CS9 - Spellbinder

[Stu H]

So this is an Emersons Bookbinder inspired beer, with the recipe originally from Studio1 - of this very website! I think it tastes killer right now, drink it while it's fresh, tuck in dudes!

I forgot to measure OG & FG, so it's more a guess ;)

Spellbinder III
Author: Studio1


OG 1.038?

FG: 1.010?

IBU: 28

About 4%?

Ingredients:

87.7% Golden Promise

6.3% CaraMalt

3.2% Medium Crystal

2.3% Dark Crystal

0.6% Black Malt

1g/l Riwaka 15m

1g/l NZ Goldings 15m

1g/l Riwaka 0m

1g/l NZ Goldings 0m

1g/l Riwaka dry hop

1g/l NZ Goldings dry hop

Equal amounts of Riwaka & NZ Goldings at 60m to achieve 28 IBU.

Water profile: Ca 51 Mg 9 Na 52 Chl 79 S04 74

Can't remember the CaC03...

4th gen US05.

[Matt Smith]

First one out of the bag for me. Have you tried this next to a Bookbinder? I just had one last week, and if somebody put this in front of me and told me it was Bookbinder I wouldn't have known any better. Good work!

Very well fermented, nice and clean. I really like the malt profile, nice and toasty with a little caramel and dried fruit character. The hops I find quite vinous. Great balance, not too thin for such a small beer. Could have done with just a touch more carbonation I think, although too much would do more damage than good I think.

Great start to the swap, loved it!

[Stu H]

Glad you liked it! Yep it's probably one of my favourite beers I've ever brewed, super stoked on it. Good call on carbonation, I'll bump it up next time.

[Matt Smith]

Awesome recipe man, I brewed this last Friday because I needed a huge pitch of yeast for an Imperial stout that me and tilt are making, and I thought this was a perfect candidate for a "giant starter". My version is slightly different based on what I had on hand, I used a mix of gladfield pale and gladfield munich for the base, dark cara in place of cara and chocolate insead of black. I used Fuggles instead of Goldings and WLP007.

If you want to turn around a beer super fast, this recipe with 007 is the one! it ripped through this, by day 5 when I checked, it was down to 1.010, completely clear and tasted clean, no diacetyl etc, so I left it one more day then crash chilled it, kegged and force carbed, and I'm drinking it now, clear and carbonated just shy of 7 days since brew day, super stoked! The 007 works really well with this recipe, it's still pretty clean, perhaps just a touch more ester, but it also leaves a slightly fuller mouthfeel I think than S05 for this small of a beer. I highly recommed it. Thanks for the recipe!

[Stu H]

Ah awesome! Yeah I know what you're saying yeast-wise. I've tried it with English strains before and been impressed. First gen US-05 is pretty good too since it doesn't really attenuate that well first time.

You might as well make delicious starters huh? Also since efficiency is usually a bit higher on these recipes you can get away with making a bit more wort and saving it for other starters in the freezer.

[Max Giles]

So I had this one last night.

It was very well received. Bookbinder is one of my favorites and you did a great job of replicating it.

Problem is that I proceeded to have some more beers after it and then woke up with a headache and had lost my tasting notes. Sorry about that.

I remember it was delicious.
On the downside it does seem to encourage midweek drinking and cause headaches when followed by many more beers.

[Stu H]

Max you're a bad man.

[mattd2]

Thanks Stu for the beer, from what I remember of the Bookbinder bitterness this is gooood.

Appearance: Beautiful clear amber/brown, no head (lowish carbonation)

Aroma: Nice amount of tropical fruit aroma

Flavour: A pleasant mellow bitterness upfront, with a slight harshness at the back (similar to what I’ve have got with the few bookbinders I have had in the past). Very nicely balanced.

Mouthfeel: Thin(ish) = very sessionable.

Overall: This would be a perfect beer (read multiple beers) to sit back and relax with on a summer’s afternoon with mates. I can see why Max was enticed by it to continue on last night! Yours is up next Max but I might wait till tomorrow night :-)

Cheers!

[Stu H]

Great you enjoyed. Yeah the carbonation thing is a weird one. When looking at the "style guidelines" for ordinary bitter, the recommended carbonation is really low, which in retrospect doesn't really makes sense unless it's being served on handpump... Next time I'll just carb it up to around 2 volumes like usual.

[paul m]

Hi Stu, I'd agree with the other comments re carbonation. I sat in the matakana pub a couple of weeks ago drinking bookbinder on tap. I think i logged up close to 4 hours over the weekend... bliss. Bookbinder was all that i drank. I was trying to decide if corporate take overs had changed the taste since i originally tasted. I decided it hasn't yet. Your Spellbinder does feel thinner, i quess that might be due to the carb. I don't know. I think the Bookbinder is slightly more citrus. I actually prefer your more resiny hop finish. I think I could drink yours all night!!

In summary... Bloody Good!

[Tom C]

Appearance No head, Clear amber/brown

 

Aroma Herbal/fruity hop, Rich toffee malt, Chocolate notes

 

Flavour Caramel, sweet finish

 

Mouthfeel Flat, Sticky sweet, Light bodied

 

Overall Very under-carbonated (Soft bottle), Fairly sweet – could do with better attenuation or increased bittering.  Still pleasant flavoured and good session drinking beer.

[DP]

Appearance
Deep amber in colour. No head. Lightly cloudy.

Aroma
Good showcasing of Riwaka hops. Slightly sweaty (but that's always Riwaka for me)

Palate
A bit watery/flat. 

Flavour
Good maltiness. Lacking the expected hop flavour of Bookbinder and slightly tannic.

Overall
You've come really close to Bookbinder. A bit more carbonation would help with the mouthfeel. Sessionable!

[Adam Barnes]

Appearance – Very small white head, nice amber colour.

Aroma – A nice citrus hit, smells just like bookbinder.

Flavour – Again, tastes like a bookbinder, good malt backbone but bitterness drops off a bit too quick at the end.

Mouthfeel – Unfortunately very under carbonated. I really wanted this beer to be carbonated more as it was tasting and smelling delicious.

Overall – Good beer, but a shame about the carbonation. Nice work though, might try this as one of my next brews.