English Ales - What's your favorite recipe?

[unionrdr]

Well dang. I looked through my notes for my ESB & didn't jot down the priming sugar amount or Vco2 either. My new batch is ready to bottle & tasting really good for a flat ale. I'm thinking 2.0 Vco2 with 3.01ozs of dextrose by NB's calculator. I went over the 1.3-1.7 listed for the Burton & an ordinary bitter & it was virtually flat. So I'm thinking 2 Vco2 for a bottled version would be about right?

 

[lowtones84]

I would say carb it to your liking. English folks who grew up drinking cask ale will say that it's too carbonated, American friends will say that it's not carbonated enough. I actually have pretty good luck with about 1.4 volumes in the bottle, but I don't mind low carbonation. I've been learning that the temp of the beer at bottling time really makes more of a difference than expected, too.

 

[unionrdr]

The current internal temp (primary) is 19C, or 66.2F. NB calc says 3.01oz for 2 Vco2 & Tasty Brew says 3ozs even. That's less than half a cup, or .43C. I did like 1.8 Vco2 on the Burton & it was nearly flat. Or at least tasted like it. So I've been thinking over the past 3 years that 2 volumes might "seem" right by the time all's said & done? It also seems to me something I saw or read said their cask ales had less carbonation than bottled versions?

 

[Qhrumphf]

I tend to do 1.4 vols cask and 2 vols bottled. About jives with the level of carb i find in bottled English beer. Lower than that and comp judges start marking it down even if appropriate for style.

 

[unionrdr]

Thanks. Looks like my educated guess was right. Gotta weigh out the dextrose & get the primer going. The ESB's done just right today & I wanna catch it while it's so good!

 

[JKaranka]

Here bottled beer is definitively more carved than cask. I'd say 1.8-2.0 for bottles and 1.2-1.5 for cask.

 

[unionrdr]

1.8 Vco2 was definitely a bit light in the Burton. And that was higher than recommended. So those numbers do make some sense. I'll go with 2.0 Vco2 this time & see how it compares to the last batch. It might've been 2.3 Volumes last time, I don't remember from last May.

 

[JKaranka]

Btw, the carbonation level in cask. Most of the time you don't see any bubbles, but the beer is definitively carbonated (not flat like still cider). You can see that the head is sort of slowly 'regenerating' as it dissipates. It gets froth as you tip the glass when drinking.

Often the same beers when bought in bottle will actually have bubbles going up the glass when you drink them, but nowhere as much as an American beer or a lager.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, the carbonation is sorta light, but present. I've just needed to tweak it over the years to get it just right. And since I like this ESB recipe so much, I'll use it to tweak this aspect of it. I gotta finish the PM recipe version of my #3 Burton ale & by then should have the carbonation bit sorted.

 

[coyote68]

I use 1.9 vco for my bitters when using the NB calculator. i always have great results. i also us table sugar instead if corn sugar.

 

[JKaranka]

Has anybody brewed a bitter or pale ale with Perle? They're meant to descend from Northern Brewer and be relatively similar to Challenger after all. Was considering something fairly earthy with Perle & Fuggles, and a blend of light Maris Otter and some of the darker Dingelmans pale ale malt.

 

[rhys333]

Has anybody brewed a bitter or pale ale with Perle? They're meant to descend from Northern Brewer and be relatively similar to Challenger after all. Was considering something fairly earthy with Perle & Fuggles, and a blend of light Maris Otter and some of the darker Dingelmans pale ale malt.

I understand Perle is fairly neutral, so I imagine you'll be okay with it, at least for bittering addition.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I've done Perle in darker beers (Stouts and Porters) but haven't tried it in a Bitter.

 

[JKaranka]

I was thinking something like a Golden ale... pale malt, around 5%abv, medium bitterness, some sulphur, nice clean yeast.

 

[rhys333]

I think sierra nevada pale ale uses Perle

 

[PasbitinusBluinusRibbinus]

I need help!

I went to the British Beer Co last night for some flights of popular English beers to figure out what I liked and what I should do. I was sorely dissapointed. I had a fullers ESB, Monty Python Holy Grail, and a few other bitters before I switched to IPAs. I brewed a boddingtons clone on nitro that I really enjoyed, mostly because it wasn't as sweet and malty as these English beers that I was drinking.

Any recommendations for some drier beers that don't have so much malty sweetness?

 

[Qhrumphf]

I need help!

I went to the British Beer Co last night for some flights of popular English beers to figure out what I liked and what I should do. I was sorely dissapointed. I had a fullers ESB, Monty Python Holy Grail, and a few other bitters before I switched to IPAs. I brewed a boddingtons clone on nitro that I really enjoyed, mostly because it wasn't as sweet and malty as these English beers that I was drinking.

Any recommendations for some drier beers that don't have so much malty sweetness?

If your frame of reference is American IPAs most all English beers will seem malty sweet to you.

 

[JKaranka]

Samuel Adams India Ale, Worthingtons White Shield to go for some old ones? Never seen a Monty Python beer. Lots of British beers are quite dry. I tend to find American beers sweeter and maltier. Like Hop Rod Rye which just tasted of cookies and molasses to me!

 

[Qhrumphf]

Samuel Adams India Ale, Worthingtons White Shield to go for some old ones? Never seen a Monty Python beer. Lots of British beers are quite dry. I tend to find American beers sweeter and maltier. Like Hop Rod Rye which just tasted of cookies and molasses to me!

The Monty Python Holy Grail beer is brewed by Black Sheep. It's alright. Not the best.

But it's balance. Yeah, most English beers are quite dry, but they're also not over-the-top bittered like most American beers are. And the balance can seem maltier (although not necessarily sweeter, but they can be confused as such). Plus, once we get most English beers, they're already older and oxidized, and you get the oxidative sweetening notes. And the same will probably go for you getting American beers.

 

[JKaranka]

Yeah, I remember somebody writing in an British homebrew forum about all the complex malt profiles in, for example, IPAs from Stone. It went on for a while until somebody brought in all the storage & aging issues. To be fair, I found Stone beers disappointingly lacking hops or bitterness compared to many British craft-ish beers, so it must be quite a lot about storage. That said, if you get your hands on one of the Kernel's brown stouts, I bet it travels delightfully! :-D

 

[lowtones84]

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.

 

[Qhrumphf]

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.

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.

 

[lowtones84]

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.

 

[TastyAdventure]

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

 

[JKaranka]

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.

 

[Qhrumphf]

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.

 

[Tamarlane]

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

 

[TastyAdventure]

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?

Anyone?

 

[rmyurick]

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.

 

[Qhrumphf]

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.