Today I brewed a special bitter. Just about any one living in the Phoenix area is familiar with Four Peaks brewery. They make a special bitter called 8th Street Ale that I am just obsessed with; it's a lower gravity session beer that just hits the spot. It has a big pronounced hop aroma, more so than you'd expect for a bitter, but the flavor is mostly malty sweetness. Today marks my second attempt to clone it.

6 gallons

6.5lbs 2-row
1lb Munich
10oz Carapils
8oz Crystal 80
0.3oz Warrior @ 60
1oz East Kent Golding @ 15
1oz East Kent Golding @ 0
1oz Styrian Golding @ 0
Mash @ 154*
WLP007 - Dry English Ale Yeast, fermented at 64*
OG: 1.044
Dry Hop 1/2oz each Stryian Golding/EKG

Brew day went smooth other than the fact that I collected too much wort, so my OG was down a little (1.048 was the goal).  Today was the first day my friend Greg and I brewed with our new keggle, and it was tough to estimate the volume of wort I had. Despite that, I'm definitely looking forward to see how this batch turns out!


In other news, my Honey Blonde, took first place in a competition this weekend with a 41.5, and my IPA placed third in another!!