Double Brewday

We've been spending so much time with our heads in plans and whatnot recently, that we haven't had too much time to actually brew. A sad state of affairs for a brewery.

We changed all that a few days ago with a rather epic double brew day, and thought we'd share it with you. 

We'll do a proper posting at some point about the kit we're using, as well as where we want to go next, but for now...

...the hot liquor tun (HLT)...

...the mash tun (on a crate, on an upturned freezer, obviously). And next to it the copper (on a bench, obviously). 

High tech this isn't, as evidenced by this tangle of hoses (more organised than it may appear) that leads from the sink in the room above and provides the cellar with water...

That said, it works rather well albeit with a few idiosyncrasies. 

We started off with a fairly straightforward pale ale to get warmed up. With nothing but Maris Otter and East Kent Goldings, I suppose you would have to say this is a very Kentish pale ale. And why not, there's a lot of great produce around us so why not use it. 

Next up was something just a little bit different. Nothing crazy, but a Belgian Dubbel, with Bobek hops and dark candi sugar, and a pinch of chocolate malt in the grist.  The wort that came out of the mash was simply amazing, sweet and thick and chocolatey. We agreed that, in a strangely good way, it tastes like the crap hot chocolate you get in French services. But, honestly, it was so damn good. 

The candi rocks went into the boil with the first hop additions, and the OG was bang on what we'd shot for. Nice to be on the money after a little time out of the game. 

Success all round, and good to be finally back to doing what we really care about. 

We'll keep you posted as the beers progress and will definitely do a tasting post once we crack them open.