This batch was designed to be split between cask-conditioned and forced gas dispense.  The recipe is based on an amber ale we brewed a couple of years ago, but this time with more hops, so it’s closer to a pale ale.  The use of 1 pound and a half of crystal made it darker than the typical pale ale, so it might be more like a hoppy red ale.  The recipe also contains aromatic, biscuit, and Munich malts, with a base of Maris Otter.

Hops were English, a combination of Phoenix, First Gold, and Bramling Cross, both pellets and whole hops.  The original gravity is 1.047.  We had trouble again this week with aerating the wort, the trouble was tracked down to a defective pump, so a new, more powerful one, is on order.

Chilling this week was a little slower than last time, due mainly to forgetting to top up the immersion chiller kettle with water for more ice.  The wort was 72F in the fermenter, which was then chilled down to 62F by the time fermentation began, with it allowed to rise to 66F after 24 hours.

The Bishop’s Farewell was racked to a couple of cornies, gravities dropping to 1.012 after one week in primary.  The kegs were dry-hopped with an ounce each of Cascade.   The firkin of Hophead was vented, then tapped by Jonathan Page, and it turned out very well.  Nice and clear from the first pint, with a nice Cascade hop nose, and quite drinkable at 3.5% ABV.

Another great weekend of weather here, perfect for spending outside brewing beer.   Today’s recipe was the second batch of Bishop’s Farewell, a wonderful hoppy golden ale brewed with Cascade for a nice citrusy flavour.  The malt is all Maris Otter with a bit of wheat, and hops were Phoenix pellets for bittering and Cascade at 15 minutes and at the end of the boil.  Target gravity was 1.044 but we hit 1.042 instead.

We used a bit more icce in the immersion chiller kettle, so the chill was able to proceed while the wort was racked at the maximum flow rate, and we had a little bit of ice left over.  That isn’t too bad for mid-August and the hottest ground water of the year.

The aeration stone gave up the ghost today, it’s gotten completely clogged from years of use, so I aerated with the tried and true method of shaking the carboys.  A new aeration stone will be needed.

On Sunday I picked some more of the Cascade hops growing in the back yard.  Last weekend was the first picking, I have only harvested a few ounces so far.   The total crop looks good again this year, though, there’s a lot of big cones left on the bines.

After a break of almost two months,  we’re finally back to brewing.  The beer supply has held up pretty well, but the usual summer parties and events have taken their toll.  There are still four cask ales on tap, although we’re down to the last corny keg of each.  Today’s batch was the second of the Dark Star Hophead clone, which is all Maris Otter malt and Cascade hops.  This time we bittered with Columbus since it is more efficient to use high-alpha hops for bittering, and then we substituted Ahtanum for Cascade because those hops were older.

Original gravity was 1.038, a couple points shy of target.  The chill was slow because of the 77F ground water temperature, the wort was running at about half speed in order to keep it around 70F using the immersion chiller frozen in the ten gallon pot.  We pitched with starters of the White Labs English Ale, and the fermentation kicked off around 5 or 6 hours from pitching.