That was the week That was

Well, it’s been another week of overtime at work short staffed as usual. The bank balance is healthy, but the brewing’s been pushed to the back burner. With those 4am starts from Monday to Friday, getting up early on a Saturday to brew just isn’t happening. I know, it’s a shame. I’m not keen on throwing together a quick extract kit either; I can taste the difference (as a certain supermarket says!). I want to feel inspired again, not just brew for the sake of brewing.

What I’d love is a nice, hoppy pale ale that I can just set and forget no temperature ramping, no multiple dry-hop additions, no stress. Maybe one of these Friday evenings I’ll have everything ready for a Saturday brew session, but right now, I’m too knackered to even think about it.

On the bright side, I’ve got the Nectaron extract kit lined up for a test this weekend, and I’m going to revisit the lager I brewed to see if it’s improved at all.

As for the socials, I haven’t been around much, but I don’t think I’ve been missed too badly. A few of you legends have sent me encouraging messages, telling me to take this break and recharge. I really appreciate that.

Will I ever get back to doing videos? Honestly, I don’t know. There are so many videos out there brewing guides, beer tastings, you name it and while everyone’s tastes are different, it can feel a bit crowded. Plus, with the day job being driving, even my Friday night drinking has slowed down. I’m usually nodding off by the second beer!

Funny thing Saturday morning, I was up early anyway. Forgot to put my phone on “do not disturb” and got a message from a mate at 6:29am. So, I thought, why not make use of it? Grabbed my keys, picked up some RO water, and went to the shed to clean and rinse the kit. But then… what to brew?

Note to self: I need to ask in the Tankard Brewing group if anyone still has the PDF for Superdelic Sunshine.I seem to have lost it! I ended up deciding to brew a recipe I came up with last week: a real hoppy one. Flipped the brewing switch and… well, that’s a story for the next post.

Stick around, folks! 🍻

Reflections on "The Point of No Return" Brew Day

Reflections on "The Point of No Return" Brew Day

Yesterday, May 25th I finally had the chance to taste the beer I brewed back on April 25th, 2025. I named it "The Point of No Return", as it marked a critical moment in my brewing journey. Leading up to this batch, I had experienced a string of frustrations with off-flavours, oxidation, and diacetyl, to name a few. I was seriously beginning to question whether I had lost my touch or simply grown complacent. If this brew failed, it might well have been my last.

The brew day preparations began the evening prior, when I picked up reverse osmosis (RO) water on my way home from work. The recipe was for a 20-litre batch of premium lager at approximately 5% ABV. Twenty-five litres of RO water cost just £1.17 excellent value, though not light to carry. I used some of that water to rinse and clean my Grainfather G30 and hot liquor tank (HLT), then sanitized both for a full hour. Once cleaned, I filled them with the appropriate mash and sparge water and set them on timer switches to begin heating overnight.

At daybreak, I quietly got out of bed so as not to wake my wife and made my way downstairs for a cup of freshly brewed Mocha Djimmah coffee. Once I was ready, I opened the garage door carefully and saw that the G30 had reached strike temperature.

I mashed in with 3,843g of Muntons Lager Malt and 427g of Crisp Dextrin Malt, stirring slowly and deliberately to ensure full saturation and prevent dough balls. I then added the necessary brewing salts and acid adjustments. The mash ran smoothly 60 minutes with a stir at the halfway point while I brought the HLT up to sparging temperature. Thankfully, there were no issues with a stuck mash.

The sparge took around 30 minutes and yielded 28.5 litres of pre-boil volume. The hop schedule was intentionally simple to avoid complicating what I hoped would be a redemption brew. There were two additions of Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops: one at first wort and the second with 10 minutes remaining in the boil, alongside a Whirlfloc tablet. Initially, I had planned to use Lubelski hops, but a fresh pack of Hallertau Mittelfrüh caught my eye and I made a last-minute switch.

As the boil came to an end, I cleaned, sanitized, and connected the counterflow chiller. Once the alarms sounded, I began chilling the wort, groundwater temperatures were low, so I managed to bring it down to 17°C quickly. I transferred 22 litres into the stainless steel conical fermenter, achieving a starting gravity of 1.050 slightly above my target of 1.049, which was a welcome surprise.

The trial jar showed excellent clarity once the proteins had settled. I took a sip...

No off-flavours. No strange aromas. Just a clean, balanced wort.

Relief washed over me. My renewed focus on the hot side of the brewing process had paid off. But of course, the cold side was still ahead and that’s where things often go wrong. 

While I had proven I could still brew a clean wort, the true test would be turning it into great beer.