Quick Poll

Hi all,

Just popping back in with a bit of an update!

We did the tasting of the pale ale and… well, no sugar-coating it, It was a drain pour. Not one of my finest moments! On the plus side, we’ve got a keg of porter and a keg of best bitter ready to go. The Cailleach Porter and The Farriers Reward. Both are really coming into their own now they’re being served at the right temperatures. I might bottle a couple up and send them out before they fade, feels like a good excuse for a bit of beermail.

Speaking of bottling, I’ve been wanting to up my label game. Every time I try printing at home, something goes wrong, paper jams, no ink, you name it. So I’ve found a small company online that’ll print custom labels from my own designs. I’ve come up with something a bit more practical this time, still got the wolf, but now with space to write on with a Sharpie so I can note what’s actually in the bottle. Hoping to test those out this week.

I’ve also put a few posts up on YouTube and Instagram to see what people fancy me brewing next. I’ve got three all-grain kits from Crossmyloof to choose from:

• Atlantis Ale – a clone of Atlantic by Sharp’s Brewery. It’s an American IPA, around 5%, loaded with Mosaic throughout.
• Murgy Straight clone – a lovely, easy-drinking golden ale at about 4%. I’ve had this on cask, keg, and straight from the fermenter at Andy’s—so it’ll be interesting to see how the kit compares.
• Neon Tropics NEIPA – sitting around 6%, packed with Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, and Solero.

Just waiting on the poll results now so I can get the next brew underway, maybe even tomorrow.

Over on YouTube, I watched my mate Mark from IronWorks Brewing doing a brew day with his friend Craig. He was walking him through the whole process, explaining everything step by step. Looks like Craig might be heading into all-grain brewing soon too, which is great to see.

There’s a lot of talk about the hobby (and even the wider beer scene) slowing down, but I’ve picked up a few new subscribers this week, so maybe more people are getting into it, especially with pint prices creeping up. I get that pubs are trying to survive, but when two pints can cost over £10, and you can get 10 cans (over 8 pints) from the supermarket for the same money, it’s a tough choice for a lot of people.

I was reading something from a brewer recently who said he makes more money selling beer in his own taproom than distributing kegs to pubs. When you factor in delivery, collection, duty, and all the overheads pubs have, staff, heating, electricity. It’s no surprise things are getting difficult. Then there’s tax on top of it all.

A lot of pubs are trying new ideas to keep going, food, events, themed nights and fair play to them. If we can, it’s worth getting out and supporting them, because once they’re gone, they’re gone. Bit of a cliché, but it’s true: you don’t realise what you’ve got until it’s no longer there.

Anyway, that’s all for now, back soon!

Mark

Return to the Kits

Welcome back… and honestly, is that to you or to me? It’s been a while! Things have been pretty hectic and a bit stressful here, but I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel and I’m grabbing onto it with both hands.

The good news is, I’ve been brewing again! Not just once, but twice since we last spoke.

I’d started to feel a bit disheartened with my beers. Something just wasn’t quite right maybe the crushed grain had lost some of its freshness or punch but a few batches had a slightly odd taste I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Now, I can happily drink less than perfect beer with the best of them, but this felt different. So, I decided it was time for a reset.

I gave all my kit a proper deep clean, sanitised everything, and ordered a kit from Crossmyloof called Farrier’s Reward a 19L kit inspired by Hook Norton’s Old Hooky. Fingers crossed, I thought… let’s see how this goes.

Then came a perfect brew day. I had the morning free,no work, no interruptions. So I headed to the brewery, coffee in hand, Slipknot on the speakers, and got started. And honestly? It turned into one of my favourite brew days ever.

Everything just clicked. Water up to temp, salts added, mash in, recirculation all smooth and steady. After the mash out and sparge, my numbers were spot on with the kit. That alone felt like a win! Then into a 90 minute boil, adding hops and finings as needed.

Target was 19L at 1.042… but I ended up with 21L at 1.044  2 points up! Not a huge difference in the finished beer, but after a run of frustrations, it felt like a real victory. Yeast pitched, fermentation underway, job done.

I was so pleased with how it all went that I’ve already ordered three more of their kits. I’ve got kegs to fill, especially after a few recent setbacks at one point I was down to just last year’s porter (which, to be fair, is just about hanging in there!).

While I was ordering, I also picked up a few extract kits as backup keg fillers always good to have something ready to go.

Fast forward to April 12th Farrier’s Reward had fermented down to 1.008, giving me a tidy 4.73% ABV. I was really happy with that. I kegged it using a no-oxygen transfer, and it was already looking beautifully clear in the trial jar. Of course, I had to have a quick taste… and wow — smooth, balanced, and properly classic. Just what I was hoping for.

I’d fermented it under 12psi, so it already had that lovely cask-like carbonation. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for more.

Feeling inspired, I decided to squeeze in another quick brew while I had the time. Most of my setup is all-grain, so this one was a bit of a kitchen job a simple mild kit from Ritchies. I added 1kg of dextrose, 400g of crystal malt, and 50g of Brambling Cross, brewing to 21L with a starting gravity of 1.044 same as the previous batch. Double-checked with hydrometers and the refractometer… bang on.

Switched up the yeast to Crossmyloof’s Midland Trent Ale, and off it went. It is called Sutherland View named after taking a walk through the Italian gardens at Trentham and looking out over the lake to the monument.

So as I write this, I’ve got a keg of porter, a keg of pale (still to be sampled!), and the Farrier’s Reward ready to go. Safe to say, I won’t be reaching for shop-bought cans anytime soon.

All in all, I’m feeling back on track. I do think the crushed grain I was using has lost some of its freshness, so that’s something to sort probably time to get the mill up and running again. But that’s a job for the next chapter.

Until then, take care of yourself… and keep brewing.

Cheers,
Mark 🍻