We are using the yeast in its fifth generation this time.  The idea was to brew something reasonably light and drinkable for Steve’s upcoming wedding reception in July, so the recipe is Boathouse Bitter based upon Shepherd Neame’s Spitfire Ale.  A copper-coloured special bitter, the grist is Maris Otter, a good portion of wheat, some caramunich, and a bit of kiln amber and malted oats.  Original gravity was 1.047, right on target.  The recent changes in the spreadsheet seem to have improved our ability to predict and achieve the correct gravity, at least when the specific gravity is in the 1.040s.  Higher gravities get lower efficiency, so it likely will not be as accurate when brewing recipes in the 1.050s, 1060s, and beyond.

The hops were Target and East Kent Goldings for bittering, with more Goldings added for flavour and aroma with 15 minutes left in the boil.  We got a good chill with the immersion chiller frozen in the stainless pot, but the ground water continues to warm up and today we almost melted the entire ice block.  It appears that this method will be insufficient later in summer.  We will have to come up with other ideas.

We racked the Boathouse Bitter from last week into a couple of corny kegs, dry hopping each with 1.25 ounces of Centennial.  Gravity was 1.013 on both.

We added some aluminium flashing to the brewing structure as a wind shield for the boil kettle and mash burners, which seemed to help block the wind.