English Ales - What's your favorite recipe?

[DuncB]

An enquiry about the original recipe was sent to Robinson's using your link, DuncB. Any reply will be posted. Probably the original recipe didn't include Flaked Maize, but many northern breweries used it before WWII and still is to this day.

The enzyme invertase, used by beekeepers to replace honey in hives, is possibly the least error prone method, but it is a much slower process.

We keep bees and have for years both in UK and here in NZ.
Most beekeepers use sugar syrup in the winter and raw sugar ( not refined white ) in the spring / summer.

I've followed the invert sugar recipe on the Suigeneris site which is similar to others out there. Adding a different sugar does help with the crystallisation, I used a bit of honey for the fructose and the flavour didn't come through. But you can just get plain fructose.

I'm not that fearful of the open ferment just haven't done one for a while, when I started brewing with extract I used to stir the beer vigorously every day at least once. I used to think get the CO2 out to drive the reaction equation better.
Won't try that tactic when I do an open ferment though anymore.

 

[kmarkstevens]

And I'm going to finally buy his book.

It's the least you can do. How much value has Ron given the brewing world and you personally I'd say a lot. I have two of his books (but left one on an airplane).

Also, I got one of my kids to get me a birthday recipe. The instruction to Ron was "he likes low ABV beers". Ron went through his files from my actual birthday in the 1960's all the way to 1925 to pull out a gem of a partigyled AK recipe with a nice write up. Since it was partigyled, I got the brewing records and effectively the recipe for 3 different strengths.

One of his paragraphs: "Here's one AK was by the 1920s a very marginal product. Without parti-gyling, it would never have been financially viable. The parti-gyle this beer was brewed in consisted of 150 barrels of XK, 341 barrels of PA and a mere 9 barrels of AK. There could only have been a handful of pubs selling it."

Anyhoo, you can help fund Ron's booze consumption, and get a pretty unique recipe. I brew this on or around my birthday every year. To be honest, it's my second favorite AK recipe, and my favorite is a Let's Brew Wednesday. Regardless, I think it's way cool and my way to help keep Ron in business.

 

[DuncB]

@schmurf just a couple of pictures of the five points from the beer engine at sunset.
Much better with the right yeast.

 

[schmurf]

@schmurf just a couple of pictures of the five points from the beer engine at sunset.
Much better with the right yeast.
View attachment 736514View attachment 736515

That looks great and very enjoyable surrondings too! I can feel the smoothness... .and just the right colour and very clear... you didn't use any finings right? I had a first pour from my latest brew of Five Points yesterday, was a bit too much foam... will see if it was just the first one or if it remains. Other than that my beer engine been working like a charm and I've been fully enjoying my last kegs of bitter! The five points that had both too high OG and too low FG turned out very drinkable, and the one where I hit a too high FG, resulting in a 3.2% beer was certainly drinkable as well. Also had a keg of Speckled Hen "clone" and a Simonds Bitter, made from this recipe.

 

[monkeymath]

I really enjoy following this thread, soaking up all the info on English ales. Somewhat paradoxically, given the thread's title, I still haven't brewed any of the recipes mentioned in this thread or even added one to my to-brew-list.

I have very limited experience with English cask ales - when I lived in the UK for a year, as a student, drinking in pubs was prohibitively expensive, and back then "beer" meant either Hefeweizen or Helles to me, so I wasn't able to actually take it in anyways. I did like the bottled "Black Sheep Ale" though - I have since found it in Munich as well, and while I still liked it, I did not feel a sudden urge to try and replicate it.

I'm not sure if I actually want to brew an "authentic" English ale. I think what I'm looking for is a somewhat "exaggerated" bitter. After all, I'm not looking to make a beer of which you can down three pints in the five minutes before the pub closes, but something to sip and enjoy attentively.

 

[Miraculix]

I really enjoy following this thread, soaking up all the info on English ales. Somewhat paradoxically, given the thread's title, I still haven't brewed any of the recipes mentioned in this thread or even added one to my to-brew-list.

I have very limited experience with English cask ales - when I lived in the UK for a year, as a student, drinking in pubs was prohibitively expensive, and back then "beer" meant either Hefeweizen or Helles to me, so I wasn't able to actually take it in anyways. I did like the bottled "Black Sheep Ale" though - I have since found it in Munich as well, and while I still liked it, I did not feel a sudden urge to try and replicate it.

I'm not sure if I actually want to brew an "authentic" English ale. I think what I'm looking for is a somewhat "exaggerated" bitter. After all, I'm not looking to make a beer of which you can down three pints in the five minutes before the pub closes, but something to sip and enjoy attentively.

Believe me, you want to brew one! A bitter on its peak, probably one to two months after brewing can be soooooooo good, you cannot imagine!

And the only way to get one when it's best, at least in Germany, is to fly to the UK and find a GOOD pub that treats it's beer and lines the right way.

... Or brew it yourself

With verdant IPA, you even have a decent English dry yeast!

 

[Shenanigans]

I really enjoy following this thread, soaking up all the info on English ales. Somewhat paradoxically, given the thread's title, I still haven't brewed any of the recipes mentioned in this thread or even added one to my to-brew-list.

I have very limited experience with English cask ales - when I lived in the UK for a year, as a student, drinking in pubs was prohibitively expensive, and back then "beer" meant either Hefeweizen or Helles to me, so I wasn't able to actually take it in anyways. I did like the bottled "Black Sheep Ale" though - I have since found it in Munich as well, and while I still liked it, I did not feel a sudden urge to try and replicate it.

I'm not sure if I actually want to brew an "authentic" English ale. I think what I'm looking for is a somewhat "exaggerated" bitter. After all, I'm not looking to make a beer of which you can down three pints in the five minutes before the pub closes, but something to sip and enjoy attentively.

Maybe an ESB is more your thing.
If you can get it you should try Fuller's ESB it's a classic and 5.9% in the bottle so not really for knocking back in one go.
I still have to get around to brewing a clone but I just ordered some Northdown hops to give it a go.

 

[monkeymath]

Believe me, you want to brew one! A bitter on its peak, probably one to two months after brewing can be soooooooo good, you cannot imagine!

And the only way to get one when it's best, at least in Germany, is to fly to the UK and find a GOOD pub that treats it's beer and lines the right way.

... Or brew it yourself

With verdant IPA, you even have a decent English dry yeast!

Thanks for the encouragement
I've done a couple of "typical homebrew" bitters/milds, by which I mean that I used specialty malts (Crisp crystal at 150 EBC is magnificent, I saw you use the same for your "Miraculix' Best") and no simple sugars. I like those beers. Swapping out the crystal for simple sugars and using adjuncts such as corn (which would be, as I take it, a more authentic route) would thin out the body even further, I believe. Since I am habituated to ~5% abv beers, I'd be more interested in boosting the body, not taking away from it!

As far as yeasts go, I actually like using liquid yeasts. Last British one I used was WY1469, which I liked a lot, except for a subtle fruity note that I cannot quite pin down. I'd probably describe it as cantaloupe/honeydew. Note that I fermented it rather cold, at 17 celsius.


Btw I'd be really interested to try your English-style homebrew; let me know (via PM) if you're up for an exchange of a couple of bottles

 

[MaxStout]

This weekend I plan to do an English brown ale. Not sure if this comes closer to the "Northern" or "Southern" variety, but it's based on a recipe in the Jan-Feb 2019 Zymurgy, p.35. Mine will not be altogether authentic, as I will be using up some ingredients I already have on hand.

For 5.5 gal, mine is:

BIAB
5.5 lbs Maris Otter (Fawcett)
2.5 lbs Munich I (Weyermann)
8oz Brown Malt (Crisp)
6 oz. Pale Chocolate 200 (Fawcett)
4 oz. Victory (Briess)
1 lb Lyle's Golden Syrup

2oz. Triple Perle (11% AA) at 20
1oz. Fuggles (4.5% AA) at 10

Nottingham (rehydrated)

Color: 16.5 SRM
IBU: 33
OG: 1.052
ABV: 5.2%

 

[MaxStout]

And I'm going to finally buy his book.

Which book? Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer? Amazon currently has that for $812.05. Barclay Perkins has it for sale, but no price stated. If it's at least an order of magnitude cheaper than Amazon I might order it.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Which book? Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer? Amazon currently has that for $812.05. Barclay Perkins has it for sale, but no price stated. If it's at least an order of magnitude cheaper than Amazon I might order it.

You'll get a price when you click on the buy now button. Looks like 56USD to the States.

 

[MaxStout]

You'll get a price when you click on the buy now button. Looks like 56USD to the States.

Cool. I might have to get that.

 

[Golddiggie]

I have two English ales currently on tap. An ordinary bitter (MO, Victory malt and first gold hops) and an English IPA (SMaSH with MO and EKG). Both are great and fermented with Wyeast 1335. I also have a couple of stouts that used 1318. Almost all of the grains I use are from the UK/England. The only two not from the UK are the honey malt and cherrywood smoked malt I use in a couple of recipes.

My base malts are either MO or UK 2 row for all batches/recipes. I'm actually getting ready to start buying sacks of MO, so I'll probably just change my recipes to use that instead of the other 2 row.

I don't alter my water to match what's in the UK. Right now I'm on well water which is actually really good for the beers I'm brewing. Clean tasting right out of the faucet too. I do filter the water to remove sediment, so I don't get granite dust in the beers (or in my kettles).

BTW, "Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer" is listing as $11.99 for the Kindle version. I use the Kindle reader app on my non-Kindle tablet.

 

[MaxStout]

I saw the 11.99 Kindle version. I kind of like having the paper in hand, so might order from the author's site. I did notice Amazon had used spiral-bound copies, starting at $47, but the condition wasn't very good. I'd rather give the money to the author (and get a signed copy).

 

[Golddiggie]

I saw the 11.99 Kindle version. I kind of like having the paper in hand, so might order from the author's site. I did notice Amazon had used spiral-bound copies, starting at $47, but the condition wasn't very good. I'd rather give the money to the author (and get a signed copy).

Got a link for the author's site??

 

[DBhomebrew]

Got a link for the author's site??

You're in for a lot of reading...

http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com

 

[MaxStout]

It's on the Shut Up About Barclay Perkins blog. The book section is here.

 

[Miraculix]

Which book? Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer? Amazon currently has that for $812.05. Barclay Perkins has it for sale, but no price stated. If it's at least an order of magnitude cheaper than Amazon I might order it.

I saw that one too

 

[z-bob]

Which book? Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer? Amazon currently has that for $812.05. Barclay Perkins has it for sale, but no price stated. If it's at least an order of magnitude cheaper than Amazon I might order it.

35 Euros.

 

[MaxStout]

The guy has a bunch of other books for sale on a Lulu page.

 

[MaxStout]

35 Euros.

It's EUR35 for customers in the EU, EUR45 for outside EU.

 

[kmarkstevens]

@MaxStout If you click on the Barclay Perkins buy now button, it takes you to paypal and $55 in the US. I believe that includes shipping PLUS it's signed by Ron. I've got an unsigned one.

Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer has a pretty good collection of different recipes and styles. I believe Ron filtered through dozens of recipes and selected one for each inclusion. It's a really good gateway book. Good but not overly verbose commentary. Much easier to flip through the book and find a dozen recipes you want to try than going through the Shut Up site. I give it two thumbs up.

 

[Witherby]

@MaxStout If you click on the Barclay Perkins buy now button, it takes you to paypal and $55 in the US. I believe that includes shipping PLUS it's signed by Ron. I've got an unsigned one.

Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer has a pretty good collection of different recipes and styles. I believe Ron filtered through dozens of recipes and selected one for each inclusion. It's a really good gateway book. Good but not overly verbose commentary. Much easier to flip through the book and find a dozen recipes you want to try than going through the Shut Up site. I give it two thumbs up.

I have at least 6 of Ron’s books including the Homebrewer’s Guide but if you are on a budget and can only get one I would buy the 1909 Style Guide because of Kristen England's great notes for homebrewers.

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

I tasted my Best Bitter brewed with Hulla Norrgård, will let it sit in the fridge for a few days/ a week to let it clear and mature a bit more. But it came out really nice, the hops had a grassy, herbal taste with a little peppery/clove like tone to them, very subtle though and I think they would go well with most English hops.

The Brown ale with the domestic yeast came out nice also even though not quite as dry as wanted it at only 70%AA, it had a distinct nutty flavor but next time I will add some biscuit malt also, and mash a little lower and longer since this yeast seems to need some love to attenuate decently. Will try it in a English style Oatmeal Stout next and do a 66c/75min mash and see if I get an AA around 75%.

@Miraculix @monkeymath

 

[DuncB]

THis book is a combination of books by several authors.
https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Homebrewing-Techniques-Recipes/dp/1558329838First is recipes from various brewers and styles.
Second is some extreme brew recipes.
Third is by Ron Pattison ( historical bitters, ipas, stouts, porters) and
then fourth there is a growing for homebrew part, hops and others.

Good value.

 

[MaxStout]

Brewed the brown ale today. Overshot the volume a bit (6 vs 5.5 gal) and undershot OG by 4 points. But that's OK--my recipe skirted the high end of the style's OG range. Did this recipe. Now sitting in my ferm chamber at 64F.

 

[DuncB]

Some really useful stuff on this website about real ales and some learning.

https://www.beer-genius.co.uk/bite-size-learning

 

[patto1ro]

THis book is a combination of books by several authors.
https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Homebrewing-Techniques-Recipes/dp/1558329838First is recipes from various brewers and styles.
Second is some extreme brew recipes.
Third is by Ron Pattison ( historical bitters, ipas, stouts, porters) and
then fourth there is a growing for homebrew part, hops and others.

Good value.

Would have been nice if they'd paid me for it.

 

[patto1ro]

Which book? Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer? Amazon currently has that for $812.05. Barclay Perkins has it for sale, but no price stated. If it's at least an order of magnitude cheaper than Amazon I might order it.

It's 35 euros in Europe, 45 euros everywhere else. And it's signed.

 

[DuncB]

Would have been nice if they'd paid me for it.

Also if they had data checked the other parts of it.
Super hoppy beers might be some peoples cup of tea but I'm not sure what a beer with 45 ounces or 12.8 kg of Columbus hops would taste like in a 60 minute boil.
Certainly won't get you to the intended 30 IBU!!