1.048 – 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.015 (1.010 – 1.016)
Color: 12.8 (6.0 – 18.0)
Alcohol: 6.04% (4.6% – 6.2%)
Bitterness: 41.12 (30.0 – 50.0)
Ingredients:
0.7 tbsp 5.2 pH Stabilizer – added during mash
11.0 lbs Golden Promise Malt
10.0 lbs Pale Malt(2-row)
1.5 lbs Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt
1.2 lbs Toasted Pale Malt
8.0 oz Crystal Malt 120°L
4.0 oz Crystal Malt 20°L
4.0 oz Crystal Malt 10°L
2.0 oz Fuggle (5.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
2.0 oz Fuggle (5.0%) – added during boil, boiled 30.0 min
2.0 oz Goldings – E.K. (4.8%) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2.0 oz Goldings – E.K. (4.8%) – added during boil, boiled 1.0 min
1 1600 ml starter White Labs WLP026 Premium Bitter Ale
Lately my efficiency has been up and I attribute that to extended recirculation, while I mash-out. I figure that for the last ten batches or so, I’ve recirculated 75%-125% of the wort back through the mash while the temp slowly climbs to mash-out temps. I know for a fact this practice clears the wort going into the boil kettle – and far fewer chunks of malt from the grist wind up in the boil. I didn’t mash-out on my first fifty batches, and I really don’t think it negatively affected the taste of the final product, but I do know that my recent batches have fallen clear faster than in the past, so I do see that as a benefit.
12:15 p.m. – Ahhhh! the aroma of Fuggles boiling away. Being a major hophead, I typically use west coast types of hops in the majority of my brews. They tend to have the citrusy, piney and floral aromas of IPAs and pale ales, and these Fuggles lend a more “earthy” and subdued aroma to the boil. The aroma filling my backyard is a pleasant sign of the simple session ale that will come from this brew session.
John, the inspiration for this bitter brew, stopped by and had an ale (or three:). When I finally get my act together and get a sign made for the bar, it’ll be named after one of his favorite phrases when offered a beer – “Well, just to be sociable!”. The bar will be called Sociables. Let’s face it, homebrewing, and beer drinking, is all about being sociable! Additionally, this bitter’s name is also inspired by John. Those of you who know me well know that I am a rabid (long suffering:) Seattle Seahawks fan. John has been gracious to share his 49ers season tickets with me for the last six or seven years. We always go see the 49ers vs. Seahawks game together, sharing a friendly rivalry. The second year we went, the Seahawks won the game, and as we were waiting for the crowd to subside so that we could get out of the Stick, a drunk 20-something 49er fan, started throwing popcorn at me (I was in my blue Seahawk fan gear) and talking trash. John looked up at the jerk and said, “That’s not very nice!”, to which the drunk shouted back, “What are you going to do about it, Old Man!” I thought John was going to leap three row of seats to go kick the drunk’s ass! I grabbed him in a big ‘ole bear hug and held him back. He later thanked me for keeping him out of jail, but for me it was self preservation. You see, he had the car keys in his pocket and I really did want to get home:) So to John, I say, “Old Man, this bitter’s for you!
2:15 p.m. – The Old Man Bitter is in carboys. I oxygenated the wort and popped on two Carboy Covers, and put the ale to bed. The original gravity is 1.064. This should be a nice session ale (at least as much of a session ale a 6% ABV ale can be:) in 4-5 weeks!
It’s time to brew an English Bitter, in honor of my next door neighbor, John. John is probably the biggest fan of my beers, after Stephen, and never fails to sing the praises of the beer in his hand. John is very English and is always teaching me new phrases I can use to amuse and excite my friends. Old Man Bitter is an ESB (Extra Special Bitter), hopped with Fuggles and East Kent Goldings, traditional hops of English ales. It also features a pound toasted 2-row malt that adds a biscuity note to the ale. I’ll be using one of White Labs Platinum Series yeast strains, Premium Bitter Ale yeast, WLP026. The last time I brewed this ale I used White Labs Dry English Ale yeast, WLP007, so it’ll be interesting to see how it differs. The last batch attenuated almost too well and seemed to lack the chewy mouthfeel I like in my beers. The Premium Bitter yeast doesn’t attenuate quite as well and has a more estery quality that should suit itself well to this ale. Here are the recipe particulars for Old Man Bitter:
Old Man Bitter
8-C Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)
Size: 10.0 gal
Efficiency: 70.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 268.34 per 16.0 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.060 (1.048 – 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.015 (1.010 – 1.016)
Color: 9.5 (6.0 – 18.0)
Alcohol: 5.95% (4.6% – 6.2%)
Bitterness: 41.12 (30.0 – 50.0)
Ingredients:
2.0 tbsp 5.2 pH Stabilizer – added during mash
21.0 lbs Pale Malt(2-row)
1.5 lbs Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt
1.2 lbs Toasted Pale Malt
1.0 lbs Crystal 15
2.0 oz Fuggle (5.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
2.0 oz Fuggle (5.0%) – added during boil, boiled 30.0 min
2.0 oz Goldings – E.K. (4.8%) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2.0 oz Goldings – E.K. (4.8%) – added during boil, boiled 1.0 min
1 1600 ml starter White Labs WLP026 Premium Bitter Ale
Saturday is brew day. I’ll be mashing in to Marley about 9:30 a.m. Have I told you lately how much I love brew day? 
