Ordinary Bitter Boddington's Bitter

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Orfy

For the love of beer!
HBT Supporter
Joined
Sep 27, 2005
Messages
11,732
Reaction score
123
Location
Cheshire, England
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Generic Youngs Ale yeast
Yeast Starter
No
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
No
Batch Size (Gallons)
6.5
Original Gravity
1.040
Final Gravity
1012
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
40
Color
7.9 srm
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
5
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
5
Additional Fermentation
Ready soon after Carbonation.
Boddington's

Boddington's used to be brewed at Strangeway's brewery, which has closed. The brand is owned by InBev who have contracted with Hyde's to have their cask beer brewed at Moss Side. (The keg version is brewed by InBev at Salmesbury, near Preston, and Magor, in South Wales.)

This recipe is the the winning recipe to duplicate the cask Boddington's in it heyday when brewed at the Strangeway's Brewery.



Brew Type: All GrainStyle: English Ordinary Bitter
Brewer: OrfyBatch Size: 23.00 L
Boil Volume: 30.50 LBrewhouse Efficiency: 80.0 %
Prepare 40.21 L water for brewing
Prepare Ingredients for Mash
3.30 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain
0.25 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain
0.12 kg Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain
0.03 kg Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain
Single: Add 9.66 L of water at 75.0 C
60 min - Hold mash at 68.0 C for 60 min
Add first wort hops to boiler at start of sparge
Amount Item Type 25.00 gm Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops
-- Drain Mash Tun
-- Batch Sparge Round 1: Sparge with 17.78 L of 77.0 C water.
-- Batch Sparge Round 2: Sparge with 9.77 L of 77.0 C water.
-- Add water to achieve boil volume of 30.50 L
-- Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.030 SG

Boil for 60 min

Start to Boil.
15 min into boil Add 25.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.00%] (45 min)
Flame out 25.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.00%] (60 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)
-- Cool wort to fermentation temperature
-- Add 3.00 L water (as needed) to achieve volume of 23.00 L
-- Siphon wort to primary fermenter and aerate wort.
-- Add Ingredients to Fermenter
Amount Item Type 1 Pkgs Youngs Generic Ale Yeast Yeast-Ale
(Estimate: 1.040 SG)
10 days Ferment in primary for 5 days at 20.0 C
(Estimate: 1.012 SG)
Bottle with corn sugar: 75
Age for 2 Weeks at 17.0 C

Taste Rating (50 possible points): 40.0
Brewed to be a match for the Boddington's Cask bitter at it's peak.
 
Orfy, you are killing me. Had a Directors Bitter with dinner last night. So smooth and easy to drink. After reading your recipe I want another. Might have to go to the pub for lunch. So many beers...so little time.
 
Well I have a pint of my boddies as we speak.
I've just cooked a Korma with a little bite.

My mouth has that curry buzz from tasting and the Boddington's is a perfect partner for a party in my mouth.:mug:
 
Orfy, you now owe me a new keyboard, as it is soaked in drool.
What is the taste rating you mention?
 
Just beersmith.

50 - Hobgoblin and other stuff that in my opinion is perfect for my taste.
40 - One mighty fine brew and is on my brew again list
30 - fine nothing wrong but maybe not enough body or taste or not quite my thing .
20 - not sure won't drink if there is anything else. (Sort of BMC level)
10 - pooh, don't like. Probably won't finish the pint.
00 - Liquid pooh and smells like it.
 
This is really good. It's a go.
This is now on my must brew again list.

It's Light in colour but not taste. Plenty of body , It's got good head retention and gives "History" and 4% ABV I can have more than 1 or 2 at a time.

In short. I recommend it.


jcarson83 said:
Man that sucks its sounds really good but I'm too lazy to do the conversion to english units.

These are English Units!!!!!!!!!
Just not 100 year old English.
 
These are English Units!!!!!!!!!
Just not 100 year old English.[/QUOTE]


See, Orfy. It's your fault. YOU did this to us. ;)
 
orfy said:
These are English Units!!!!!!!!!
Just not 100 year old English.

always feel rude when i suggest this, but i wish the US would move on with the rest of the world and go metric. Base 10 just makes good modern sense.
 
Orfy, I'm a little confused by the hop schedule. I understand:

25g Northern Brewer as FWH
25g EKG at 45 min (15 minutes into the 60 min boil)

but what is this?:
Steep for 60 min Steep 25.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.00%] (60 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)
Does that mean add 25g EKG at flameout, and hold for 60 minutes before chilling?
 
Bike N Brew said:
Orfy, I'm a little confused by the hop schedule. I understand:

25g Northern Brewer as FWH
25g EKG at 45 min (15 minutes into the 60 min boil)

but what is this?:

Does that mean add 25g EKG at flameout, and hold for 60 minutes before chilling?

Yes it is confusing. (Beer Smith)

It's flame out. Aroma hops.....chill immediately.
 
I doubt the US will change during my lifetime. Technically we are on metric. Our Interstate highway system was spec'd in metric back in the 1950's. In the 1970's there was a push and again in 1980. The majority of our companies that do business outside the USA build in metric. [Check out your car, only the lug nuts are Standard] Unfortunately, most politicians are lawyers and they can't deal with numbers that don't start with a $.
 
Pretty much anything based in science and technology these days is worked with in metric. English units are reserved for more mundane tasks, like body height, cake pans, and floorplans. Being one of those scientific types myself, it sure would be easier if everything was in one standard unit, and I have to admit the metric system is hella easier to work with.

I think it's just a matter of time. The current youth are comfortable with working in metric from their jr high and high school science classes, never mind any higher education. Eventually politicians will figure out that dual systems are costing us millions to billions a year, and the standard will change. NASA Mars Poler lander, anyone?
 
Anyway, I'm looking at brewing a partial mash version of this, and since I did the math anyway, here's the recipe in "English" units ;):


7.25 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter
.55 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine
.264 lb Crystal Malt 60L
1 oz Chocolate Malt

Hopping schedule:
1oz Northern Brewer, First Wort Hops
1oz EKG (45 minutes)
1oz EKG (0 minutes AKA flameout)

Feel free to round off at your convenience :p.

Any advice out there on which malt extract to use to replace the Maris Otter?
 
Brewed it on New Year's Eve just kegged it to Keg condition it for a Super Bowl party.

Wow love it, right now ready to go. :rockin:

Not sure how I'll keep my grubby little paws off it for three weeks.

Rudeboy
 
Anyone have any luck doing this as a partial mash/extract brew? I am still not to all grain, but I have been searching for a good English bitter.
 
RadicalEd said:
7.25 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter
.55 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine
.264 lb Crystal Malt 60L
1 oz Chocolate Malt

Hopping schedule:
1oz Northern Brewer, First Wort Hops
1oz EKG (45 minutes)
1oz EKG (0 minutes AKA flameout)



Any advice out there on which malt extract to use to replace the Maris Otter?

I would just replace MO with 6 lbs. llight DME for extract version. Steep all other grains as the same weight. Same hop schedule. FWIW, I just replace the base of any AG with 6 lbs DME :D . Unless the specialty grains must be mashed, keep them the same -- hops, too. If you are looking for a more in-depth recipe, time for AG!
 
Hehehe, this beer is long gone, I'm afraid. I kicked this keg shockingly fast, everybody liked it! This was my last PM, though. I've been AG for several months now.

I'm actually looking to make this again today!
 
peterfuse said:
always feel rude when i suggest this, but i wish the US would move on with the rest of the world and go metric. Base 10 just makes good modern sense.

Nah, we're gonna wait until the rest of the world comes back around to our system. We're number one, after all. ;) (Or is China number one now?!?)

I can remember elementary school teachers telling my class that the USA was gradually shifting to the metric system, and that by the time we were adults the conversion would be complete. Some 30+ years later, virtually no progress has been made. At least our money is metric! It's also rapidly shrinking in value...
 
BlindLemonLars said:
Nah, we're gonna wait until the rest of the world comes back around to our system. We're number one, after all. ;) (Or is China number one now?!?)

I can remember elementary school teachers telling my class that the USA was gradually shifting to the metric system, and that by the time we were adults the conversion would be complete. Some 30+ years later, virtually no progress has been made. At least our money is metric! It's also rapidly shrinking in value...

:off:

At least in the engineering/sciences fields nearly everything is metric...Or at least computed in metric and then converted to 'English' for everyone else :p.
 
RadicalEd said:
Anyway, I'm looking at brewing a partial mash version of this, and since I did the math anyway, here's the recipe in "English" units ;):


7.25 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter
.55 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine
.264 lb Crystal Malt 60L
1 oz Chocolate Malt

Hopping schedule:
1oz Northern Brewer, First Wort Hops
1oz EKG (45 minutes)
1oz EKG (0 minutes AKA flameout)

Feel free to round off at your convenience :p.

Any advice out there on which malt extract to use to replace the Maris Otter?

I just bottled a version of this with 6lb Maris otter LME from Williams instead of mashing. Steeped the rest at 152F for 30 minutes before adding the extract and boiling. OG and FG were spot on, 4% abv.

It's perfect. Exactly what I was looking for. A classic pub bitter like I had in the UK and can't find for the life of me here in the states. Only thing I would do differently is give it two weeks instead of one in secondary for the Northern Brewer flavor to integrate a little more, but hopefully that will work itself out in bottle conditioning.
 
I am carbonating this brew in a keg as we speak. I will post a pic of the finished product by the end of the week.
To keep with the English pub style, I plan to carb this lightly.
Can't wait!!
 
Yes it is confusing. (Beer Smith)

It's flame out. Aroma hops.....chill immediately.

Thanks! Promash is giving me 55-60 IBUs on the recipe as written (using 8% Target as my FWH and 4.5% EKG at 45 min and flameout)...seems high, but I'm going to trust the raves on this thread and leave it as-is.
 
I started drinking my first batch of this recently. I used American two-row instead of Maris Otter. It is a fantastic light ale and has become my beer of choice for offering to guests. Nice color, appetizing smell, great head retention, clean tasting... fantastic recipe.
 
Does this end up with the creamy head that Boddington's has? I like Boddington's quite a bit and the creamy mouthfeel is one of the things that puts it over the top.

Thanks,
Stuart
 
Stuart - not sure if your used to boddington's draft or bottles. It is close to the hand pulled drafts you get in England and better than the stateside bottles IMO.
 
I'm eager to give this one a try. Wyeast 1318 London Ale III is reported to be the Boddington's strain. I've got a pack stashed in my fridge just for this recipe.

Chad
 
Thanks! Promash is giving me 55-60 IBUs on the recipe as written (using 8% Target as my FWH and 4.5% EKG at 45 min and flameout)...seems high, but I'm going to trust the raves on this thread and leave it as-is.

I may have screwed it up but I am coming up with 37.6 in beersmith. Do you make to batch size 6.5?
 
i am talking about the boddingtons that is currently being produced. i am a big fan of it and would like to produce something like it. but if this older recipe is just as good - i'll give it a shot. thanks.
 
If you're brewing the extract version of this, how do you handle the FWH? Throw them in at the steep? Or do they just become a 60 m boil?
 
If you're brewing the extract version of this, how do you handle the FWH? Throw them in at the steep? Or do they just become a 60 m boil?

I threw mine in at the steep and let them come up to temp while the wort was working its way towards a boil...not that it is the correct way to do it, but that's what I did.
 
Yeuss -- can't believe I just noticed this recipe. Going to brew this this weekend, I got to try this beer a couple months ago and loved it, but sadly we don't have it anywhere near here - have to drive to the ATL to get one on tap.

Can't wait to brew this.

Thanks
 
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