English Ales - What's your favorite recipe?

[JosephN]

There are too many posts to go back and read but I'm tired or making hoppy beers that are super strong or even just strong beers. I need a few around the house that are more malt forward and less hops.

Right now I have a porter, Irish red, and an American wheat and rye beer that are lower content. Everything else, saison, ipa, "pale ale", barleywine, and a few random beers, that are 7.5-11% abv.

I have brewed a mild before but it got infected and didn't turn out as good, meaning malty, as I had hoped. That recipes was from Jamil's classic styles book. What other beers fit a high malt flavor beer, 4-5.9% abv, low hop character, and low to no fruity esters?

 

[Hanglow]

Try a scottish 60/-, 70/- or 80/- , I think he'll have recipes for those in the book

 

[Snubnoze707]

Picked up one of those plastic cube poly pins to do a lil 1 gallon cask in addition to bottling my next bitter. Am I OK to go ahead and dry hop into the vessel at the same time as priming? How long do you guys usually let it go before chilling and drinking? Usually I go 2-weeks in bottles.

 

[lowtones84]

You can definitely dry hop in the polypin if you'd like, and I did it at the same time as priming, yes. Putting them in a muslin bag can help keep hop particles out of you glass. You can tap them as early as five days, but I've found my results are better at 7-10 days. For chilling I just usually start laying an icepack (and switch it out here and there) on it 24 hours or so before I'm going to tap it. For me that gets it to the "cool, not cold" temp that I look for. Enjoy!

 

[Qhrumphf]

You can definitely dry hop in the polypin if you'd like, and I did it at the same time as priming, yes. Putting them in a muslin bag can help keep hop particles out of you glass. You can tap them as early as five days, but I've found my results are better at 7-10 days. For chilling I just usually start laying an icepack (and switch it out here and there) on it 24 hours or so before I'm going to tap it. For me that gets it to the "cool, not cold" temp that I look for. Enjoy!

Pretty much the same here. I'm usually starting to vent slightly after 24-36 hours, and then I'm usually tapping at about 5 days.

I haven't tried hopping in them personally, but no reason why it wouldn't work, just some extra sediment to watch out for.

 

[MrAverageGuy]

It didnt turn out well. I think I made more candy instead. I'll probably get a proper candy thermometer and try again one of these days.

I'm told this stuff is the syrup form of invert sugar....? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001590BY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Qhrumphf]

I'm told this stuff is the syrup form of invert sugar....? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001590BY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Lyle's I believe is a blend of invert and sucrose. It's partially inverted, but not fully inverted. It's not too far off of a #1 invert, but it won't have the same flavor as #2-4.

 

[iijakii]

There are too many posts to go back and read but I'm tired or making hoppy beers that are super strong or even just strong beers. I need a few around the house that are more malt forward and less hops.

Right now I have a porter, Irish red, and an American wheat and rye beer that are lower content. Everything else, saison, ipa, "pale ale", barleywine, and a few random beers, that are 7.5-11% abv.

I have brewed a mild before but it got infected and didn't turn out as good, meaning malty, as I had hoped. That recipes was from Jamil's classic styles book. What other beers fit a high malt flavor beer, 4-5.9% abv, low hop character, and low to no fruity esters?

I'm really enjoying DEMs and the Brown Porter I made (which frankly is my DEM stepped up to 5%). They're just so flavorful while still being dry and crushable, there's nothing else like 'em that Ive been able to find.

 

[JKaranka]

There are too many posts to go back and read but I'm tired or making hoppy beers that are super strong or even just strong beers. I need a few around the house that are more malt forward and less hops.

Right now I have a porter, Irish red, and an American wheat and rye beer that are lower content. Everything else, saison, ipa, "pale ale", barleywine, and a few random beers, that are 7.5-11% abv.

I have brewed a mild before but it got infected and didn't turn out as good, meaning malty, as I had hoped. That recipes was from Jamil's classic styles book. What other beers fit a high malt flavor beer, 4-5.9% abv, low hop character, and low to no fruity esters?

Look also at British strong ales. Have you tried things like GK Abbott Ale or Theakston Old Peculier (borderline old ale)? They are around the 5.5% mark. Basic runner or London porters also fit your bill. Those are all quite balanced although some can obviously have hops or esters to taste depending on the brewery.

 

[Snubnoze707]

You can definitely dry hop in the polypin if you'd like, and I did it at the same time as priming, yes. Putting them in a muslin bag can help keep hop particles out of you glass. You can tap them as early as five days, but I've found my results are better at 7-10 days. For chilling I just usually start laying an icepack (and switch it out here and there) on it 24 hours or so before I'm going to tap it. For me that gets it to the "cool, not cold" temp that I look for. Enjoy!

Great. Thanks for the tips. I look forward to using it.

 

[JKaranka]

Interesting view on the US preliminaries or whatever the current elections are called. Quarter finals? No idea.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...dnesday-tedious-bull****-thing-20160302106736

 

[The_Bishop]

What does this have to do with the topic at hand?

 

[jwalk4]

It's alright JK, nothing really matters.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Rhapsody

 

[JKaranka]

Inspiration? Helps out to picture British beer by giving a different slant on things? I'll stick to the Six Nations next time as that seems to have more of a direct impact on brewing, like this:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/caledonian-six-nations/1044/

 

[Zekk]

I have a question about US 04. I made an ESB and it has a ton of diacetyl. I bottled it after only 9 days, was it too young or does 04 produce a lot of diacetyl?

 

[Hanglow]

No it shouldn't do, maybe a small amount if you ferment cold and don't warm it up maybe? It finishes quick normally

I'd leave the bottles another couple of weeks though before trying it again if you've only bottled it recently

 

[JKaranka]

I have a question about US 04. I made an ESB and it has a ton of diacetyl. I bottled it after only 9 days, was it too young or does 04 produce a lot of diacetyl?

I've not had noticeable diacetyl with S04 and I use it a lot. It can have a gentle tartness at times but that's about it.

 

[kadozen]

Big fan of porters and stouts, but my house beer is an ESB. I like bitter, but Hop bombs are too much. I appreciate them for what they are, but I love being able to get that malt backbone in there as well. Subtle complexity FTW

 

[jlinz]

I'm thinking of brewing a Mild. Not sure how authentic it will turn out since I've never actually had a true British version. I'm intrigued, nevertheless. Does anybody know how a mild turns out when bottle conditioned? Does it work well, or is it something that needs to be kegged or put in a cask?

 

[iijakii]

These Brits will tell you that you need to cask 'em, but they're delicious any and every way!

 

[jlinz]

Interesting view on the US preliminaries or whatever the current elections are called. Quarter finals? No idea.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...dnesday-tedious-bull****-thing-20160302106736

This is funny and pretty much dead on...

 

[Qhrumphf]

I'm thinking of brewing a Mild. Not sure how authentic it will turn out since I've never actually had a true British version. I'm intrigued, nevertheless. Does anybody know how a mild turns out when bottle conditioned? Does it work well, or is it something that needs to be kegged or put in a cask?

True British ones are incredibly difficult to come by in the US, and there aren't many US brewed ones at all.

Cask > bottle conditioned > kegged.

I will typically split my batches between cask and bottle. So yes, they turn out fine when bottle conditioned, you just want to keep the carbonation low. I prime my bottles to 1.8-2 volumes, and prime my pins 1.2-1.4.

 

[JKaranka]

I'm thinking of brewing a Mild. Not sure how authentic it will turn out since I've never actually had a true British version. I'm intrigued, nevertheless. Does anybody know how a mild turns out when bottle conditioned? Does it work well, or is it something that needs to be kegged or put in a cask?

They turn out fine. I've seen some bottle conditioned milds that are a couple of gravity points stronger than the cask versions, though. Makes sense as the casks are not filled for keeping (they should be dispatched and then gone in a day or two at the pub). My local mild is 3.5% in cask and 4.1% in bottle. They are very balanced beers, though, so keep the yeast and malt characters fairly subdued.

 

[tgif]

True British ones are incredibly difficult to come by in the US, and there aren't many US brewed ones at all.

Cask > bottle conditioned > kegged.

I will typically split my batches between cask and bottle. So yes, they turn out fine when bottle conditioned, you just want to keep the carbonation low. I prime my bottles to 1.8-2 volumes, and prime my pins 1.2-1.4.

Where does beer gas/nitro fit in all of this?

 

[jwalk4]

Where does beer gas/nitro fit in all of this?

Please come and install one in my house and I'll tell you!

 

[Qhrumphf]

Where does beer gas/nitro fit in all of this?

I'm honestly not a fan. It's popular amongst the macro "smooth ale" types, and perhaps over there it may be common in better examples, or it may just be in the exports, but given a choice between a nitrogenated and non-nitrogenated example (Old Speckled Hen and Belhaven are two that come to mind where I can get both forms), I'll take the non-nitro any day. I've always found beer gas to give a metallic tinge that I find unpleasant.

I don't mind Guinness on nitro, but even most stouts I'd prever with just CO2.

Now, that's my personal preference. Putting your English beers on nitro certainly isn't unheard of.

 

[lowtones84]

Agreed that bottle conditioning is a-okay, I do it all the time. As Qhrumphf mentions it's preferable to kegging as far as being closer to a cask ale. I actually condition both my pins and the bottles at 1.3-1.5 volumes and don't personally find the carbonation lacking in the bottles. To each their own, though!

 

[JKaranka]

Nitrokeg is much despised by enthusiasts in the UK. Nothing worse than walking into a pub and finding out they have run out of everything bar the creamflow version of a weak bitter.

Here is what CAMRA said about it in 1996:
http://www.cambridge-camra.org.uk/ale/284/nitrokeg.html

The point I hadn't thought of is that you might get less than a pint due to the unnecessarily large head on it. I assume pubs nowadays tip the head off and top up to comply with law.

 

[tgif]

The big issue they seem to have is with commercial versions. Would it be any better if I kegged the beer with priming sugar/dry hops/fining agents, allowed the beer to carbonate naturally, then dispensed using beer gas? I figure that would alleviate the concern about the beer being "alive".

 

[jlinz]

They turn out fine. I've seen some bottle conditioned milds that are a couple of gravity points stronger than the cask versions, though. Makes sense as the casks are not filled for keeping (they should be dispatched and then gone in a day or two at the pub). My local mild is 3.5% in cask and 4.1% in bottle. They are very balanced beers, though, so keep the yeast and malt characters fairly subdued.

Are they something to crack open after two weeks and drink fast, like hefes?