So I'll out with it: I love O'Hanlon's Royal Oak pale ale. And I have no idea how to make it. It would be great if I could; it's rare and expensive here in Michigan.
My main hang-up involves yeast. The deep and subtle fruit dancing off wood aromas it has couldn't be provided by any British strain I know of. WLP002 (Fuller's) certainly won't work; too simple and malt-centric. Other White Labs varieties are hardly better; most emphasize dryness or maltiness or hops, nothing like the flavors in Royal oak. WLP023 Burton Ale, from Marston's is the best I can think of; but it, at least in commercial brews, has an ethereal fruit character, almost vinous or mead-like, with no real woody notes. Maybe if it were brewed a bit warm, with a touch of dark candi syrup...
I've tried to cultivate yeast from a couple bottles of it before, with no success; it got infected. I suppose I could try again. It did give off a distinctive aroma before it began smelling like vinegar...
I would love to hear people's thoughts or input on this. Maybe I'm overthinking yeast, and the key is more in the malt.
On a not-very-related note, I'm planning on brewing a trappist dubbel in the near future, using Marris Otter as the base malt instead of the more usual Belgian pils with a bit of Munich. I've heard that Chimay uses winter barley for their dubbel, and figured the maltiness of MO would play a similar role as the Munich generally does... But again, I'd love to hear thoughts.
My main hang-up involves yeast. The deep and subtle fruit dancing off wood aromas it has couldn't be provided by any British strain I know of. WLP002 (Fuller's) certainly won't work; too simple and malt-centric. Other White Labs varieties are hardly better; most emphasize dryness or maltiness or hops, nothing like the flavors in Royal oak. WLP023 Burton Ale, from Marston's is the best I can think of; but it, at least in commercial brews, has an ethereal fruit character, almost vinous or mead-like, with no real woody notes. Maybe if it were brewed a bit warm, with a touch of dark candi syrup...
I've tried to cultivate yeast from a couple bottles of it before, with no success; it got infected. I suppose I could try again. It did give off a distinctive aroma before it began smelling like vinegar...
I would love to hear people's thoughts or input on this. Maybe I'm overthinking yeast, and the key is more in the malt.
On a not-very-related note, I'm planning on brewing a trappist dubbel in the near future, using Marris Otter as the base malt instead of the more usual Belgian pils with a bit of Munich. I've heard that Chimay uses winter barley for their dubbel, and figured the maltiness of MO would play a similar role as the Munich generally does... But again, I'd love to hear thoughts.
