Scrummy British Golden Ale

Have been wanting to brew the British Golden again for Summer drinking. With no Crawfish Boil this year due to Covid, I thought Memorial Day weekend would be a good time to do it and to be honest, I am bored out of my mind and need something to take up part of a three day weekend.

Last years Scrummy turned out to be fantastic but a bit heavier and more alcoholic than intended. The plan for this year is to try to stick to last years plan and hopefully end up with a beer that is no more than 4.5% ABV.

With this beer, I used Brewer’s Friend for recipe and water calculations. I have been wanting to get away from Beer Smith and always wanted to check out the web based Brewer’s Friend. I did try Brew Father and liked the interface but found recipe building lacking common ingredients. I was impressed with Brewer’s Friend and am thinking about paying for a full account.

The night before brewing I tossed out an invite for anyone to stop by for a beer. I didn’t really expect anyone to show up due to the Covid and was shocked when Bopp strolled up the driveway. Was great to see him. And then, the Duke showed up.  All three of us enjoyed the German White Ale that Tom made. A truly outstanding beer.

May 24, 2020

Scrummy British Golden Ale – – 15 gallons

“A hop-forward, average-strength to moderately-strong pale bitter. Drinkability and a refreshing quality are critical components of the style.“

Calculated Stats – 

• OG – 1.046
• FG – 1.012
• IBU – 34.1
• SRM – 4.8
• ABV – 4.52%

Grain Bill-

• 17 lbs. Maris Otter
• 7 lbs. Pale Wheat

Hop Bill-

• 1 oz. Phoenix pellet 13% – 60 minutes
• 2 oz. East Kent Golding pellet 4.4% – 60 minutes
• 1 oz. East Kent Golding pellet 4.4% – 30 minutes
• 1 oz. Amarillo leaf 8% – 10 minutes

Yeast-

Wyeast 1318 London Ale III

Originating from a traditional London brewery, this yeast has a wonderful malt and hop profile. It is a true top cropping strain with a fruity, very light and softly balanced palate. This strain will finish slightly sweet.

Water-

Prepped 25 gallons treated with Camden.

Mash Schedule-

• Strike 9 gallons at 180˚
• Mash in 7:40 – 151˚ (shooting for 152˚)
• No Mash Out

Vorlauf via pump

Seems to work but wort is cloudier than with the traditional method. Will have to work on this.

Run Off –

Start at 8:50

Sparged with 15 gallons

End at 9:30 Collected 18 gallons.

Pre Boil Gravity – 1.037

10:00 – Boil

Hops per schedule

Chilled to 70˚

Pumped to fermenter in kitchen.

Collected 15.5 gallons.

OG = 1.044 (calculated 1.046)

Oxygenate and pitch yeast.

16 gallons in fermenter.

May 25

Woke up the next morning to a huge mess. A lot of foam blew out of the airlock and filled the recessed portion of the fermenter lid. Lost at least half a gallon. Since I did not leave much headroom I knew I was going to have some mess but did not expect this.

Scrambled to rig a blow off tube and clean up the mess.

Tube working well.

May 29, 2020

Racked to secondary. Gravity = 1.009 (predicted final was 1.012) This beer should land at about 4.6%. Just a tad higher than predicted and more like what I intended with this beer when I brewed it last year.

Will end up with 14.5 gallons. Thinking I will keg 5 gallons plus 2 gallons leaving  7.5 gallons to bottle. Maybe prime the 2 gallons in the small keg to create a cask ale. Will talk to Tom about this.