Popping My Full Mash Cherry

It's been coming for a long time but yesterday it finally happened. Do I feel any different? Has it changed the way I feel about kit brewing? "Not really" is the answer and obviously the jury's out until the ale is ready to drink but what is different is that I theoretically have much more control over what I'm going to brew.

Luckily I've got the help and support of a great brewing community both in forum land and the twitterverse which meant I've effectively got a pocket guide to brewing at my beck and call. Thank you, you know who you are and I couldn't have done it without you.

The brewday started with moderately ok weather so I fired up the HLT in the garden. Big mistake; by the time I'd doughed in the grains it was raining hard enough to encourage me to continue the brewday in my conservatory which is a complete mess. The recipe I used was nicked off a friend in the Brew It Yourself forum.

4 kg MO pale Malt

250g Torrefied Wheat

45g Amarillo @ 90mins

35g Amarillo @ 10mins

15g Amarillo @ 0 mins

I used Windsor yeast with this one.

The target OG was 1048 which I managed to hit and the smells coming out of the boiler were absolutely first rate, I really can't wait to drink it.

I've put pictures over on the Brew it Yourself forum. You can see the results here