2026 Quarter 1

[Megary]

I put this one in the fermenter about an hour ago. Only real change I made was to use Pilgrim hops (my fav. UK hops and usually on hand) instead of EKG. Numbers were a bit high, but well within reason.
I never used A10, so I probably should have asked about what to expect. I pitched at about 62-63F, so right at the lower end of its range. I expect to keep the yeast at no more than 70F at high tide, though I could keep it below that if need be. My M.O. is to go 2 weeks for fermentation, then keg. Does this yeast produce a lot of krausen? Is it a British strain? Quick or slow starter/finisher? I’ll soon find out! Should be ready just in time for St. Patty’s Day.

 

[Josh Hughes]

I put this one in the fermenter about an hour ago. Only real change I made was to use Pilgrim hops (my fav. UK hops and usually on hand) instead of EKG. Numbers were a bit high, but well within reason.
I never used A10, so I probably should have asked about what to expect. I pitched at about 62-63F, so right at the lower end of its range. I expect to keep the yeast at no more than 70F at high tide, though I could keep it below that if need be. My M.O. is to go 2 weeks for fermentation, then keg. Does this yeast produce a lot of krausen? Is it a British strain? Quick or slow starter/finisher? I’ll soon find out! Should be ready just in time for St. Patty’s Day.

View attachment 34170

View attachment 34171

Usually starts off slow for me. Tends to love the mid to upper 60s. Good Krausen imo. Darkness is the Guinness strain supposedly. For me it finishes a few days after an English strain would. It was done for me within a week, though.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I ramped mine up to a 9 gallon batch. At the end of the boil I added about 2 gallons of wort left over from the mash and let it sit for 10 minutes before chilling and transferring to 2 fermenters, and eventually 2 corny kegs. My 2 liter RWS starter was very slow to kick off due to the yeast being 4 months old. Imperial says that 4 months is the max age for their yeast. Eventually it did it's thing and within 18 hours post-pitch both fermenters showed good kreuzen, so I'm confident I didn't under-pitch. My only concern was leaving wort in both fermenters for about 20 hours before pitching yeast. I don't expect problems, but if I do, this will be where it came from.

 

[Megary]

I kegged this today. Not my most successful brew session as far as hitting targets. No fault of the recipe at all, just brewer’s errors all over the lot. Overshot gravity (1.050), A10 attenuated 80% (!), ABV was a full point high, and the color seems dirty brown without any real semblance of red. Other than that though, I nailed it!

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I kegged this today. Not my most successful brew session as far as hitting targets. No fault of the recipe at all, just brewer’s errors all over the lot. Overshot gravity (1.050), A10 attenuated 80% (!), ABV was a full point high, and the color seems dirty brown without any real semblance of red. Other than that though, I nailed it!

Sounds like you had a pretty successful brew day. I do want to tweak the recipe to get some red into it. But color is always near the bottom of the priority list.

 

[Megary]

Sounds like you had a pretty successful brew day. I do want to tweak the recipe to get some red into it. But color is always near the bottom of the priority list.

I don’t know. I had to sub a different Roasted Barley, so it’s possible I just wasn’t getting any red highlights from the RB I used. Who knows, after a week or two of conditioning and clearing, maybe some red will pop through??

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I don’t know. I had to sub a different Roasted Barley, so it’s possible I just wasn’t getting any red highlights from the RB I used. Who knows, after a week or two of conditioning and clearing, maybe some red will pop through??

Yeah, I wasn't seeing red either. So for my latest batch I use 300°L Roasted Barley instead of 600°L. The SRM is a touch low for a Smithwicks but, close enough. I think I'll add a bit of RedX, or similar, next time to see if that adds a touch of red color.

 

[Megary]

Yeah, I wasn't seeing red either. So for my latest batch I use 300°L Roasted Barley instead of 600°L. The SRM is a touch low for a Smithwicks but, close enough. I think I'll add a bit of RedX, or similar, next time to see if that adds a touch of red color.

Interesting. The Roasted Barley I ended up using was 300 L. The Brewers Friend calculator predicted my SRM at 13.1. Thing is, the SRM is only part of the story because if the malt doesn’t throw any red, then there’s no chance of getting red in the glass. And of course, the beer has to drop crystal clear. A red Irish Red is not so easy to pull off.

 

[west1m]

Well the grain is in the tub. At ten min or so I took a ph sample <>5.0 . But the sample looked scary dark! The recipe calls for Crisp Malting Roasted Barley @ 600 L
I used Viking at 338L. Didnt expect so dark!

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Well the grain is in the tub. At ten min or so I took a ph sample <>5.0 . But the sample looked scary dark! The recipe calls for Crisp Malting Roasted Barley @ 600 L
I used Viking at 338L. Didnt expect so dark!

I've been going back and forth between 300°L (which is too light) and 600°L (which is too dark). In hindsight I should have posted the 300°L recipe.

 

[west1m]

I used the 300 and it is WAY DARK!
Anyway it is in the fermenter , barring yeast troubles I should have Brother Smithwick's in a week or two.
Small issue with my Spidel fementer, the spicket was cracked and leaking. I caught it right away so not too much mess. And I have a 2.5 gallon one as well so I was lucky and had an extra valve.

 

[Megary]

First pour. I’m not thrilled with the color, but it’s not that far off. Certainly could use a bit more “red”, but that might be nothing more than tweaking an ounce of this or that. And who knows, in another few weeks, it may drop crystal clear and show a bit differently.
Regardless, this beer is such an easy drinker…an absolute crusher! My compliments to @BarbarianBrewer !

 

[Josh Hughes]

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Yeah, the color is something I'm still working on. But the color in both @Megary & @Josh Hughes' beers is close. Just a little lighter and a little more red would be perfect.

 

[west1m]

Ahh... it is turning into beer now. The yeast I was worried about beeing too old is kickin'.