Ordinary Bitter Boddington's Bitter

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
This is a recipe for 5 English gallons - USA guys need to adjust recipe

WATER TREATMENT
12 Gypsum
19g CaCl2

INGREDIENTS
2400g English Pale Malt (Maris Otter or equiv)
125g Torrified Wheat
480g Table sugar (add at kettle stage)

MASH 60 mins 153F

KETTLE
East Kent Goldings 30g (23 IBUs)
Flame out 30g EKG (10 IBU)

YEAST
London Ale III (Wyeast 1318)

Aim for OG 1033/5
FG 1005
ABV 3.7/8% (If you want to push the ABV then add more sugar rather than Malt)

Colour yellow (bit more than straw, but not too much)

Dry Hop 9g East Kent Golding (EKG) for 2 weeks. don't be tempted to put in more or it will get grassy.
 
This is for a 5 Imperial Gallon batch (6 American Gallons)

WATER TREATMENT (if you have soft water in your area)
19 g Calcium Chloride
12g Gypsum

GRAIN BILL
2400g Pale Malt
150g Torrified wheat
8g Black patent malt (500 SRM) for yellow colour beer (I used 1g brewers caramel 3000 EBC instead of black malt).
500g table sugar

MASH
151F 60 mins

HOPS
90 mins
24g Goldings
18g Bramling Cross
4g Northern Brewer

0 mins
5g Goldings
5g Bramling Cross

YEAST
London Ale III

OG 1034
FG 1005
ABV 3.8%

Best served with Hand pump to get creamy head, but fine via pressurised keg.
This is the 1970 Boddingtons Bitter recipe.
 
This is for a 5 Imperial Gallon batch (6 American Gallons)

WATER TREATMENT (if you have soft water in your area)
19 g Calcium Chloride
12g Gypsum

GRAIN BILL
2400g Pale Malt
150g Torrified wheat
8g Black patent malt (500 SRM) for yellow colour beer (I used 1g brewers caramel 3000 EBC instead of black malt).
500g table sugar

MASH
151F 60 mins

HOPS
90 mins
24g Goldings
18g Bramling Cross
4g Northern Brewer

0 mins
5g Goldings
5g Bramling Cross

YEAST
London Ale III

OG 1034
FG 1005
ABV 3.8%

Best served with Hand pump to get creamy head, but fine via pressurised keg.
This is the 1970 Boddingtons Bitter recipe.
I'm a little confused. This is a different recipe than your post in #161 and both are different than the original recipe. Has the original recipe changed to this over the course of the thread?
 
WATER TREATMENT (if you have soft water in your area)
19 g Calcium Chloride
12g Gypsum

Are you sure this is correct? This seems like a lot of salt additions for this beer which isn't particularly heavy on minerals.
 
Made an account to say I brewed this for my second AG. Scaled it down to 15L batch and its in the fermenter now.

Thanks for the recipe!
 

Attachments

  • 20180430_183213.jpg
    20180430_183213.jpg
    836.9 KB · Views: 155
I had a request to brew an English Pale Ale from a friend recently and after some research I've settled in on this recipe. Picked up the ingredients today and going to brew this weekend as per the OP recipe. Thank the beer God's for Brewtarget software, it converted the SI units flawlessly!
🤣
 
I had a request to brew an English Pale Ale from a friend recently and after some research I've settled in on this recipe. Picked up the ingredients today and going to brew this weekend as per the OP recipe. Thank the beer God's for Brewtarget software, it converted the SI units flawlessly!
🤣
Thought I might share an update on how this batch is progressing. Uncapped a bottle today and the carbonation is spot on. I like the flavor of this recipe very much. It is my first exposure to this style of beer and I am very
20200908_122441.jpg
happy with how it turned out. I took this pic outside under very smokey skies due to wildfires. It's a nice Amber color under normal lighting. Many thanks to the OP for sharing such a solid recipe!
🍺
 
Thought I might share an update on how this batch is progressing. Uncapped a bottle today and the carbonation is spot on. I like the flavor of this recipe very much. It is my first exposure to this style of beer and I am veryView attachment 697423 happy with how it turned out. I took this pic outside under very smokey skies due to wildfires. It's a nice Amber color under normal lighting. Many thanks to the OP for sharing such a solid recipe!
🍺
Looks tasty. If you let us sit out for a few minutes you coulda had a smoked bitter!
In Portland we got a lot of ash and smoke as well.
 
Boddington's

Boddington's used to be brewed at Strangeway's brewery, which has closed. The brand is owned by InBev who have contracted with Hyde's to have their cask beer brewed at Moss Side. (The keg version is brewed by InBev at Salmesbury, near Preston, and Magor, in South Wales.)

This recipe is the the winning recipe to duplicate the cask Boddington's in it heyday when brewed at the Strangeway's Brewery.


Brew Type:
All GrainStyle: English Ordinary Bitter
Brewer: OrfyBatch Size: 23.00 L
Boil Volume: 30.50 LBrewhouse Efficiency: 80.0 %
Prepare 40.21 L water for brewing
Prepare Ingredients for Mash
3.30 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain
0.25 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain
0.12 kg Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain
0.03 kg Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain
Single: Add 9.66 L of water at 75.0 C
60 min - Hold mash at 68.0 C for 60 min
Add first wort hops to boiler at start of sparge
Amount Item Type 25.00 gm Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops
-- Drain Mash Tun
-- Batch Sparge Round 1: Sparge with 17.78 L of 77.0 C water.
-- Batch Sparge Round 2: Sparge with 9.77 L of 77.0 C water.
-- Add water to achieve boil volume of 30.50 L
-- Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.030 SG

Boil for 60 min

Start to Boil.
15 min into boil Add 25.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.00%] (45 min)
Flame out 25.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.00%] (60 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)
-- Cool wort to fermentation temperature
-- Add 3.00 L water (as needed) to achieve volume of 23.00 L
-- Siphon wort to primary fermenter and aerate wort.
-- Add Ingredients to Fermenter
Amount Item Type 1 Pkgs Youngs Generic Ale Yeast Yeast-Ale
(Estimate: 1.040 SG)
10 days Ferment in primary for 5 days at 20.0 C
(Estimate: 1.012 SG)
Bottle with corn sugar: 75
Age for 2 Weeks at 17.0 C

Taste Rating (50 possible points): 40.0
Brewed to be a match for the Boddington's Cask bitter at it's peak.

Orfy,
What is the water profile? Any additions to mash or sparge water?
 
So I used this recipe as my starting point. 4 lb MO, 3.5 Pils, .5 lb Victory, plus a small handful of midnight wheat for color. .5 oz zythos at 60 and 1 oz at FO/WP with S04 at 66*, it's been fermenting for the last few days. Thinking of getting the temp up to 68 or so then cold crash. Spunding valve goes on tonight. Thanks for the recipe (kind of). :mug:
 
So I used this recipe as my starting point. 4 lb MO, 3.5 Pils, .5 lb Victory, plus a small handful of midnight wheat for color. .5 oz zythos at 60 and 1 oz at FO/WP with S04 at 66*, it's been fermenting for the last few days. Thinking of getting the temp up to 68 or so then cold crash. Spunding valve goes on tonight. Thanks for the recipe (kind of). :mug:
I hope that makes a great beer but I also hope you don't call it Boddingtons! 🤣
 
If anyone is looking for authentic recipes for Boddington's Bitter (not their Pub Ale) go to Shut Up About Barclay Perkins. @patto1ro devoted a TON of time earlier this year to this beer through the ages (not to mention other information he has provided on it over the years).

See below for a sampling of authentic recipes from Boddington beer logs through the ages... heck brew a few different iterations and try them side by side!

The below are some of the years recipes I have personally brewed:

1939 Boddington's

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1939 Boddington IP


1939 Boddington's version 2

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1939 Boddington IP


1947

Let's Brew - 1947 Boddington IP

1951

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1951 Boddington IP

1966

Let's Brew - 1966 Boddington IP

1971

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1971 Boddington IP

1974

Let's Brew - 1974 Boddington IP

1987

Let's brew Wednesday - 1987 Boddington's Bitter
 
Thought I might share an update on how this batch is progressing. Uncapped a bottle today and the carbonation is spot on. I like the flavor of this recipe very much. It is my first exposure to this style of beer and I am veryView attachment 697423 happy with how it turned out. I took this pic outside under very smokey skies due to wildfires. It's a nice Amber color under normal lighting. Many thanks to the OP for sharing such a solid recipe!
🍺

Looks good and a nice bottle, hope it's not too cold.
No need to visit Beaver Liquors with a stash like that.
 
I hope that makes a great beer but I also hope you don't call it Boddingtons! 🤣
Yeah, I've never had it. I was looking to do something along the ESB line on Friday morning and this is one of the first threads that came up. I saw your post and thought with MO and victory alone I'd be out of bounds, but adding the handful of MW definitely put me out of the park in the 14 SRM territory. I must look for some next time I'm in a decent liquor store. :mug:
 
Boddingtons in cans used to have a widget ( not sure if it does now ) to give it that nitro pour effect.
It's a shadow of what it used to be, but so many beers are.
 
Boddingtons in cans used to have a widget ( not sure if it does now ) to give it that nitro pour effect.
It's a shadow of what it used to be, but so many beers are.
The canned widget beer is a version of Boddingtons that was created by ABinbev after they bought the brand and is completely different from the beer that had cult status visit was fantastic back in the 70s and early 80s. In case of any doubt. 😃
 
Looking to make my first English style beer. Which of the recipes listed above (thanks@cyberbackpacker) would be a good one to start with? any issue substituting Verdant for LA3? It’s what I have.
 
If anyone is looking for authentic recipes for Boddington's Bitter (not their Pub Ale) go to Shut Up About Barclay Perkins. @patto1ro devoted a TON of time earlier this year to this beer through the ages (not to mention other information he has provided on it over the years).

See below for a sampling of authentic recipes from Boddington beer logs through the ages... heck brew a few different iterations and try them side by side!

The below are some of the years recipes I have personally brewed:

1939 Boddington's

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1939 Boddington IP


1939 Boddington's version 2

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1939 Boddington IP


1947

Let's Brew - 1947 Boddington IP

1951

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1951 Boddington IP

1966

Let's Brew - 1966 Boddington IP

1971

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1971 Boddington IP

1974

Let's Brew - 1974 Boddington IP

1987

Let's brew Wednesday - 1987 Boddington's Bitter

Typical of British ales changing over time due to wars, tastes, taxes, etc. Thanks for sharing the info! Most interesting.
 
Some recipes mentioned are trying to clone Boddington's, whereas other recipes are actual Boddington's recipes.

All will make a tasty beer I am sure, but if you are aiming for authentic, there is no debate as to which recipes to follow...
 
I've adjusted the original recipe Orfy posted to US quantities. I'm going to go with an Amber Dry water profile in Beer Smith and see how it turns out. Looking forward to it. I have a Red Ale on deck to brew then this will be up next. Looking forward to trying it!

1621508304641.png


Edit: The hop edition at flameout should be 1 ounce. I need to fix that. Also note my water quantities are calculated with 1 gallon of mash tun dead space in mind.
 
Last edited:
Some recipes mentioned are trying to clone Boddington's, whereas other recipes are actual Boddington's recipes.

All will make a tasty beer I am sure, but if you are aiming for authentic, there is no debate as to which recipes to follow...
You have quite the deep knowledge of Bodds! I lived in the UK in the early 90's and loved it at my local. This may or may not be the best vintage, just the time slice I was there. I'm open to what you may consider to be a better version. So what would be your recipe recommendation for a pub ale version (I will be serving this on nitro to get the great head and body). Thx!
 
I've adjusted the original recipe Orfy posted to US quantities. I'm going to go with an Amber Dry water profile in Beer Smith and see how it turns out. Looking forward to it. I have a Red Ale on deck to brew then this will be up next. Looking forward to trying it!

View attachment 729645

Edit: The hop edition at flameout should be 1 ounce. I need to fix that. Also note my water quantities are calculated with 1 gallon of mash tun dead space in mind.
Looks good. Mash temp?
 
I brewed this today got a little more efficient mash and came in at 1.042 instead of 1.040 but I'm not complaining the brew day went well. Thanks Orfy! I'll post a pic of a pint when it's ready can't wait to taste it!

Screenshot_20210804-173627.png

PXL_20210804_230758529.jpg
 
Last edited:
Have about 10 points left to go. I'm fermenting at 67/68°F currently so far everything has been going nice and smooth.

PXL_20210806_160225663.jpg

Screenshot_20210806-121305.png
 
Last edited:
Going to keg this in 2 or 3 days. Looks like this style should be carbed around 1.5 ish volumes or 2 psi on my regulator at 38°F.

Where do you folks like the carbonation level at for this beer?
 
My calculator says 0.69 psi for 1.5 vols at 38 fahrenheit.

Have to say that it should be served at around 54 fahrenheit and if carbing at that temp for 1.5 vols its 6.25 psi.

If you were going to carb cold and then warm up remember to adjust your regulator when you get it warmer.

Big but here very low readings and adjustments on a regulator are difficult and you might need to use an inline regulator on a different scale or check very closely with a separate gauge to cross check your regulator reading.

I use this calculator Beer Carbonation Calculator

Note if you went to 1.2 vols which wouldn't be unreasonable either you'd be overcarbed at 38 F.

Further some places serve this on draught with nitro so you could try a stout tap and see what difference it made to your beer.
 
Back
Top