Graham Wheelers Adnams Broadside, anyone brewed it?

[DJDave]

As it happens I have a 5l Keg of Ghost Ship sat less than 2 metres from me but no mates to drink it with. However it is only the Broadside as far as I can see where they actually state "Please be aware that if you are buying a mini-cask, this is a live beer and should be consumed within 2 weeks of purchase. " though again whether this is a conditioning yeast they do not say.

It is the bottled version I wish to try and get close to so from what I have gleaned from their WEBSITE is the following:
Pale, Black and Chocolate Malts to get to an ABV of 6.3%
First Gold Hops (no mention of any other)
Mash at (I am thinking) 70 degrees because they say:
"The mashing regime is set so that both beers keep a lot of un-fermentable (residual) sugars in the beer. This gives Broadside its fullness, with the bottled version having more sugars / fullness than the cask version. "

So my recipe so far is:
Batch Volume 21L (though I will scale this down to 10L for a trial batch)
6.2Kgs Maris Otter
160g Chocolate Malt
100g Black

30g First Gold @ 60
10g First Gold @ 15
25g First Gold @ 5

Mash at 70 degres for 60 mins though perhaps I need a stepped mash, but no idea really.

Yeast, WLP025 Southwold (unless I try some scavenged from a keg)

This gives me an OG of 1.069 and FG of 1.021 (6.3%ABV)
EBC is 48.5 which is much darker than GW's 37 but then he is talking about draught version and the bottled does look dark to me.
IBU 33
BU:GU 0.49

I started a copy of GW recipe some time ago but much modified it over time. I was aiming at something similar to the draught rather than bottle version. Although my preference is for the bottle version its too strong for more than a pint.

I ended up with target 23 litres @1040

Simpsons Marris Otter Malt 3,250gm
Crystal Malt 350 gm
Torrified Wheat 350 gm
Black Malt 100 gm
Chocolate Malt 100 gm

Total grain bill 4,150 gm

Mash 90 Min @ 66C - did try 67 & 68 - haven't tried as high as 70.
I keep meaning to get some iodine solution to starch test a 60 min Mash but keep forgetting. 90 Minutes is ingrained in my psyche
I have never been satisfied with hop - tried the Challenger & Fuggles, tried just Challenger, just EKG, Challenger & EKG, tried Boadicea as well. All sorts of different quantities. At the moment its 50gm Challenger for 60Min and 50 gm EKG last 15. Will now try First Gold.

Yeast - always used safale 04

As I only live the other side of the A12 to Southwold perhaps I should try begging some yeast off them.

 

[An Ankoù]

Update on Yeast
As mentioned earlier, I've attempted to harvest yeast from a filtered party Keg of Ghost Ship. I drew off the first 250 ml of beer and put in in flask of boiled malt extract around 1042 OG. Against all expectations, activity was noticeable within 48 hours and two days later I pitched the starter into 12 litres of a SMaSH of Golden Promise and Jester. Everything went as expected with a good head on the beer the next day. Checking 10 minutes ago, by having a good sniff at the airlock while pushing down lightly on the lid, everything smells as it should- the sharpness of wet CO2 and the smell of the hops. I can't detect any off-smells at this stage. Will update at racking time towards the end of the week.
Fingers crossed.

 

[Galena]

Although my preference is for the bottle version its too strong for more than a pint.

Agreed, I think this 6.3% version will be my Christmas drink.

Mash 90 Min @ 66C - did try 67 & 68 - haven't tried as high as 70.

Yes, they don't mention a temperature as such but I am going to try 70C and see how it goes.

As I only live the other side of the A12 to Southwold perhaps I should try begging some yeast off them.

It has to be worth a try, it may be possible to have a chat with Fergus the head brewer and see if he will give you his mash regime. I have now got a cask of Broadside and will be trying to get the yeast from it in a week or so, then I will brew with that and also the Wyeast 1187 Ringwood on a split batch to compare.

I can't detect any off-smells at this stage. Will update at racking time towards the end of the week.
Fingers crossed.

Glad it's going well, hopefully it's the dual strain you have, I can't see any reason why it shouldn't be.

I'm going to start my brew in a week or so

 

[An Ankoù]

Just bottling the above. It's lovely and it has dropped perfectly clear. I think it is the dual strain because the day after racking I had a lovely crop of little "yeast rafts" on the surface. These have now subsided and I'm looking forward to making more beers with this crop. I didn't overdo the Jester by doing a hop steep and dry hopping, but it's definitely "tropical" if a little delicate.
Can't wait to taste the finished produce in 6 weeks time.

 

[DJDave]

sounds promising - what temp did you ferment at?

 

[Galena]

Good to hear it went well I will be opening my Broadside cask this weekend and making my starter. And to quote DJDave "What temp did you ferment at?" Adnams claim for Broadside that they ferment "slightly higher" for the bottled version to "help the yeast produce more ester flavours and aromas"
Okay so you won't need to do this as you were not making Broadside but I am still wondering on a fermentation temperature for mine.

 

[An Ankoù]

sounds promising - what temp did you ferment at?

Didn't control the temperature in any way. We had a bit of cold weather to start with, but I'd be surprised if it dropped below 17C. Last couple of days its been warm again and I see it's 21C in the room where I'd been fermenting it. I'd say 19-20C for most of the time.

 

[foxbat]

It's English so 20C ish to get some character out of it. Don't follow the American approach of buying a characterful yeast then fermenting at something daft like 17C and wondering why it seems no different to S05

 

[Galena]

It's English so 20C ish to get some character out of it. Don't follow the American approach of buying a characterful yeast then fermenting at something daft like 17C and wondering why it seems no different to S05

Thanks, I was thinking of starting at 20C but wondering whether to lift it a couple of degrees after a week or so for a diacetyl rest? When starting low I usually do 4 days then raise it a degree a day up to its max rating and then let it sit there, but as 20 is probably about at max, not sure if raising it will help or hinder?

 

[Galena]

Today I finally brewed my version of Broadside, it has taken me a while to get round to it, various delays including timing when to open the cask Broadside to harvest yeast and having to drink 8 pints in a short space of time, something I didn't need to worry about because in the end the beer was rank and after forcing 3 pints down I gave up and binned it to harvest the yeast.

Cultivating it took 3 steps, the first one with 0.5 litre of wort did not produce enough yeast, so I stepped it up again to 1 litre and finally with a 1.5 litre starter and this seemed to produce what looked like a good quantity of the white stuff with enough to put 500mls down for storage for the next batch.
Then I made a starter of Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale as this was to be a split batch brew to compare the two yeasts.

Fermentables were Maris Otter, Chocolate malt and Black malt
Hops were First Gold

I doughed in at 76C and hit my mash temperature of 70C spot on, a 60 minute mash and mash pH was 5.40 at 15 mins, I also did a check at 50 mins and the pH had only changed 0.2 and was at 5.38

Boil was 60 mins with additions at 60, 15 and 5 mins and I forgot to add the Whirfloc ffs.

I missed my OG by a bit and it ended up at 1.064 and I chose to let it go at that rather than add DME

Split the batch into 2 FV's with 10.5 litres in each,and pitched 1 with Adnams Yeast and the other with Ringwood with both at 20C and now the waiting begins.

 

[Galena]

Day 10 of fermentation and the Adnams yeast batch is still bubbling away, all be it very slowly now, I guess the high mash temperature is a contributing factor although the Ringwood Ale Yeast batch stopped visible bubbling 4 or 5 days ago, I'm beginning to get excited in anticipation of tasting them now.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Day 10 of fermentation and the Adnams yeast batch is still bubbling away, all be it very slowly now, I guess the high mash temperature is a contributing factor although the Ringwood Ale Yeast batch stopped visible bubbling 4 or 5 days ago, I'm beginning to get excited in anticipation of tasting them now.

Interested in how you get on, this will be my next brew, same malt bill but I'm going to use cml Midland yeast.

 

[Galena]

Interested in how you get on, this will be my next brew, same malt bill but I'm going to use cml Midland yeast.

I'll keep posting on here then, let us know how you get on too. Seeing as the Adnams is still bubbling after 10 days I may extend the time a bit, and as I forgot the whirfloc I may cold crash, which is something I don't usually bother with

 

[An Ankoù]

Update on harvested Adnam's Yeast
Just drinking my first pint of Beer made with yeast made from yeast harvested from a party keg of filtered Ghost Ship. The beer's fine it's a nearly SMaSH with Jester hops. Jester really needs mixing with something else, it's a bit like Nelson Sauvin, to my taste, but the beer's fine. So much for Adnam's protestation that you can't harvest yeast from their filtered beer. Whether I've got both strains, I've no idea, but I shall keep the culture.

 

[Galena]

@An Ankoù Glad it worked, my Broadside with the Adnams yeast has been fermenting for 17 days and its finally looking about done, perhaps a combination of the yeast and the high temperature mash schedule as I forgot the Whirfloc I may have to cold crash next week but looking forward to bottling soon.

 

[Galena]

Today I bottled my Broadside with varying success. It was a tale of two halves.
I hadn't done any gravity checks during fermentation trusting to 14 days to be sufficient, the Ringwood batch ran out of steam after a few days whereas the Adnams batch was still bubbling away slowly but steadily at 14 days so i extended the period to 21 days and the Adnams ran out of steam after 17 days in the FV and I left it to the 21 days, then cold crashed for 4 days as I had forgotten the Whirfloc.

So bottling proved a bit of a surprise with the Ringwood FG at 1.012 from an OG of 1.064 giving around 6.8% which is quite a lot out from the target of 1.021 (6.3%)
More worryingly the Adnams yeast batch finished out at 1.030 giving 4.5% so something not right here.

I bottled both batches anyway but will have to keep a close eye on the Adnams PET bottle in case it continues to ferment now at room temperature.
However the Ringwood batch tastes delicious even at this stage so going forward when this has conditioned properly I'm not sure if its worth the hassle of messing about with the Adnams strain any more and sticking with the Ringwood, it's not competition brewing after all and it does seem to have some lovely fruitcake and marmalade flavours that Broadside is famous for.
Clarity was quite disappointing considering the cold crash which seems to have had no effect but I added 15mls Chitosan to each 10 litre batch which usually settles it out nicely during carbonation.