English Ales - What's your favorite recipe?

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Hey folks who make a lot of invert- suggestion on a good source of large mass of cane sugar at a reasonable price (I'm targeting minimum of 8 lbs, ideally 16 lbs, but will go as much as a full 25 lb sack)? So far the organic market up the street has it in bulk for the cheapest I've found ($2.19/lb) and will sell me a 25 lb sack at that rate. I'll hit the international markets this week, can probably do a bit better than that. Online and prepackaged prices seem to be higher.

8 oz ball jars should be sufficient for storing in 0.5 lb increments, no?
 
coyote68 said:
@ Qhrumphf. i get my sugar at GFS (gorgon food service) really reasonable. they may have a store near you.
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Nope. PA is the closest. Best bet so far seems to be Coscto, which seems to sell raw cane sugar (doesn't explicitly say turbinado or demerara, but the description lines up) for ~$1.40/lb shipped.
 
I get turbinado from costco. It's not super cheap still, but not bad. I would also look to latin markets for piloncillo/panela, I believe it's called.
 
lowtones84 said:
I get turbinado from costco. It's not super cheap still, but not bad. I would also look to latin markets for piloncillo/panela, I believe it's called.
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There's a lot of mercados around here that I plan on checking. None of em have websites though, so I just have to check in person.
 
Nice! My Export India Porter is still doing its thing. Only 1.068 OG, but I don't want any surprises. The last brown ale that I made was delicious, but under-attenuated. The bottling process seemed to re-start the fermentation, and now all of the bottles are almost undrinkable because of the overcarbonation. Silly English yeasts floccing out so hard...
 
1.068 is pretty high for India Porter already! Most records I've seen are 1.055-1.065. I start counting 1.065+ as stout.
 
I've had my dry stout Whiskely in bottles a couple months now, & it's just starting to smooth out to where the bourbon/oak is not quite so bitter & dry. Good question where porter ends & " stout porter" begins? :mug:
 
JKaranka said:
This 'austerity porter' worked out incredibly well. I was a bit suspicious of making a porter with an ABV around 3.5% but the Brown malt seems to have given it a decent body.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=7260488
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My next brew is going to be similar to you austerity porter. Its a version a vintage recipe I found for one produced around 1940.

A Spitfire Kentish Ale clone has been my favorite English brew that I have made to date. It turned out to be remarkably similar to the commercial version.
 
bucfan1234 said:
My next brew is going to be similar to you austerity porter. Its a version a vintage recipe I found for one produced around 1940.

A Spitfire Kentish Ale clone has been my favorite English brew that I have made to date. It turned out to be remarkably similar to the commercial version.
Click to expand...

It's a very easy brewday! I based mine closely on the 1940s porters from Porter! I think I bumped the OG slightly and removed some unmalted grain but otherwise fairly close.
 
Looking forward to an easy brew day!

Based mine on a Whitbread recipe from "The Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer", and the recipe I made in beersmith looks similar to yours. It has the brown malt, chocolate malt and invert sugar. I normally use maris otter in my UK syle beers, but decided to go vintage for this one and use the 2 row and 6 Row US. Hops will be fuggles and kent goldings.

I hope it turns out as good as yours.
 
bucfan1234 said:
Looking forward to an easy brew day!

Based mine on a Whitbread recipe from "The Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer", and the recipe I made in beersmith looks similar to yours. It has the brown malt, chocolate malt and invert sugar. I normally use maris otter in my UK syle beers, but decided to go vintage for this one and use the 2 row and 6 Row US. Hops will be fuggles and kent goldings.

I hope it turns out as good as yours.
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Sounds about right and might be the same inspiration! Now that I think about it I added 2oz patent malt so that I wouldn't have to use quite as much brewers' caramel. Make sure to have brewers' caramel or sinamar at hand before you start!
 
Btw, Fuggles & EKG would be more authentic hop choices. Challenger is just cheap and widely available. Plus more bang for the buck.
 
I need to try out some of your porters one of these days, JK. You need to post pictures in your recipe threads so they get more love.
 
I love Challenger. Have another pound of it sitting in the freezer. But I have a pound of Fuggle and a pound and a half of EKG too.

Also, 18 lbs of Turbinado sugar from Costco for $21 out the door.
 
My LHBS charges the same amount no matter which hops I choose, Same with grains? I guess the owner wants to keep in simple...

Without calculating the #3 invert sugar, beer smith is telling me that the SRM is 25. Which is not super dark, but it fits into the brown porter category that I chose (since the recipe doesn't really fit into either modern porter category). I am thinking it will actually be a bit darker than that.

I should be happy with that, and will have to be because I have no idea where to get brewers caramel.
 
Qhrumphf said:
I love Challenger. Have another pound of it sitting in the freezer. But I have a pound of Fuggle and a pound and a half of EKG too.

Also, 18 lbs of Turbinado sugar from Costco for $21 out the door.
Click to expand...

Question about sugar. This is my first vintage recipe, and I have never made invert sugar before. Would granular 100% cane sugar that is refined be suitable for invert sugar, or does it have to be the more expensive turbinado, etc "unrefined" sugar?

In other words, is that sugar a necessity or just a preference?
 
bucfan1234 said:
Question about sugar. This is my first vintage recipe, and I have never made invert sugar before. Would granular 100% cane sugar that is refined be suitable for invert sugar, or does it have to be the more expensive turbinado, etc "unrefined" sugar?

In other words, is that sugar a necessity or just a preference?
Click to expand...


You can buy Lyles Golden syrup
& Black Treacle on Amazon
 
bucfan1234 said:
Question about sugar. This is my first vintage recipe, and I have never made invert sugar before. Would granular 100% cane sugar that is refined be suitable for invert sugar, or does it have to be the more expensive turbinado, etc "unrefined" sugar?

In other words, is that sugar a necessity or just a preference?
Click to expand...

You can certainly invert it, but the flavor won't be the same.
 
bucfan1234 said:
My LHBS charges the same amount no matter which hops I choose, Same with grains? I guess the owner wants to keep in simple...

Without calculating the #3 invert sugar, beer smith is telling me that the SRM is 25. Which is not super dark, but it fits into the brown porter category that I chose (since the recipe doesn't really fit into either modern porter category). I am thinking it will actually be a bit darker than that.

I should be happy with that, and will have to be because I have no idea where to get brewers caramel.
Click to expand...

You need half an ounce of brewers' caramel added to the end of the boil or directly to the FV to bring the SRM to around 32. You could add more if you fancy a black pint.
 
iijakii said:
I need to try out some of your porters one of these days, JK. You need to post pictures in your recipe threads so they get more love.
Click to expand...

Funny, I was just cruising around this thread, wishing there were more pictures.
:mug:
 
bucfan1234 said:
Question about sugar. This is my first vintage recipe, and I have never made invert sugar before. Would granular 100% cane sugar that is refined be suitable for invert sugar, or does it have to be the more expensive turbinado, etc "unrefined" sugar?

In other words, is that sugar a necessity or just a preference?
Click to expand...


If you just use refined white sugar then you get a syrup that is closer to the Belgian candy sugars. The molasses and various impurities in turbinado/demerara are what really makes the difference to get the British style ones.
 
JKaranka said:
You need half an ounce of brewers' caramel added to the end of the boil or directly to the FV to bring the SRM to around 32. You could add more if you fancy a black pint.
Click to expand...

The SRM on the recipe I patterned my porter after is 21, which seems light? Beersmith tells me I will be at 25 SRM. According to the book No#3 invert is 60-70 SRM which I think will darken it further. Not sure if I need the caramel for this recipe??

All of the sources I can find are in the UK, and that makes purchasing it cost prohibitive.
 
I've got both turbinado & demerara, & turbinado is a bit darker. I've also gotten the black treacle on amazon. I'm planning a #1 Burton Ale, the barleywine, besides the German gruit mumme'. Still need to get more ingredients for both.
 
Here is a nice one I have had good luck with in the past.
This is a very simple grain and hop bill, so it all really comes down to fermentation for me. Keep the mash and fermentation temp high and the pitch rate on point and you will do fine.

I really like these styles because they are so simple, but the english yeasts bring out a lot of nuance and (stupidly enough) complexities to such a simple grainbill.


English (dark) Mild
Mild (11 A)

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 22.7 l
Boil Size: 31.4 l
Boil Time: 90 min
End of Boil Vol: 24.6 l
Final Bottling Vol: 21.2 l
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage
Date: 30 Aug 2014
Brewer: Etienne Marais
Asst Brewer:
Equipment: Brewmagic
Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.2 %
Taste Rating: 30.0

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2.800 kg Mild Malt (7.9 EBC) Grain 1 77.1 %
0.680 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC) Grain 2 18.7 %
0.150 kg Chocolate Malt (886.5 EBC) Grain 3 4.1 %
30.000 g Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 18.2 IBUs
1.0 pkg London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) [124.2 ml] Yeast 5 -


Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color
Est Original Gravity: 1.035 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 3.1 %
Bitterness: 18.2 IBUs
Est Color: 38.2 EBC

Measured Original Gravity: 1.041 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 0.000 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.0 %
Calories: 0.0 kcal/l

Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body
Sparge Water: 25.6 l
Sparge Temperature: 75.6 C
Total Grain Weight: 3.630 kg


Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 9.5 l of water at 76.2 C 68.0 C 60 min
Mash Out Add 0.0 l of water and heat to 75.6 C over 15 min 75.6 C 10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 25.6 l water at 75.6 C
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
 
oh, and the hallertauer was used because it's what I had on hand. It's still a clean and simple bittering hop, but feel free to substitute to English hops according to you preference
 
Nothing wrong with hallertau, spalt or saaz in British beers. They've been used for centuries.
 
bucfan1234 said:
The SRM on the recipe I patterned my porter after is 21, which seems light? Beersmith tells me I will be at 25 SRM. According to the book No#3 invert is 60-70 SRM which I think will darken it further. Not sure if I need the caramel for this recipe??

All of the sources I can find are in the UK, and that makes purchasing it cost prohibitive.
Click to expand...

Try Sinamar if you can't find caramel
sinamar has more flavour contribution. You want to get to 30SRM.
 
bucfan1234 said:
The SRM on the recipe I patterned my porter after is 21, which seems light? Beersmith tells me I will be at 25 SRM. According to the book No#3 invert is 60-70 SRM which I think will darken it further. Not sure if I need the caramel for this recipe??

All of the sources I can find are in the UK, and that makes purchasing it cost prohibitive.
Click to expand...

Try Sinamar if you can't find caramel
sinamar has more flavour contribution. You want to get to 30SRM.
 
jwalk4 said:
Funny, I was just cruising around this thread, wishing there were more pictures.
:mug:
Click to expand...

I can send you a photo of the Austerity Porter if you want to load it in the recipes or this thread. Mostly on my phone and I'm struggling to load to gdrive and link.
 
I got a micro SD card with regular size card adapter for my phone. Copy to card from phone, insert it into adapter, then into slot in tower.
 
Yeah, I can just email them from my phone. What I'm more in need of is a good easy hosting site I can use from my phone.
 

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