Well, you wouldn’t think that we are fast approaching the Spring equinox – snow on the ground, ice on the brewery and an inside working temperature of 6C.
But, fret yee not, spring is around the corner and the good news is that that means its time for a new Moon Gazer, as our annual spring clean of hops and malts leads to an all new Mash Up recipe.
It’s time to delve into the store cupboards and see what would be good to use so it is at its freshest, and how we can clear some space for our next batch of hops for the spring season.
It may sound a bit random – and admittedly it is a bit of fun – but our seasonal mash ups have a great and loyal following. Although the abv will always be 4.4% no two brews will ever be the same.
So, what did Bruce find in the cupboard during his latest tidy up?
Well, in terms of malt there’s always Maris Otter in the cupboard but we will be blending it for this brew with some wheat and also 5 other malts, Brown, Crystal 150, Melanoid, Amber and Crystal 400.
This malt mix will deliver a beer which is amber/copper in colour and delivers good biscuit flavours.
As for the hops we’ve gone for a mix of French, American and British hops.
UK Cascade and French Mistral will give the brew its backbone bitterness before we ramp up with four serious charges of hops in the last part of the boil and the stand to bring out the wonderful tropical, papaya, citrus and banana aromas of the American Ekuanot and Jarrylo.
This will give the beer a hoppy finish without any lingering bitterness.
It’ll be in pubs in time for Easter so do look out for it, when its gone its gone, Mash Up is never the same brew twice.
Enjoy.