Extract brew- Old Speckled Hen

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schia

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Anyone in here tried this extract brew recipe by Orfy? I'm new to brewing and would like to try Old speckled Hen in my next brew.


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f64/old-speckled-hen-21132/

TYPE: Extract and Steep

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 2.43 gal
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
6 lbs 1.5 oz Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)
13.1 oz Lyle's Golden Syrup (0.0 SRM)
9.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
2.40 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 42.1 IBU
0.80 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 4.1 IBU
0.53 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 1.1 IBU
 
I can't speak to that, but i tried the recipe kit from AHS and thought it was close, but make sure you give it the proper conditioning time to really shine
 
Hello folks,

I want to brew this Old Speckled Hens ale by Orfy and here is the link to it.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f64/old-speckled-hen-21132/

Because this is my 2nd time brewing I'll be doing an Extract brew and I would like to confirm the below steps and get your input and comments.

Here are the ingredients for a 5 gallon batch.
6 lbs 1.5 oz Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)
13.1 oz Lyle's Golden Syrup (0.0 SRM)
9.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
2.40 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 42.1 IBU
0.80 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 4.1 IBU
0.53 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 1.1 IBU
2.9 oz Dememera Sugar

And here are my steps in putting it all together
1. Do I boil the following together Pale Liquid Extract , Lyle Golden Syrup and Caramel/Crystal Malt together for 60min?
2. The Northern Brewer hops - I'll be adding this in after 60min of boil.
3. I presume 0.80 oz Goldings, East Ken at the last 15min of boil and 0.53 oz Goldings, East Ken at the last 5min of boil.
4. Can I substitute demerara sugar with natural brown sugar? are they they same thing?

Thanks in advance for the reply and input to help me put together this great tasting beer.
 
Hello folks,

I want to brew this Old Speckled Hens ale by Orfy and here is the link to it.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f64/old-speckled-hen-21132/

Because this is my 2nd time brewing I'll be doing an Extract brew and I would like to confirm the below steps and get your input and comments.

Here are the ingredients for a 5 gallon batch.
6 lbs 1.5 oz Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)
13.1 oz Lyle's Golden Syrup (0.0 SRM)
9.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
2.40 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 42.1 IBU
0.80 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 4.1 IBU
0.53 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 1.1 IBU
2.9 oz Dememera Sugar

And here are my steps in putting it all together
1. Do I boil the following together Pale Liquid Extract , Lyle Golden Syrup and Caramel/Crystal Malt together for 60min?
2. The Northern Brewer hops - I'll be adding this in after 60min of boil.
3. I presume 0.80 oz Goldings, East Ken at the last 15min of boil and 0.53 oz Goldings, East Ken at the last 5min of boil.
4. Can I substitute demerara sugar with natural brown sugar? are they they same thing?

Thanks in advance for the reply and input to help me put together this great tasting beer.
 
schia said:
Hello folks,

I want to brew this Old Speckled Hens ale by Orfy and here is the link to it.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f64/old-speckled-hen-21132/

Because this is my 2nd time brewing I'll be doing an Extract brew and I would like to confirm the below steps and get your input and comments.

Here are the ingredients for a 5 gallon batch.
6 lbs 1.5 oz Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)
13.1 oz Lyle's Golden Syrup (0.0 SRM)
9.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
2.40 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 42.1 IBU
0.80 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 4.1 IBU
0.53 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 1.1 IBU
2.9 oz Dememera Sugar

And here are my steps in putting it all together
1. Do I boil the following together Pale Liquid Extract , Lyle Golden Syrup and Caramel/Crystal Malt together for 60min?
2. The Northern Brewer hops - I'll be adding this in after 60min of boil.
3. I presume 0.80 oz Goldings, East Ken at the last 15min of boil and 0.53 oz Goldings, East Ken at the last 5min of boil.
4. Can I substitute demerara sugar with natural brown sugar? are they they same thing?

Thanks in advance for the reply and input to help me put together this great tasting beer.
Click to expand...

1. No. You steep the crystal malt in a grain bag in 150-160 degree water for 20 minutes. Then, take them out and throw them away. Then bring that up to a boil. Add your extract and syrup.
2. No. Add your northern brewer hops when the wort comes to a boil. Then set your timer for 60 minutes.
3. Correct- add the .8 EKGs with 15 minutes left on your timer, and the .5 EKG at 5 minutes left.
4. I don't know- never used demera sugar!
 
You don't boil the grains. You soak them in water at roughly 150-160*F for 30-45 minutes and then remove them from the water before heating it to a boil and then adding the extract and golden syrup.

Regarding the timing of the hops. In brewing, a recipe will tell you how long the hops will be boiled for. SO, those Northern Brewer hops will be boiled for a total of 60 minutes (the entire duration of the boil). The 0.8 oz of goldings will go in for the last 15 minutes, and the 0.53 oz goldings will be boiled just for the final 5 minutes.

demerara sugar is not the same as brown sugar. Demerara is unrefined sugar, which will have a light brown color. Brown sugar is a mixture of refined white sugar and molasses. Which is odd, because molasses is the crap they take OUT of unrefined sugar when they refine it. SO, unrefined = demerara. Process it and get white sugar and molasses. Then mix molasses and white sugar back together (using MORE molasses than was extracted from the demerara) and you get brown sugar.

Brown sugar is probably OK to use if you can't find demerara sugar, but they are different things. The brown sugar will have more of the impurities in it than demerara, so I'd use the lightest colored brown sugar i could find.
 
Yooper said:
You steep the crystal malt in a grain bag in 150-160 degree water for 20 minutes.
Click to expand...

Walker said:
You don't boil the grains. You soak them in water at roughly 150-160*F for 30-45 minutes and then remove them from the water
Click to expand...

As you can see, there is some difference here regarding the amount of time to steep the grains. 20 minutes is fine. I always went for longer when I brewed with extract. But the important part is to NOT boil them.
 
Thanks Yooper.

On Caramel/Crystal malt, I thought this would dissolve in boiling water and I was wondering where the steep comes in. Also, for the correction on when to put in the hops. Its obvious that I would screw that up.

I would not have figured out most of it and thanks.
 
schia said:
Thanks Yooper.

On Caramel/Crystal malt, I thought this would dissolve in boiling water and I was wondering where the steep comes in. Also, for the correction on when to put in the hops. Its obvious that I would screw that up.

I would not have figured out most of it and thanks.
Click to expand...

crystal/caramel malt is just barley that has been stewed for a while. It still looks like grain kernels, but it contains sugars (mosty caramelized non-fermentable sugars) that will sweeten the beer a little and give some body and fresh grain character to the beer.
 
Thanks Walker, I might be able to find demerara sugar in my local bakery store.

So you would recommend the soaking time for the grains for at least 30-45min? Will it develop an off taste if its left for a longer period of time in the pot?

Walker said:
You don't boil the grains. You soak them in water at roughly 150-160*F for 30-45 minutes and then remove them from the water before heating it to a boil and then adding the extract and golden syrup.

Regarding the timing of the hops. In brewing, a recipe will tell you how long the hops will be boiled for. SO, those Northern Brewer hops will be boiled for a total of 60 minutes (the entire duration of the boil). The 0.8 oz of goldings will go in for the last 15 minutes, and the 0.53 oz goldings will be boiled just for the final 5 minutes.

demerara sugar is not the same as brown sugar. Demerara is unrefined sugar, which will have a light brown color. Brown sugar is a mixture of refined white sugar and molasses. Which is odd, because molasses is the crap they take OUT of unrefined sugar when they refine it. SO, unrefined = demerara. Process it and get white sugar and molasses. Then mix molasses and white sugar back together (using MORE molasses than was extracted from the demerara) and you get brown sugar.

Brown sugar is probably OK to use if you can't find demerara sugar, but they are different things. The brown sugar will have more of the impurities in it than demerara, so I'd use the lightest colored brown sugar i could find.
Click to expand...
 
schia said:
So you would recommend the soaking time for the grains for at least 30-45min? Will it develop an off taste if its left for a longer period of time in the pot?
Click to expand...

I always did 30-45 minutes when I brewed with extract and specialty grains. There is no risk of off flavors. All grain brewers will hold grain in that same temp range for 60 minutes or more.

Just don't get too hot (stay under 170 for sure).
 
Walker said:
Possibly. I can get it at my local grocery stores here, but I have no idea what things are like in Malaysia!
Click to expand...

In Malaysia - here's story. Not easy! but house hold items like demerara sugar, dextrose, adjunct, malt sugar, malt extract for cooking is pretty common.
 
schia said:
In Malaysia - here's story. Not easy! but house hold items like demerara sugar, dextrose, adjunct, malt sugar, malt extract for cooking is pretty common.
Click to expand...

Are you able to get the crystal malt, then? They are grains, like Walker said. They don't dissolve or anything. You put them in a mesh bag (like cheesecloth) and steep them like tea at 150-160 degrees. They release color and some flavor, then you pull them out and throw them away.
 
Don't boil the Crystal malt! Steep it at something like 160 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove it (this assumes you used a grain bag-- if not, strain out the grains).

Then, boil the extract, golden syrup and sugar. Actually, I'd personally start boiling half the extract for 60 minutes and then add the other half, the sugar and the syrup after about 50 minutes.

You are correct on the hops, except forget about .53 ounces...just use .5 oz. And why not 3 oz. Demerara instead of 2.9? Etc.

Brown Sugar is not the same a Dememera. Brown is molassesey. You could use Brown or regular sugar, or buy turbinado or pure cane Goya panela sugar. It's a low amount so you might not notice a switch.
 
Yooper said:
Are you able to get the crystal malt, then? They are grains, like Walker said. They don't dissolve or anything. You put them in a mesh bag (like cheesecloth) and steep them like tea at 150-160 degrees. They release color and some flavor, then you pull them out and throw them away.
Click to expand...

I'm getting my crystal malt from the neighboring country. I might be able to find it here if i know exactly what I'm looking for. Perhaps after having a 1st hand look at it I should know what to keep my eye peel out for. As for the mesh bag, I plan on using a muslin bag.

Seems like a waste to throw it away, can I feed it to my dogs? Mix it up with some dog food perhaps.
 
McGarnigle said:
Don't boil the Crystal malt! Steep it at something like 160 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove it (this assumes you used a grain bag-- if not, strain out the grains).

Then, boil the extract, golden syrup and sugar. Actually, I'd personally start boiling half the extract for 60 minutes and then add the other half, the sugar and the syrup after about 50 minutes.

You are correct on the hops, except forget about .53 ounces...just use .5 oz. And why not 3 oz. Demerara instead of 2.9? Etc.

Brown Sugar is not the same a Dememera. Brown is molassesey. You could use Brown or regular sugar, or buy turbinado or pure cane Goya panela sugar. It's a low amount so you might not notice a switch.
Click to expand...


Thanks McGarnigle for the reply. I just copy and paste the ingredients from Orfy's post and I'm going to round it up.

I think i'm going to steep the crystal malt for 30-45min at 170 and bring it to a boil and add the other stuff it. I'm so excited about this!
 
guys,

I hate to ask you this but do you have any recommendation on the temp which i should ferment this? I have an old fridge coming in next Monday and I plan to use that to keep it at an ideal temp.
 
It's an ale, which means you should be fine keeping the temperature between 68 - 75 degrees Fahrenheit. That's roughly 20-24 degrees Celsius.

That being said though, it would depend on what yeast you use. If you're pitching in a lager yeast you'll need to keep it between 45-55 Fairenheit.
 
Boru said:
It's an ale, which means you should be fine keeping the temperature between 68 - 75 degrees Fahrenheit. That's roughly 20-24 degrees Celsius.

That being said though, it would depend on what yeast you use. If you're pitching in a lager yeast you'll need to keep it between 45-55 Fairenheit.
Click to expand...

68-75 F... Not a problem! Cant wait to get started and thanks for all the replies.
 
I'm guessing Orfy's recipe was converted from metric or all grain or both using a program. That's how you get weird amounts. I can't imagine anyone saying "3 ounces is too much, use 2.9."
 
l1ranger said:
I can't speak to that, but i tried the recipe kit from AHS and thought it was close, but make sure you give it the proper conditioning time to really shine
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip on conditioning and it is the waiting that is hard do. I've just ordered my extract brew for this recipe a once my fridge arrive, I'll get cracking.
 
For your step #2, where you say you'll be adding the Northern Brewer hops *after* 60 minutes, this should instead be added when there are 60 minutes *remaining* in the boil. It's just like the 15 & 5 minute additions. You always add the hops with that amount of time left in the boil. So for the Northern Brewer, you'll add it at the beginning of the 60 minute boil and not at the end. Otherwise you'll get none of the bittering properties of the hops.

This is confusing since there are essentially 3 versions of the recipe listed in the thread. I think what you would want to do is heat your water to around 170 degrees and then add the crystal malt in a grain bag and let it steep for 60 minutes (with the heat off) with the goal of maintaining the temperature around 154 degrees over the course of the hour long steep. You would then remove the bag of grain and start the boil and adding the extracts and sugars (doing late additions for portions if you want). Definitely don't try to boil the crystal.
 
sigsegv said:
For your step #2, where you say you'll be adding the Northern Brewer hops *after* 60 minutes, this should instead be added when there are 60 minutes *remaining* in the boil. It's just like the 15 & 5 minute additions. You always add the hops with that amount of time left in the boil. So for the Northern Brewer, you'll add it at the beginning of the 60 minute boil and not at the end. Otherwise you'll get none of the bittering properties of the hops.

This is confusing since there are essentially 3 versions of the recipe listed in the thread. I think what you would want to do is heat your water to around 170 degrees and then add the crystal malt in a grain bag and let it steep for 60 minutes (with the heat off) with the goal of maintaining the temperature around 154 degrees over the course of the hour long steep. You would then remove the bag of grain and start the boil and adding the extracts and sugars (doing late additions for portions if you want). Definitely don't try to boil the crystal.
Click to expand...


Thanks Sig,

I've been asking around here in the forum and got the same exact reply and yours only affirm my understanding. I was planning to keep it on low heat but perhaps that might not be ideal so as you mention with the heat off and an eye on the thermo.
 
If you're using nottingham yeast, I would recommend keeping it under 70 degrees. Nottingham is a great yeast, and ferments well even in the 50s, but it tastes really funny, almost foul, if the fermentation gets above 70 degrees.
 
schia said:
Seems like a waste to throw it away, can I feed it to my dogs? Mix it up with some dog food perhaps.
Click to expand...

Yes. In fact, I often make treats for my dogs with spent grains, peanut butter, flour, and eggs. They LOVE them. The dogs would also be plenty happy to just eat the grain as-is, or mixed in with their regular food.

schia said:
I hate to ask you this but do you have any recommendation on the temp which i should ferment this?
Click to expand...

Boru said:
It's an ale, which means you should be fine keeping the temperature between 68 - 75 degrees Fahrenheit. That's roughly 20-24 degrees Celsius.
Click to expand...

IMO, 75*F is way too high for most ale yeasts and will lead to off flavors. I keep mine at about 65*F.
 
sigsegv said:
For your step #2, where you say you'll be adding the Northern Brewer hops *after* 60 minutes, this should instead be added when there are 60 minutes *remaining* in the boil. It's just like the 15 & 5 minute additions. You always add the hops with that amount of time left in the boil. So for the Northern Brewer, you'll add it at the beginning of the 60 minute boil and not at the end. Otherwise you'll get none of the bittering properties of the hops.
Click to expand...

I completely missed that, but it's correct (and very important).

One way to look at it is that people often boil the wort for longer than 60 minutes. So hop times are given as the how long to boil them, not how long before adding them. If this recipe were changed to a 75 or 90 minute boil time, the hop schedule would read the same as it does now.
 
schia said:
Thanks Sig,

I've been asking around here in the forum and got the same exact reply and yours only affirm my understanding. I was planning to keep it on low heat but perhaps that might not be ideal so as you mention with the heat off and an eye on the thermo.
Click to expand...

I usually heat the water to around 150-155, then steep the grains over low heat to maintain the temperature. I check the thermometer every few minutes to keep t within the 150-165 range
 
all, I brewed this sometime in March and I just bottled it last Saturday and I want you to know that it is EXACTLY like what I imagined! THANKS!
 
Hi folks - I'm planning on making this recipe soon and am wondering what yeast people would recommend - It's summer in Australia and I don't have a fridge but should be able to keep the brew just below 70F - Yooper mentioned that Nottingham yeast is OK below 70F, but not above - is there a yeast type that will approximate the Old Speckled Hen, but will be a little more resilient to slightly higher temperatures?
 
I brewed this back in the fall of 2013. I was very pleased with the results. The color and flavor was spot on to OSH. The head was cream colored with good retention. Bottled some and put the rest into 3-5 liter mini kegs.
 

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