Hop and Circumstance
So, this brew builds on the successful Hop and Circumstance bitter that I brewed last time. That one came out well so I'm doing basically the same recipe but with some different hops this time.
Starter
As is always the case I got my starter going on the Tuesday evening before Sunday's brewday. I made it up to 1.5 litres with 0.5 litres being earmarked to be stored in the fridge for next time and the remaining litre to be pitched into the wort on Sunday.
The 3 litre beaker was used again for the WLP002 starter and as usual it's rather obvious when it's done and ready to flocculate because it looks like egg drop soup.
Brew day
This time I've decided to use Endeavour hops for the bittering and a combination of Progress, Pilgrim and my remaining Endeavour hops for the flavour additions. This one will be a bit more bitter than the last one at 40 IBUs.
Recipe Specifications
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Date: 22 June 2025
Batch Size (fermenter): 24.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 12.1 EBC
Estimated IBU: 40.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Water profile: Ca:95 Mg:16 Na:9 SO4:120 Cl:121
Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type %/IBU
29.49 L Tesco Ashbeck Water -
4.20 g Calcium Chloride (Mash) Water Agent -
3.40 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash) Water Agent -
2.40 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) Water Agent -
0.30 ml Lactic Acid (Mash) Water Agent -
4.200 kg Weyermann Pale Malt (6.0 EBC) Grain 95.5 %
0.200 kg Extra Light Crystal (Crystal 100) Grain 4.5 %
0.90 g Calcium Chloride (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.70 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.50 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Sparge) Water Agent -
0.20 ml Lactic Acid (Sparge) Water Agent -
20.00 g Endeavour [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 22.8 IBUs
20.00 g Pilgrim [8.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7.3 IBUs
20.00 g Progress [6.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 5.4 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 7.0 mins) Fining -
20.00 g Progress [6.50 %] - Boil 5.0 Hop 3.0 IBUs
15.00 g Endeavour [9.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 3.2 IBUs
1.0 pkg White Labs WLP002 Yeast -
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 4.400 kg
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Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 24.49 L of water at 71 C 67.0 C 60 min
Sparge: Dunk sparge with 5.00 L water at 75.6 C
Brew day was fairly unremarkable, all went to plan and the final OG of this one came out 1.043, just one point off the target. I didn't take any OG sample photos this time because my replacement trial jar hadn't arrived yet! In any case the sample looked identical to the Hop and Circumstance sample because the grain bill and process were identical.
Despite it being rather warm here I was able to chill down to 23C using my immersion chiller and by the time I'd added the chilled yeast starter the overall temperature was down to 22C which is a perfectly OK temperature to pitch the yeast. As usual the fermentation had started about 8 hours later and was going like crazy the following morning.
Kegging day
I kegged this one after about 2 and a half weeks. I was able to get a full corny and 6 bottles before the fermenter ran dry.
The FG was 1.006, giving an ABV of 4.9% which is in the right range for the beers that I like to drink. The clarity was amazing, probably the best I've ever seen, so this should be a good one.
Tasting notes
OK so it's decent enough, and there are no problems with the quality but I'm not sure I'm a fan of the bitterness delivered by the Endeavour hops, I actually find it a bit harsh and think that it tastes higher than the 40 IBU that this beer has. I much prefer the more subtle bitterness that you get from something like Magnum or the more assertive-but-not-harsh bitterness that you get from Columbus.