Winter Ale- based on Ringwood Old Thumper

[Joeyriles]

Hi chaps, got back on the horse after my landlord clone stuff up (I'm still not convinced it was infected but it had an off flavour and some white bits on top.)

Fancied pushing my FV to the max and aimed for an OG of 1060. I varied GW's recipe as I only had Northern Brewer hops and not Challenger. I also swapped the Goldings for East Kent Goldings and put a little Willamette in at the start as I like the earthy base it gives some beers.

Exact quantities aren't usually my thing but I followed the recipe as best I could and used MO, Crystal, Chocolate and Torrefied Wheat malt. The kitchen smelled amazing once the mash was under way, though I had to really work to get the correct volume of malt into a fairly diddy mash tun!

Fly sparged it to around 23 litres and then boiled that bad boy with the above hops at 60 mins and then 10 mins from time. I only boiled for an hour and ten due to being rushed for time. Added the protofloc and chilled it down, adding S-05 at the end which I'd rehydrated and roused by pouring some boiled then chilled first wort runnings in with the yeast.

All in all I felt like it was a fairly successful brew day though my final volume was 20 litres. I had wanted more but I hit my OG and didn't want to compromise body for volume.

Now, is this beer a bottler or one for the corny? I am building a kegerator but worry that this style of beer is best left in the bottle to mature and to sip it by a roaring log fire in December. I am thinking of doing a red ale next, too.

Pics to follow!

 

[Halfacrem]

I reckon bottling or a pressure barrel would suit this one. I hope it goes well whatever you choose.

Have you done the tour of Ringwood Brewery? If not, I'd recommend it. Good tour and they are very generous with the sampling!

 

[McMullan]

I like to bottle my 'old thumper'. Too easy to sample from a keg. Either would work fine, though.

 

[MyQul]

Looks good Joey. I really should get a strong winter ale on but I want to make a mild and and ordinary bitter first. I'm like the look of the winter ale in Greg Hughes book

 

[Joeyriles]

Pics from this brew day.

 

[duncans]

Have the same cool box, waiting to be converted. Does it hold temperature over an hour?

 

[clibit]

Looks great that joey, nice recipe the Old Thumper. I'd be bottling but I mainly do bottles. I'm lining up a red ale too.

 

[Joeyriles]

The cool box is pretty straightforward to convert and I wrapped the inner compartment with insulation tape (silver) which seems to help it keep temperature. This was a relatively cool mash at 62C but it didn't lose any heat over the hour and fifteen that it was actively mashing, though I also put a sleeping bag over the box at this stage which probably helped.

As for the Ringwood brewery: I have been there twice and would like to go again to get some of their yeast. They do samples of it which you can cultivate and grow-how difficult would this be?

 

[Covrich]

Looks nice!!

You could try this with the ringwood wyeast too?

 

[clibit]

Cultivating yeast is easy, you just make a starter, which is a mix of dme and water which you add your yeast to. The yeast multiplies and you pitch it into you beer. Didn't know Ringwood sold their yeast like that. I'd love some, it's not the same as the Wyeast and Whitelabs versions apparently. They are both single strain.I wonder if they post it out?

 

[Joeyriles]

I've always been scared of yeast (just ask my missus) due to the fear of stuffing it up and pitching something into my beer that might cause more harm than good.

The fermentation is absolutely gurgling away and the dirty brown krausen ring has already formed after just two days.

 

[Joeyriles]

Bottled this after 10 days as I need the FV to use as a secondary in a week. Managed 34 pint bottles out of the FV.

FG came in at 1010 which isn't exactly as low as I would like but gives me an ABV of 5.7/6%. I'm calling it Winter Frost as, even though I followed the grain bill exactly, the hops are different to the original Old Thumper. It's going to skip the week in the warm as we have no room and instead is already in the shed where it will be left until my willpower fails me.