Oct 1, 2011

Over - Under Burton Ale / Burton Jr.

Over - Under Burton Ale -- 100 IBU --1.083 -- 1.018 -- 8.5% ABV
Old Over - Under Burton Ale 100 IBU -- 1.083 -- 1.003 -- 10.5% ABV
Burton Jr. -- 30 IBU -- 1.072 -- 1.019 -- 7% ABV

Brewed this with David Little, another member of ALEZ as part of a competition. The winner will recreate the beer to be aged in a barrel that the club plans to buy.

I learned a lot about adding gravity points, refractionometer calibration, as well as diluting today. I think we did it all to prevent others from replicating our beer by wrapping our secrets in mystery that may seem like errors or confusion to the untrained eye.

Over - Under:

Malts: 
29 Lbs Marris Otter
2 lbs Brown Malt
7.5 lbs Dry Malt Extract

Hops:
12 oz EKG (5% AA) -- 60 minutes

Yeast:
2 packages Windsor
2 packages Nottingham

Little Burton-ish : http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32890299/small-beer.pdf



Burton Jr.  Notes:

10.8.11 -- Gravity down to 1.023 in six days.  Still has a way to go, but I just wanted to see.
10.23.11 -- Gravity at 1.019 (74% attenuation), but still may not be finished since it has been cool (started in low to mid 60s, then allowed to naturally rise after a week, but the weather has been cool, so it has stayed in the low to mid 60s with the exception of a day or two when it got closer to 70).  Beer is pretty balanced and straightforward without the yeasty presence many British ales have -- the flavor contribution from the Citra addition is interesting as well.
11.5.11 -- Bottled at around 2 volumes.

Old Over - Under Burton Ale Notes: 

11.26.11 -- Picked up half the batch of Over - Under Burton Ale from David.  Now I am waking up a culture of Brett B to add to the beer.  Once that does its thing for a few months, I will add oak cubes and then the dry hops.  I look to bottle this in the summer.
11.30.11 -- Added about a pint brett B starter after it showed life.
7.23.12 -- Gravity at 1.003. Brett character is prevalent, but hard to describe. The funk seems to ride the wave of bitterness into the aftertaste and lingers for a long time. Stale, funky, kinda barnyardy like stinky cheese, but not bad per se. I'm expecting this character to round out in a year or two into something more pleasant.It already has a bit of a cognac quality. Added 1.5 oz medium toast French oak cubes.
9.16.12 -- Tasting small sample: Bitter, alcoholic and wine-like / some vanilla notes from wood (soft) / Oak flavor is noticeable / plan to pull this soon.
10.6.12 -- Bottled at 2 volumes carbon dioxide. Added one packet of Champagne yeast. Marked bottles: O O/U.