F4-02-02-16: Boot's Nutbrown Ale

Label inspiration: Another tribute to Boots the squirrel, who lived on the street where I made my first batch of beer.

(Mr. Beer’s NutBrown Ale - 2013 Autumn Seasonal)

NET WEIGHT 3.75 POUNDS (1.7 KILOGRAMS)
This recipe will produce 2 gallons of beer in approximately 3 weeks. Suggested lager time is 1-3 months.

From the Mr. Beer website:

"Based on the classic English style brown ale this Nut Brown Ale is smooth and creamy with a dark chestnut color. Rich toasted malt and chocolate flavors combine for a wonderful malt complexity with a hint of espresso. Styrian Golding hops from England balance the malt sweetness with a slight bitterness. An easy drinking English Ale. "

REFILL INCLUDES:
1 Can Limited Edition NutBrown Ale HME
1 Packet Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast
1 Packet No-Rinse Cleanser

ABV: 6.5%   SRM: 35   IBU: 52

Brewed beer on January 22, 2014. I used a brand new fermenter keg, a metal slatted spoon, and I sanitized everything the best I could. With some batches, I have placed the pot with the wort in it in an ice bath after taking it off the burner. It's been hit or miss in terms of overall success (and I'm not sure that "cold crashing" the wort had anything to do with it), but I decided to just let it sit for a litle while before I dded it to the LBK. 

Temp about 5 minutes after being in the keg (with the cooled wort and chilled water in the keg): 66 degrees

Bottled beer February 9, 2014. I used swing top 16 oz. bottles for this. Primed with table sugar. I ended up having a lot more beer left over than I thought, but I didn’t sanitize any 12 oz. bottles so I threw it out (maybe 1-2 beers’ worth). The horror!

February 17, 2014. Turned bottles upside down gently and spun the around before I put them back.

Conditioned beer on March 1, 2014.

I think I tried a few once in a while before finally giving up on this batch as well. Very frustrating. The original Boot's Brown Ale (2010) was really good. I've been going over the whole beermaking process, trying to figure out why I can't seem to make a decent beer anymore and I just can't find the answer.

OVERALL SCORE: 1 out of 10. The wort didn't seem to be too warm when I put it in the keg. Maybe there are small scratches in these LBKs and my wort is always going to be contaminated whenever I try to make beer. I have 4 of them now and I really try to sanitize before I start the whole process.