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quadmx08 said:
That was a typo, I edited it. Chocolate is ~0.3 black patent is ~0.03

not really sure how necessary that black patent is. It contributes only 3 SRM. I may re-listen to the CYBI episode and see if they mention is. I know people refer to the usage of black patent as waving a few grains over the kettle, but I figure you add it for mostly color and some roasted character.
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Ah. 10-4. I guess it depends what you want. I recently brewed a Dry Stout that I left the black patent out of and it is not dark enough for my liking. I don't think it will score well in that area for NHC either. It will for sure give you some good color.
 
Brewing this tonight:

4# vienna
0.6# 40l
0.3# carapils
0.3oz zythos (60 min)
0.3oz zythos (10 min)
wyeast 2035 american lager yeast
5 gal, 80% effic. estimated OG 1.028
18.8 IBU
6.1 SRM
0.67 IBU/SG
singe infusion mash @ 157

thoughts?
i'm a little apprehensive about the zythos hop (it is a blend typically used for IPAs)
 
I would shy away from bold citrusy hops in a lager. I don't brew them, but the few commercial lagers I have had with big bold hops seem off. Without the yeast character from ale yeasts, the hops just don't fit. Even a clean yeast like WLP001 has enough character to back up bold hops.
 
urbanmyth said:
I would shy away from bold citrusy hops in a lager. I don't brew them, but the few commercial lagers I have had with big bold hops seem off. Without the yeast character from ale yeasts, the hops just don't fit. Even a clean yeast like WLP001 has enough character to back up bold hops.
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good point. i may chicken out and use mt hood
 
progmac said:
Brewing this tonight:

4# vienna
0.6# 40l
0.3# carapils
0.3oz zythos (60 min)
0.3oz zythos (10 min)
wyeast 2035 american lager yeast
5 gal, 80% effic. estimated OG 1.028
18.8 IBU
6.1 SRM
0.67 IBU/SG
singe infusion mash @ 157

thoughts?
i'm a little apprehensive about the zythos hop (it is a blend typically used for IPAs)
Click to expand...
i brewed this yesterday. i used 0.5oz mt hood at 10 min instead of the zythos

5 gallons @ 1.029. will report back when its ready (6ish weeks probably)
 
Your recipes inspired me to try 1) non-alcoholic porter and 2) a 1.030 English table beer. They both worked very well.

1) Non-alcoholic porter (The Little, Brown Porter)
A tribute to The Little, Brown Handbook of Style for writers
I brewed a standard porter, an Edmund Fitzgerald clone from the HBT recipe bank. After fermenting and priming, I reserved 5 quarts for no-alcohol. The 5 quarts were heated in the oven at 180 F for one hour, stirring occasionally to drive off most of the alchohol. It was cooled and makeup water added to reach the original volume (about 1 pint or 4%). I stirred in one tablespoon of slurry from the fermenter to add yeast and bottle conditioned it for 3 weeks.

The homebrew club declared the non-alcoholic version was almost as nice as the whole version. The strong flavored full bodied malts certainly helped.

I will reserve a gallon from other "normal" batches of ales to make low-alcohol versions:D

2) English Table Beer
This was very good and I will make it again

BIAB
5.25 gallons into the fermenter
OG 1.031 - 1.027 depending on efficiency
FG 1.007

Grains
4.5 lb UK Maris Otter malt
1 lb Belgian Biscuit malt
1 lb American Crystal 60 malt (local Valley Malt)
0.25 lb American Chocolate malt (local Valley Malt)

Mash 80 min at 158 - 155 F
Boil 60 min
hops
0.5 oz Fuggles 4.0% alpha 60 min
0.5 oz Fuggles 4.0% alpha 10 min

Adjuncts
1/2 lb maltodextrine dissolved into the boil (time not critical)

yeast
Wyeast London Ale 1028 (actually, I fermented it on the yeast cake from the previous porter. Boom! It started instantly!)


Ferment 2 weeks at 65 to 68F ambient

Prime at 2.0% carbonation, about 1/2 c cane sugar

Bottle condition 3 weeks at 65 F ambient

Taste notes:
A bit thin compared to English Ordinary Bitter, however it holds up nicely. I enjoy it with dinner or at noontime before working outside. The flavorful MO, biscuit, and chocolate malts certainly help. The single ounce of hops becomes stronger over the 3 weeks of conditioning and adds proper bitterness. The color is a dark amber, not weak yellow, because of the chocolate. The small priming give good carbonation for an English style and it was not fizzy.

Lessons learned:
My BIAB efficiency was low at 1.027 OG. I think it would have tasted better at 1.031 OG.

The matodextrine was a quick fix for the thin body. I mentioned to Luke at the LHBS the wort was thin, and he suggested 1 lb of maltodextrine per 5 gallons at a starting point. I test-bottled 3 concentrations: zero MD, 1/2 lb to 5 gallons equivalent and 1 lb to 5 gallons equivalent. The 1/2 lb maltodextrine to 5 gallons gave the best body, and I included it in the recipe.

Next time I would add a little Carapils malt for head retention.

This is a keeper. :mug:
 
Those both sound really cool - did the non alcoholic porter carbonate up properly? I wonder why a large brewer hasn't tackled something like that...great idea.
 
I've got my Irish porter on tap today and its super balanced and very session able

7 lbs Pale Malt
10oz Crystal 65
10oz Chocolate Malt
4oz Black Malt
8oz Wheat Malt

2 oz Fuggle 60 minutes
1.5oz Goldings 60 minutes
1 oz Golding 15 minutes

yeast: safale 04

I got a higher efficiency in this one so it turned out at about 3.5%abv but anything in that 2-4% range is really what I'm shooting for
 
Brewed a 1.034 Mocha Stout last weekend.. dosed with nearly a pound of coffee at different points in the process, with lots of nice chocolaty character.. it'll finish around 3.2%

You've done an English Bitter, and Dry English Stout, but also look into Scottish 54 or 60 shilling beers. Hit it with Golden Promise basemalt, a bit of English Medium Crystal, and 2-3% of Crystal 120 and Pale Chocolate. Despite the stereotype, no peated malt is traditional, unless you really like peat flavor. Really nice body and flavor for a 1.028-1.034 kind of beer, and it'll finish pretty high on FG if you use a nice British yeast like 1469.
 
urbanmyth said:
I would shy away from bold citrusy hops in a lager. I don't brew them, but the few commercial lagers I have had with big bold hops seem off. Without the yeast character from ale yeasts, the hops just don't fit. Even a clean yeast like WLP001 has enough character to back up bold hops.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with you there. Get your hands on some Jack's Abby, they only brew lagers and have some very delicious, boldly hoppy offerings. Including what's basically a lager version of a IIPA.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26520/71820/?sort=serv&servT=8&start=0

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26520/75414
 
bellmtbbq said:
Brewed a 1.034 Mocha Stout last weekend.. dosed with nearly a pound of coffee at different points in the process, with lots of nice chocolaty character.. it'll finish around 3.2%

You've done an English Bitter, and Dry English Stout, but also look into Scottish 54 or 60 shilling beers. Hit it with Golden Promise basemalt, a bit of English Medium Crystal, and 2-3% of Crystal 120 and Pale Chocolate. Despite the stereotype, no peated malt is traditional, unless you really like peat flavor. Really nice body and flavor for a 1.028-1.034 kind of beer, and it'll finish pretty high on FG if you use a nice British yeast like 1469.
Click to expand...

Ya I love those small Scottish ales I brewed Jamils and went through the whole pulling 1 gallon off and boils down for carmelization - turned out to be an awesome beer.

Post up a tasting after you finish they stout sounds awesome
 
I hate this thread!!!

because every page there are two or three new recipes I really want to try. I have a 1.03 recipe that I'm hope to run soon but I won't post it until its done and tasted.
 
Just put up a tasting on the Irish Porter - blog link is in signature
 
Weezy said:
The Irish Porter looks like a nice recipe. The style does seem like a really get session beer.
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It's actually based of a porter from Scotland - the recipe from camra - but it was for st paddys so....
 
I attempted to brew the Thomas Hardy Ale on the weekend based off of this recipe: http://barclayperkins.blogspot.ca/2013/03/lets-brew-wednesday-eldridge-pope-1967.html

Out of the second runnings and 9oz of homemade invert I brewed a 1.028 small beer, using .75oz of EKG at 90min and .75oz of Styrians at 30min, fermenting now with wy1318. ...I'm almost more excited about the small beer (an AK I guess?) as I will be able to drink it within a couple weeks vs the better part of a year for the big beer.
 
sounds like a nice little beer - how did the partigyle go?
 
gbx said:
I attempted to brew the Thomas Hardy Ale on the weekend based off of this recipe: http://barclayperkins.blogspot.ca/2013/03/lets-brew-wednesday-eldridge-pope-1967.html

Out of the second runnings and 9oz of homemade invert I brewed a 1.028 small beer, using .75oz of EKG at 90min and .75oz of Styrians at 30min, fermenting now with wy1318. ...I'm almost more excited about the small beer (an AK I guess?) as I will be able to drink it within a couple weeks vs the better part of a year for the big beer.
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I looked at that recipe a few weeks ago. Interesting. I might do his Edinburgh 140 shilling ale recipe with Golden Promise, cap the mash with some crystal and pale chocolate, and run of a dark mild or bitter.
 
shoreman said:
sounds like a nice little beer - how did the partigyle go?
Click to expand...

It was a smooth brew day but I didn't get the gravity I was hoping for in the big beer - only 1.090 vs the expected 1.110. I had 2 turkey burners going so it didn't take much more time than a normal day (maybe an extra hour). The second batch was only 20 minutes behind the first one - as soon as one was chilled the other one was finished the boil.

Its tough to hit the gravities on partigyles with massive +1.100 big beers. If you are shooting for an 1.060 ESB/1.035 bitter, you can mash a few lbs extra grain and blend the runnings to get the desired OG's. With the huge beers that require all first runnings, you have to mash thick and hope for the best. I guess once I've done a few more with this setup I can figure out what the efficiencies are going to be for each batch.

...and the other neat thing you can do is mash only base malts and steep the specialty grains separately on the stove so you can do 2 completely different beers.
 
Subbed. Thanks for all the info and killer ideas on low abv brews with big flavor.
 
Popped the first bottle of my table saison (3.0%ish) today. It is rather nice. Not quite the yeast character I was hoping for from the 3711, but it fermented at about 70F. I will be rebrewing this summer when I can pop it in the garage to ferment at 80F+. The malt character is surprisingly characterful, considering it started at 1.025 and ended at 1.002. The Bo Pils has lent a very tasty grainy character. Carbonation could be higher, but it has only been in bottles (corked and caged because fancy) since March 21st.
 
I'm drinking the first pint of the "Ed Hardy" Ale (the *****y second runnings of the Thomas Hardy Ale). It finished at 1.007 and it is really really light....like coors lite light. The head on it is relentless (probably the flaked wheat?) It has a nice malt flavour (the pilsner and wheat are very prominent) and I definitely caught the ferment at the right time - great english yeast character. And the hopping is perfect - I had thought about dry hopping but i'm not going to mess with this. The 30min styrians are at a perfect level that doesn't drown out the malt. One thing that is completely absent is the crystal - its just not there at all. I guess nothing made it through into the second runnings.
 
Bump for the awesomeness of this thread!!!

I just found it today, and want to see more postings!
 
Halbrust said:
Bump for the awesomeness of this thread!!! I just found it today, and want to see more postings!
Click to expand...

I'm still brewing them but my ceiling has moved to 1.040 - just kegged an American bitter that will end up around 3% mainly from the Windsor yeast crapping out at 1.018

I'm working on a brown table saison in the 2-3% range that I'm gonna oak with French oak- got idea from jester king.

And

A black IPA in the 3-3.5% range with 80 ibus.

Of course milds, bitters and small saisons still brewing as well.
 
I've got a 1.038 dark mild on tap. It's a Jamil recipe circa 2004. The recipe looked kinda sweet with a lot of caramels...and it was. But I wanted to start there. The next iteration is planned with a recipe I've been piecing together based on Daniels book and another post on here with a link to a great list of commercial mild recipes.

I'm also honing in on a low grav APA recipe. Its become a go to beer around here. Currently 3.5%.

I also want to work on a biscuity bitters too soooon. (I can only drink it all so fast, fellas!)
 
Weezy said:
I've got a 1.038 dark mild on tap. It's a Jamil recipe circa 2004. The recipe looked kinda sweet with a lot of caramels...and it was. But I wanted to start there. The next iteration is planned with a recipe I've been piecing together based on Daniels book and another post on here with a link to a great list of commercial mild recipes. I'm also honing in on a low grav APA recipe. Its become a go to beer around here. Currently 3.5%. I also want to work on a biscuity bitters too soooon. (I can only drink it all so fast, fellas!)
Click to expand...

Weezy- get this book if you can http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1852492589/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Lots of good mild recipes to go off of.

APA sounds great - I brew a Sierra Nevada clone similar to that but use summits and cascades
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm still looking for something similar to founders all day ipa. I may just take my staple pale ale and hop it up a little more and add a little more crystal and see what happens. Or sub out a little of the base malt for Vienna.
 
Schemy said:
Great thread. Love a really flavorful session ale.

Here is a recipe for a 60 Schilling i brewed last year. A little over 1030, but quite sessionable. Really a rich flavorful beer. Was really pleased with the results.

This a 10 gallon recipe.

Est OG: 1035
Est FG: 1014
Boil Time: 90 min

11 lbs Golden Promise
12 oz Crystal 40
12 oz Crystal 120
12 oz Honey Malt
4 oz Chocolate Malt
1.2 oz Northdown (60 min)
Scottish Ale (Wyeast 1728)

Mashed @ 156 for 45 min
Fermented for 4 days @ 62
Click to expand...
I've never used Golden Promise...
But I like the idea of making a 60 schilling

Did you create this recipe yourself? Adapt it from somethign else?
Any other details you can give?
 
Golden Promise is nice. A hint sweeter and a hint less biscuity than Maris Otter.

Here's the thread I had on the mild:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/dark-mild-429570/

I'll definitely pick up the book.

Post up your SN pale recipe. I do enjoy that beer.

I'd post up my APA recipe but I'm at the watering hole slurping down a mild to be honest...haha! Yards Brawler. Very thin but good.
 
I made a Dark Mild with some leftovers/mistakenly mixed grains that came out at 2.5%. I had plenty of crystal and amber malts, I mashed at 160, and I used S-04 which is low attenuation in my experience. It stopped at 1.018 or something. The real attenuation calculated online was 40%! Samples have tasted good, and you'd not expect it to be so weak from the taste. Exact opposite of my session Saison with 3711 that dropped form 1037 to 1001 despite the 160 mash temp.
 
Yeah, on these low grav beers, the real attenuation hits a wall where the yeast simply runs out of food. 1.035 to 1.018 is not a lot of food. The Below 1 018 are more complex sugars, proteins, dextrins. Belgian yeast are happy to eat the more complex sugars, getting to much lower gravities. But the real attenuation is still pretty low since you're starting so low.
 
Weezy said:
Post up your SN pale recipe. I do enjoy that beer. I'd post up my APA recipe but I'm at the watering hole slurping down a mild to be honest...haha! Yards Brawler. Very thin but good.
Click to expand...

It's really basic :

Pale malt (I use bairds)
Crystal 65
A touch of wheat

Summit hops 60
Cascades 30 and 15 and 0
I dry hop some cascades in primary after the dust settles and then keg

Sg of 1.040

Ferment with s05 dry

I try not to mess with this beer and it's simplicity - it's probably the beer I brew the most
 
Oh and if you pick up the book, brew the caladonian porter - one if the best beers I made last year. I want to add some smoked malt to it this year.
 
I can't endorse any recommendation of Graham Wheeler's Real Ale book. There are a lot of recipes for great beers in the book but they lack any detail. He believes that the base malt doesnt matter (hence every recipe simply says "pale malt"), he believes that white table sugar can be subbed for any invert syrup, he subs black patent for every colour adjustment, he doesn't list the colour of crystal, he doesn't list the FG's, he doesn't think the yeast strain matters hence every recipe calls for "ale yeast". Here is Wheeler's recipe for every bitter ever brewed in England:

OG 1.034
90% pale malt
5% crystal malt
4% white sugar
1% black malt

30g of EKG at 60
17g of EKG at 0

ale yeast

Here is his recipe for every mild ale ever brewed

OG 1.032
80% pale malt
10% crystal malt
8% white sugar
2% black malt

25g of fuggles at 60

ale yeast
 
That's unfortunate and I'm not going to defend a guy I don't know and I haven't read the book but....

He's British right? When they say pale malt, they mean the 3-5 Lovibond British malts. I can see them speaking generically about malt in Britain. Their choices are more limited and local/regional than ours. In Suffolk, your pale malt may be Maris Otter, while Golden Promise isn't available.

The large brew houses aren't typically any more specific. They order malt kilned to their specs and don't think in terms of Crystal 15 or Crystal 20 or Crystal 40 like we do.

Those recipes don't scare me. As a US homebrewer making British style ales, you can make some good guesses:

90% pale malt = Maris Otter or Golden Promise
5% crystal malt = Simpsons English Crystal Medium, dark or extra dark depending on what you want or the style
4% white sugar = table/cane sugar
1% black malt = black patent

As far as hops, I never go by ounces when reading recipes (unless it's a clone). I always look at the addition times and a target, overall bitterness-to-wort gravity ratio (a mild might be 0.5 while an IPA might be 0.9). I can see people cloning American, hop-centric, beers with off-the-shelf brand grain and hops, but I'm not going to bother trying to clone a Boddingtons. In that case, I'd be happy with making something in the same vein.
 

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