Rockit Cup Chris Wyatt’s Landlord Brewday

Not to be confused with The Coup’s “Kill My Landlord” or Langston Hughes’ “Ballad of the Landlord,”

Chris Wyatt’s Landlord is bringing back British to the Rockit Cup. Because nothing says anti-institutional like the British. Or something. Cracker.

118. Rockit Cup Chris Wyatt’s Landlord

Mash:

8 ½ lbs. Golden Promise

Mash @ 154° F for 60 minutes w/ 3 gallons of RO water and 2 g. gypsum; collected 1 ¾ gallons @ 1.064
Batch sparge @ 163° F for 20 minutes w/ 3 ½ gallons RO water; collected 3 ½ gallons @ 1.022

Collected 5 ¼ gallons; added ¾ gallon to bring to 6 gallons, brought to a boil (60 minutes) & added:
w/60 to go: 1 oz. Styrian Golding pellet 3.8% AA

w/20 to go: ½ oz. East Kent Golding leaf 5.5% AA

w/15 to go: 1 tsp. Irish Moss

w/10 to go: ½ oz. East Kent Golding leaf 5.5% AA

w/1 to go: 1 oz. Styrian Golding pellet 3.8% AA

Chilled, racked to carboy, and added mason jar of Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale from Jeffrey

Brewed: 5/17/2012 @ 70° F; dropped to 66° F

Secondary: 5/22/2012 @ 1.010
Bottled: 5/31/2012 w/ 2.5 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.042
FG: 1.010

Tasting Notes (6/8/2012): For this version of the Rockit Cup, we had five players: myself, Jeffrey, Chris Wyatt (hence the beer name—get it?), Jake Browning, and Shaun Nichols, which, I believe, marks a new record for participation. I’d be more definitive, but I actually have no clue. Anyway, this was a doozy—one beer was off, but the other four were pretty close in regards to flavor and deliciousness. This round also had the greatest color range of any of our previous runs. I’m guessing the Golden Promise coupled with some hot burners led to the wider variety. Surprisingly, mine was not the lightest—that nod went to Jeffrey, but I was right after him. In the notes I took, I thought Chris’s was slightly breadier than the others, Jake’s had a touch too much of the yeast esters, Jeffery’s was clean and even, Shaun’s had a muddy malt character, and mine was slightly over-carbonated. Not that I knew which beer belonged to whom at this point, as I thought the over-carbonation on mine really detracted from the beer, and scored it second to last. But I guess no one else agreed, as I ended up winning. After me, it was Chris, Jeffrey, Jake, and then Shaun. The stewards of course scored it different, but since they didn’t brew, no one cares what they think, and I am refusing to acknowledge their rankings besides noting that, as per normal, it was different than those of us who brewed. Shocker, I am certain. Since I didn’t take many notes, I’ll type up some specifics later. Oh, and I did give Chris a bottle to take with him to England to do a side by side while he was there with the real thing. Among other things, the results of that led to me being called a bastard. Not that mine was perfect, but I do like the name calling. I’ll pester him for more details. Needless to say, this recipe is both very British and very delicious. Nice work with the recipe, Jeffrey.

(7/29/2012): Alright, I’m finally getting around to trying this, mostly because I’m about to polish off the last bottle, and I figured some notes for posterity were in order. Chris Wyatt’s Landlord pours a slightly hazy straw—there’s a bit of dull gold there as well, but mainly straw—and a white head that hangs around decently; it loses full cover, but there is more than the mere ring, and there was even a touch of lacing. The nose is earthy hop bitterness that is simultaneously perfume-y and featuring just a touch of yeast esters—it is not quite fruity, but running right up to it. The musty earth of the hops keeps the esters in check. There is also a hint of bread crust and buttery toast from the malt. Flavors pretty much follow the nose: bread crust and toast malt flavors in the front, giving way to a clean earthy and slightly spicy hop bitterness before finishing dry and cracker-y with lightly lingering bitterness. There is also a touch of corn in the beer, although no where I can clearly pin down. The mouthfeel is dry, clean, and almost musty, while the carbonation is medium and just a touch too bright on the palate—it rounds, but needs to round more. This beer is stupendous, and makes me want to experiment with both Golden Promise and the Styrian and East Kent Goldings a whole lot more. I’ll be looking forward to trying the SOB I made with Golden Promise, Sonnet Goldings, and the West Yorkshire yeast, as well as the Mild with the same yeast and some darker malts (and a higher mash temperature) to build the body and mouthfeel. Word word.