Old Speckled Hen.

Yakima 728
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BierMuncher said:
Speaking of which and totally :off:

Orfy, could an Old Speckled Hen brewed this weekend be ready to serve in say...oh...um...5-6 weeks?
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Use irish moss
5 days in the fermenter (if it's done) should be.
10 Days in secondary drop in some finings and leave for 2 days
rack, force carb if you must.
Leave a couple of weeks to mellow.

So I'd say 5-6 weeks real easy.
 
BierMuncher said:
Orfy, could an Old Speckled Hen brewed this weekend be ready to serve in say...oh...um...5-6 weeks?
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As a rule of thumb, for English ales at least, it will be at it's peak after 1 week for every 10 points of gravity and you can take this time from when the gravity is stable. It's unlikely that Greene King allow this sort of maturation period though. In a pub with a high turnover you could see it on tap in 3-4 weeks from the time it was mashed.
 
I’d planned on posting this to Orfy’s recipe thread but it’s locked down.

This is a fantastic beer. If you’re looking for a break from your normal APA and want to try a different recipe, check into this one.

I know Orfy’s recipe is posted, but here the “Yank’d up” version for those of you to lazy…er…uh…busy to convert it. I did modify it a bit with some biscuit malt but this is dang close.

*******
Batch Size: 11.75 gal
Boil Size: 14.55 gal
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 8.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 44.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 71.4 %
1.50 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 7.1 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.8 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.8 %
3.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 40.0 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.50%] (15 min) Hops 3.9 IBU
0.66 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 0.9 IBU
2.00 lb Invert Sugar (0.0 SRM) Sugar 9.5 %
0.50 lb Dememera Sugar (2.0 SRM) Sugar 2.4 %
Nottingham slurry from prior weeks brew.
*******
I mashed this at 165 degrees and the malt profile is crazy good. This is a beer that should be poured at around 45-50 degrees and low carbonation.

I keep me kegs at around 37 and all are carb’d pretty much the same…so I ended up drawing a pint, setting it aside for about 15 minutes and then re-pouring into another glass and it was perfect.

OSH_Pour.jpg
 
Soulive21 said:
You mashed at 165F? Is that a typo? It looks good in the pic...
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Yep. Trust me...I was nervous, but it's not uncommon for the English beers to mash that high to keep them malty. I beleive it's the 170 mark where you run into trouble.
 
BierMuncher said:
Yep. Trust me...I was nervous, but it's not uncommon for the English beers to mash that high to keep them malty. I beleive it's the 170 mark where you run into trouble.
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Cool, maybe I'll try like 160F some time. I've never been over 158F yet...
 
Soulive21 said:
Orfy, do you mash below 154F for any beers? I brew mostly British ales and have been mashing from 150F-156F...
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No.
I like malty beers and don't like 1008's I sulk if it gets below 1010.
I tend to use 155°F as a base.
 
orfy said:
No.
I like malty beers and don't like 1008's I sulk if it gets below 1010.
I tend to use 155°F as a base.
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Wow, maybe I'll stop going below 154F then. That could've been a problem I've been overlooking. Cheers...
 
Has anyone brewed the orfy extract recipe? or any other steep/extract version? I'm a good distance from all grain but I love this beer and would very much like to take a run at it.

Has anyone successfully subbed for the lyle's golden syrup?
 
no takers? well someone bought me over a couple of tins of lyle's golden syrup so i'm off to the lhbs to get the rest of the pm stuff together. i had some old speckled hen in the henry street alehouse in brooklyn last week, so i know what the real stuff tastes like. i'll get back to you dudes when i get my first taste of the orfy pm version.
 
Just in case anyone looks for this later - the PM went pretty well, and although I had to sub Safale 04 for the Nottingham, I'm pretty much at the FG after 5 days. Hydro sample taste is excellent, definitely close to OSH, could it be the lyle's? My LHBS had no Northern Brewer either so I had to sub some Admirals for that
 
cd2448 said:
Just in case anyone looks for this later - the PM went pretty well, and although I had to sub Safale 04 for the Nottingham, I'm pretty much at the FG after 5 days. Hydro sample taste is excellent, definitely close to OSH, could it be the lyle's? My LHBS had no Northern Brewer either so I had to sub some Admirals for that
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Sounds like it turned out good. It's a unique beer to be sure.

I'd suggest that once it's carb'd and ready to serve, pour it aggressively to knock down some carbonation and let the glass site for 4-5 minutes to warm just a bit.

Those English ales are low carbonated and served at "cellar" temperature. THey taste better that way too. :D
 
Hi all. I'm new to homebrew and my first attempt will be an OSH mid Feb '08. First post and a couple questions. So, when do you add the Lyle's and Dememera sugar? Or are they used for priming? Thanks!
 
ozzyatfrbrich said:
Hi all. I'm new to homebrew and my first attempt will be an OSH mid Feb '08. First post and a couple questions. So, when do you add the Lyle's and Dememera sugar? Or are they used for priming? Thanks!
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I added them both at the start of the boil. You need some additional corn sugar or DME for priming.
 
ozzyatfrbrich said:
Hi all. I'm new to homebrew and my first attempt will be an OSH mid Feb '08. First post and a couple questions. So, when do you add the Lyle's and Dememera sugar? Or are they used for priming? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Give them a 10-15 minute boil. They are not priming sugars. :cross:
 
priming this brew is the same as any other: it doesn't matter if you use corn sugar or DME. the only difference is the amount you add - i don't know this off the top of my head so please do a search here or on the wider web. it's 4.5-5oz of corn sugar but i don't know how much DME is used. you dissolve it in some water (say 1 1/2 cups) and boil for a few minutes, then rack your beer onto this solution in the bottling bucket.

i'm drinking this now and while i doubt if my skills are up to calling this a "clone", it's a very tasty brew. it definitely tastes like a good english pale ale, and i'm going to scope out getting a can of OSH to do a taste comparison. the OSH available over here is in cans with widgets like the guinness, so it's not going to taste exactly the same, but it will be good to see how the flavours match up
 
disaffected said:
Blender, orfy posted about Lyle's Golden Syrup in this Invert Sugar thread.

I also explained how I brewed orfy's recipe for OSH using American measurements and substituting Karo and molasses for Lyle's Golden Syrup
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I just bought a can of Lyle's Golden Syrup, and had a taste. It was quite surprising, with a rather rich and almost butterscotch-like flavor. Absolutely nothing like corn syrup, molasses or any combination of the two.
 
BlindLemonLars said:
I just bought a can of Lyle's Golden Syrup, and had a taste. It was quite surprising, with a rather rich and almost butterscotch-like flavor. Absolutely nothing like corn syrup, molasses or any combination of the two.
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Where did you manage to find Lyle's? I'm planning on doing this recipe in the next couple of weeks and would love to get my hands on some.
 
explosivebeer said:
Where did you manage to find Lyle's? I'm planning on doing this recipe in the next couple of weeks and would love to get my hands on some.
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I've found it surprisingly available here in the States. That stuff tastes great right out of the can... very toffee-like. I've seen it in several (mom & pop) gourmet food markets (the Treacle too). Failing that, ordering it online is a definite source... just search for UK/British goods. (I believe there's one called UKgoods.com.)
 
Anybody know what the recipe differences are between OSH Draught and the bottled OSH? It seems as though I recall that the abv was higher in the Draught.

I've enjoyed it both from the tap and the draught can but wasn't as fond of the bottles. Perhaps they were just skunked but I still think they are not the same, not counting the nitro widget.

My work computer has an intertubes blocker on it that keeps me from all brew sites except for this one, which I requested be unblocked.:D Otherwise I'd double-check my memory on OSH.
 
RichBrewer said:
My local liquor store had some Old Speckled Hen for sale. I almost bought some but it was $9 a six pack.
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I picked one up at a store in Michigan along with a bunch of other things to try on New Year's Eve...I was dissapointed in it, I thought it tasted like a skunky budweiser with red food coloring added to it...I couldn't see what all the fuss was about.

The way you all rave about it here, got me wondering if I just got a bad bottle or something. I mean since it is in clear glass, and was sitting on the top shelf of the liquor store imported beer section, I wonder if it got too much sun or something.
 
Revvy said:
I mean since it is in clear glass, and was sitting on the top shelf of the liquor store imported beer section, I wonder if it got too much sun or something.
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bingo! if you see the pub cans next time you are in the beer store grab a 4-pack. one of my faves, I followed BM's adaptation of this recipe. can't get enough of it.
 
FYI, anyone in the States looking to score Lyle's Golden Syrup. I saw a jar of it at Cost Plus World Marketplace yesterday for about 3 bucks a large jar. Actually my GF, who is from Ireland noticed it first and was telling that as kids they'd eat spoonfulls of it right out of the jar.

sirup_rh.jpg


Although the product is not on their website (or their search function is just crappy) The site does have a store locator by state, city and zipcode.

http://www.worldmarket.com/content.jsp?sectionId=600
 
I had a couple of these OSH's, this weekend. We went out for dinner, downtown Minneapolis. the restaurant had OSH on tap. It is very tasty. Like a lighter version of Guiness. When they brought it to the table, the glass was cascading, very much like a Guiness does. Nice thick head, and very easy to drink. I am DEFINITELY going to brew this one.
 
mine turned out really nice - not sure it was that comparable to draught guinness but a nice flavour. i'm sure i was miles off a "clone" but it was a good batch and might well get repeated as i have another tin of lyles golden syrup!
 
Revvy said:
FYI, anyone in the States looking to score Lyle's Golden Syrup. I saw a jar of it at Cost Plus World Marketplace yesterday for about 3 bucks a large jar. Actually my GF, who is from Ireland noticed it first and was telling that as kids they'd eat spoonfulls of it right out of the jar.

sirup_rh.jpg


Although the product is not on their website (or their search function is just crappy) The site does have a store locator by state, city and zipcode.

http://www.worldmarket.com/content.jsp?sectionId=600
Click to expand...

Thanks Revvy. I'll have to make a trip over there.
 
I stopped into the local World Market, last night. I purchased some GOOD import beers, then when into the store and found the Lyle's Golden Syrup, and Dememera sugar. Now I just need to get some barley, and I'll be brewing some OSH, for myself.

BTW, I found Dememera sugar at one of the local Festival grocery stores, and it was about $1.50 cheaper at World Market. FYI
 
I have a question on the yeast, for the OSH. The recipe says to use Danstar Nottingham Ale yeast. I have washed some Whitebread Ale yeast and a 1056 Am. Ale Yeast. Could I use either of these, instead of the Nottingham yeast ??

I would like to NOT have to buy more yeast, but I will if it's necessary.

I am planning on brewing it this weekend, so I have a few days for responses.

Thanks
 
Tonight I popped a test bottle of Orfy's OSH, and gave it a try. It's only been in the bottle for fifteen days (3 weeks in primary, no secondary,) but I was getting curious. I followed his recipe as closely as possible, including the golden syrup. The only place I strayed was using domestic Yakima Goldings, as my LHBS was out of EKG. I set my freezer controller to 66°F, figuring the internal carboy temp would be close to the called for 70°.

First off, GORGEOUS orange color! My sample was in a clear Newcastle bottle, so I could see the crystal clarity and "jewel-like" appearance. Once chilled there was a bit of haze. It poured with very little head, but the carbonation was quite nice for having only two weeks of conditioning.

First off, it has a really malty profile, and a great mouthfeel. It's a touch hoppier than I expected, but this is my first go around with Northern Brewer. It also has a much stronger flavor than the OSH I've had in a can, which always struck me as somewhat watery. There are definitely some distinct fruity/flowery notes, which surprises me as usually Nottingham is squeaky clean. Actually, I wonder how much of this is attributable to the yeast, and how much to the hops...I'll probably be able to judge better once the beer has some more age on it. The flowery notes are not unpleasant, they are just something I didn't expect. It's actually quite nice, and I'll be enjoying every drop of this batch!

I've got a can of the Morland product, once my batch is better aged I'll do a direct comparison, and maybe even post some side by side pics.

Anyhow, great recipe Orfy! I'm sure I'll be brewing this one again.
 

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