English Ales - What's your favorite recipe?

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Well, my second cubitainer sprung a very tiny leak. A little frustrating, but I know from the problem last time that it will still be drinkable. Luckily they are like $2 a piece so not a huge loss. Still dialing in my process on these though.
 
lowtones84 said:
Well, my second cubitainer sprung a very tiny leak. A little frustrating, but I know from the problem last time that it will still be drinkable. Luckily they are like $2 a piece so not a huge loss. Still dialing in my process on these though.
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Huh. I'm not sure why you're having trouble with them. I've been using my same original bunch of em (10 of em) and have put at least a couple batches through each one, and have never once had that problem.

My only problem is, like I said, they seem to lose carbonation over time, so the last pin is always much less carbed than the first pin.
 
I'm not sure either really. I think somehow I'm getting more volumes of co2 than anticipated, but I carbonated to 1.4 and even vented all that I could after a few days. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it though, and to me it's worth the trial and error because I see promise in them.
 
I've been reading through this forum for a while, and just went to the LHBS.
There's a lot on ESBs and such but I am going for a "Southern English Brown" but I want it to be lighter in color and roasted flavor.

Here's what I got for 10 gallon batch:

79% Maris Otter

4% Brown malt
3% Chocolate malt

4% Flaked Barley
3% Torrified wheat
(I wanted 7% torrified wheat, but I cleaned them out of it and subbed the other 4% with flaked barley)

5% Crystal Crisp 60

So that's my malt bill. Should be 1.056 OG and 19 SRM...

I am going to bitter with some Magnum I have, target IBU 34?

For flavor hops, I bought 1 oz of Northern Brewer. I'm thinking this isn't enough for 10 gal, I have these in the freezer:
.25 oz EKG
.2 oz Mt Hood
.25 oz hallertau

Should I just pitch in all of these?
Anyone have experience with Northern Brewer as a flavor hop?

What temp should I mash at?
I am using Notty in 5 gal and S-04 in 5 gal.
What temps should I ferment at?

Thanks guys
 
Chuck in all of those. I have never used Northern Brewer but I assume it is like Challenger, Northdown and the like. Nice sort of average herbal flavour.
 
I'm not wild about Northern Brewer. It's rather distinctive, and I get a woody-minty character. I suppose it could work, but I don't like it in really anything but Steam Beer.
 
I use Northern Brewer as a bittering hop in English ales, I think it works great. The earthy flavor works well and complements traditional English hops. As a late addition may be out of place but at 60 minutes the minty/floral tones are not present
 
I would mash at 152-154. Gravity and IBUs are kind of high for a Southern Brown. BJCP gives 1.033-42 and 12-20 IBU. If you're going to end up at 1.055, I would shoot for 25 IBU.

Not sure about ferment temp for that yeast.
 
http://www.mildmonth.com/

Apparently that guy WAS a Leprechaun and apparently they DO grant wishes. Explains why he didn't want to press charges ;)

In all seriousness, for you folks like me stranded on this side of the ocean, Mild Month is about to become a thing in the US like they have in the UK. Fortunately for me (less for some) there's a lot of VA breweries on the list, but not just VA.
 
Qhrumphf said:
http://www.mildmonth.com/

Apparently that guy WAS a Leprechaun and apparently they DO grant wishes. Explains why he didn't want to press charges ;)

In all seriousness, for you folks like me stranded on this side of the ocean, Mild Month is about to become a thing in the US like they have in the UK. Fortunately for me (less for some) there's a lot of VA breweries on the list, but not just VA.
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Awesome! I'm going to be in the Fairfax area the 11th-morning of the 14th. Any of those breweries in that area? (I guess I could check myself) Perhaps (not sure of plans) we could even meet up for a pint or two.
 
lowtones84 said:
Awesome! I'm going to be in the Fairfax area the 11th-morning of the 14th. Any of those breweries in that area? (I guess I could check myself) Perhaps (not sure of plans) we could even meet up for a pint or two.
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Mad Fox is nearby in Falls Church. About 15-20 mins from Fairfax depending on where you are. Can't promise they'd have their Mild up (I enjoy it but I think the recipe changed in the last year or so and it's not as good as it used to be), but in addition to their other beers they do some decent English styles on cask.
 
I know this isn't -quite- the place for this, but I always turn to you guys for anything close ;) This is an Irish Red even though I'll be using English ale yeast. It won't quite be ready for St. Paddy's because I can't get it into the cubitainers until the 14th, but a couple days later is fine. Maybe it's more of an Amber mild? Who knows. Anyhow, this is for a four gallon batch as always.

Est. OG: 1.048
Est. SRM: 16
Est. IBU: 25ish

5.5 lb. MO
6 oz. C60L (alternatively around 3 oz. dark crystal)
3 oz. Roast Barley
8 oz. Flaked barley
4 oz. invert (will be going for #2)

Hops: Target and EKG, bittering and perhaps just a small aroma addition.

Thoughts? I also have pale chocolate, brown malt, dark crystal, and more of any of the above malts.

Thanks! :mug:
 
TastyAdventure said:
Anyone?
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TastyAdventure said:
Anyone?
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May be a little late on this, but I brewed a norhern English brown not too long ago, with S-04. I fermented at 62-63 and it was quite clean. No off flavors. If you are fermenting 2 different batches in the same chamber with notty & s-04, just know they have can behave differently at various temps. I took a screenshot of one of Yooper's post, with her recommendations for both notty and S-04 (and US-05). I'd probably try to stick somewhere in between her recommendations if you are fermenting in the same chamber. 62 would probably be ok for both strains. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1425574124.535039.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
I changed the above recipe slightly, but it's still pretty close. I'm considering holding back 2 ounces of the roast barley until the last 15 min of the mash in order to cut back on some of the roasted flavors since I want this to be nice and ready in 12-14 days. Have any of you tried a technique like that when using roasted barley or other dark roasted malts?
 
Tamarlane said:
I use Northern Brewer as a bittering hop in English ales, I think it works great. The earthy flavor works well and complements traditional English hops. As a late addition may be out of place but at 60 minutes the minty/floral tones are not present
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I absolutely love Northern Brewer for bittering! If I use it for aroma or flavor I tend to use it in California Common (duh!) and Amber ales. Mmmmmmmmmm...!
 
Brewed up the Irish Red a few posts back, went more like this (for gallon batch):

OG: 1.049
IBU: 26

5 lbs. MO (1 lb. lightly toasted in oven the night before)
1 lb. Flaked Barley
4 oz. Crisp C77
3 oz. Roasted Barley
6 oz. invert sugar number 2ish

.6 oz EKG (5.7% AA) @ 60 min.
.4 oz EKG @ 20 min.

WLP 002, now resting at about 63F

I did hold back half of the roasted barley until the last 10 minutes of the mash and then the 20 minute dunk sparge (stovetop BIAB). I want a bit of the roasted character but want it to be ready in 12 days. The invert was perhaps not as dark as invert #2, but definitely darker than the golden #1. It simmered for about an hour during the mash. Smelled great, wort tasted great. Looked a little dark in the kettle, but did have a slightly reddish hue, so hopefully it will be just fine in the glass. High hopes for this!
 
catdaddy66 said:
That's a fine looking bitter! Great job, union.
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Thanks. Crystal clear & some bottles are more reddish-amber than others. Nice balance of malts, bittering & hops. Good recipe I don't think I'll ever change! Sorry about the focus. I think the auto-focus on the old girl is goin' south?
 
Qhrumphf said:
Mad Fox is nearby in Falls Church. About 15-20 mins from Fairfax depending on where you are. Can't promise they'd have their Mild up (I enjoy it but I think the recipe changed in the last year or so and it's not as good as it used to be), but in addition to their other beers they do some decent English styles on cask.
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Went to Mad Fox Friday for lunch. They did not have the mild unfortunately, but I tried almost everything that they had on cask via a sampler. The beer was pretty good, especially the dry Irish stout on cask. Although especially the smaller sampler glasses were actually warm. Not cool, like probably slightly above room temp (I understand that cask ales aren't supposed to be fridge temp, of course). But that doesn't bother me that much honestly.

Food was good, and it was awesome to have a Guinness-like beer on cask. I could see myself having several pints of that if I had the time and the funds. Or y'know, if I brew one myself and put it in the polypin. Thanks for the suggestion! :mug:
 
I'm activley trying refine my english honey brown, call it bastard brown, first time made it thru in some dme and every sugar i had in kitchen to make 1gallon kit 5 gallons
 
The problem with samples is that they often have been sitting in the line and warmed up. Samples are free in all pubs I know but you have to watch out that the lines are pulled regularly or it won't be anything like the pint.

QUOTE=lowtones84;6762398]Went to Mad Fox Friday for lunch. They did not have the mild unfortunately, but I tried almost everything that they had on cask via a sampler. The beer was pretty good, especially the dry Irish stout on cask. Although especially the smaller sampler glasses were actually warm. Not cool, like probably slightly above room temp (I understand that cask ales aren't supposed to be fridge temp, of course). But that doesn't bother me that much honestly.

Food was good, and it was awesome to have a Guinness-like beer on cask. I could see myself having several pints of that if I had the time and the funds. Or y'know, if I brew one myself and put it in the polypin. Thanks for the suggestion! :mug:[/QUOTE]
 
lowtones84 said:
Went to Mad Fox Friday for lunch. They did not have the mild unfortunately, but I tried almost everything that they had on cask via a sampler. The beer was pretty good, especially the dry Irish stout on cask. Although especially the smaller sampler glasses were actually warm. Not cool, like probably slightly above room temp (I understand that cask ales aren't supposed to be fridge temp, of course). But that doesn't bother me that much honestly.

Food was good, and it was awesome to have a Guinness-like beer on cask. I could see myself having several pints of that if I had the time and the funds. Or y'know, if I brew one myself and put it in the polypin. Thanks for the suggestion! :mug:
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Glad you enjoyed the food. I've always found it hit or miss. I also haven't been since the head brewer departed a month or two ago so I'm not sure if anything has changed there.
 
Yeah nothing totally blew my socks off but the Reuben I had was good. As far as beers everything was solid. Except maybe a mosaic IPA served cask style, that was just a little weird, but the same recipe with saaz was better. I could go back for the cask dry Irish stout though...mmmm :)

Anyhow, putting my Irish Red from last page into a couple of cubitainers and bottles today, thinking of putting a small amount of leaf EKG into one of the cubitainers and one without. To be served Friday for a late St. Paddy's day/first day of spring cookout. Cheers fellas! :mug:
 
Just bottled a rye bitter. Been doing porters for who knows how long. Lots of hop character from just an ounce of Fuggles for dry hop. I think it must be my improved water treatment for pale ales (tad of lactic acid in the mash, a fair deal of gypsum and just under half a gram of salt). Fairly simple grist with MO, Rye Malt, Amber Malt and a dash of simple sugars for an OG of 1.037.
 
I did a Bourbon Barrel Porter a while back. I still dream of that beer. My kids talk about that beer. It was awesome.
 
Rye bitter huh? Is that traditional at all? Not that I care, I'm just curious because it sounds like it has potential :)
 
No, not as traditional as British wheat ales (there used to be lots of them but none survived to make it to BJCP) but hey, it's tasty. I've had a few rye milds and bitters, and 10-20% of rye in the grist can be as welcome as any exotic hop. My regional brewery does a couple of seasonals with rye, I also had a very good one by some brewery in Yorkshire.
 
Hey all, been a while! I want to very slightly tweak what I've been doing as my "House Bitter" for a lighter color and body summer brew. As always for me, this is a four gallon batch.Here's what I'm thinking at the moment:

Est OG: 1.038
Est IBU: 33.2
Est SRM: 6.64

4 lb., 4 oz. Crisp MO
.5 lb. Flaked Barley
6 oz. Crisp Crystal 60
4 oz. home made invert (#2ish)

.5 oz. Target (11% AA) @ 60 min.
.25 oz. Target @ FO
.5 oz. EKG @ FO

WLP002

The invert is in there mostly just to dry it out a bit, but not so much that it should take away from a present but not cloying malt presence. Should I go with flaked maize instead? That would then be a total of 12 oz. of flaked adjunct, but I'm pretty sure the MO can handle it. Should I omit the C60 to dry it out rather than use sugar or maize, and just get some color and malt depth from brown malt, chocolate malt, or a pinch of roasted barley instead?

A flavoring hop addition @ 15 or 20? Has anybody tried American craft brew techniques such as FWH or a hopstand with bitters? Should I push this slightly over into the "Special Bitter" category since I'm pretty much right on the edge of ordinary bitter category?

Sorry for all the questions, just a lot kicking around in my mind right now. Cheers all! :mug:
 
Well, y'all done went & did it. Besides being about halfway through writing book two of my home brewing series. I re-did my Burton ale recipe into partial mash. Save for the fact I'm doing the barleywine version this time, trying to get those dark fruit flavors, residual sweetness, etc they were said to have. Not an easy task with little exacting information available. At least not without figuring out antiquated measurements. But I think I got it so far;
** Buckeye Burton Ale**
12oz) Carared malt- weyermann
1lb) Golden Promise malt- Simpson's
8oz) Honey malt- Gambrinus
3lbs) Marris Otter malt- Crisp
1lb, 8oz) Special Roast malt- Briess, Maillard
4lbs) Plain light DME- Munton's
1lb, 4oz) soft candy sugar, Brun Fonce' (dark)
1lb) light brown sugar
1.25oz) warrior, bittering, 60 minutes
1oz) East Kent Golding, 20 minutes
1oz) Willamette, 15 minutes
1oz Fuggle, 15 minutes
WL023 Burton Ale yeast
Estimated OG- 1.083
Estimated FG- 1.019
Bitterness- 45 IBU
Estimated ABV- 8.5%
Color- 16.3 SRM
The dark candy sugar is supposed to give dark fruit & subtle caramel flavors. Having read that these flavors were part of the Burton's complexity, besides the fruity esters from the Burton Ale yeast, I feel this should at least get me closer than the AE version I did a couple years ago. This ought to be interesting.:mug:
 
I'm trying to re-create the old Burton's flavor profile I've been reading about since revvy & I discussed my giving it a try a few years ago. The dark fruity, residual sweetness they were said to have interest me...:mug:
 
I have a white whale that I've been hunting for a spell from a foggy and faded trip to Scotland and England about 10+ years ago... I had a beer that was (in my mind) the perfect brew.. I suspect it was in the special to extra special realm. Not very many IBU's in it (no more than 25-30 I suspect), not too dry, and I remember some stone fruit flavor. Of course I don't remember the name of the brew...

So in the next week or so I'm hoping to at least get in the realm of that mythical beer.

Here's my first attempt:

1 Gallon:

1.75 lb United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale 89.6%
2.5 oz United Kingdom - Dark Crystal 80L 8%
0.75 oz United Kingdom - Crystal 140L 2.4%

Mash @ 154F

Boil: 90min

0.3 oz Fuggles Pellet 4.5 Boil 30 min 24.55 IBU
0.1 oz Fuggles Pellet 4.5 Boil 15 min 5.28 IBU
0.1 oz Fuggles Pellet 4.5 Dry Hop 7 days

1/4 Whirfloc @ 15 min.

Yeast:

Wyeast London Ale III 1318 (1/2)

Temp: 68F for 9 days, rest at 72F for 2 days, cold-crash @ 35F for 2-3days.

Thoughts... not sure if I should put the dark crystal in.. Alternative or next yeast might be Yorkshire square. Hop alternatives... Challenger for bittering and Fuggles or EKG for flavor/aroma.
 
@unionrdr: I'd drop all the weird malts (carared, special roast, honey malt). None of them could have been used in burton ale. You could try more darker sugars to stall the fermentation and a yeast with low attenuation. If you use the MJ Newcastle Dark ale it pretty much guarantees an attenuation around 65% and dark fruit flavours.
 
I read some articles from Barclay Perkins where they used honey in the beer for one. The others are meant to give the color & some flavor complexities it seems to have had. It is the stronger one, like an English barleywine. It's a bit tough to get all these things together in one beer. The candy sugar is supposed to give those caramel & dark fruit flavors. Here's one article I read; http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/05/burton-ale-in-1820s.html I assume mj newcastle dark ale is a yeast? From what manufacturer & where to buy? The "weird malts", as you call them, are pretty common in beers these days. Some of the malts used in Burtons are unknown , as are the hops used, specifically. To us over here anyway. They're pretty vague on those points. And dropping malts & adding more dark sugars isn't a good idea. Too much sugar, & you wind up with a really dry, alcoholic mess.
 

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