English Ales - What's your favorite recipe?

[JKaranka]

There we go, added the recipe here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=7526188

 

[Hanglow]

Yeah looks good.

You put lactose instead of lactic acid

 

[JosephN]

I truly can't wait for my English mild to finish bottle conditioning. It has about a 9 days to go, provided it's still has enough viable yeast, which it should.

 

[JKaranka]

Anyone tried brewing with peas? Read the zythophile article again. Thinking of one of those 17/18th century ales: 80% pale / amber malt, 10% peas, 5% oats, 5% wheat. Must be a fun mash. Could try with a farmhouse style yeast. Relatively low hopping (OG 1.065, 40 IBU for something light? or OG 1.090, 60 IBU for something more realistic?).

 

[Hanglow]

That' a new one I assume you use dried split peas?

Come to think about it I've thought about roasting chick peas in the past and adding them as a speciality grain, but never got round to it. The only non grain mash adjunct I've used in the past was pumpkin.

 

[JKaranka]

Yeah, split peas! :-D Could do a blend between a British strong ale and some sort of Belgian farmhouse / enkel.

Maybe I should go easier and try to clone my local mild (bottle version at 4.1%)...

Brewery says:

"Dark 3.5% abv

Our award winning Dark

One of our most popular and famous beers, Dark was first brewed in the 1920s and is still award winning today.

Crystal, chocolate and brown malts create the smooth treacle coloured beer. The recipe, unchanged since the 1920s won the World’s Best Dark Mild at the World Beer Awards in 2011 proving the longevity of Dark."

Aiming at OG of 1.041 (bottle version is stronger) for 5.5 US gallons with:

6.25lb Maris Otter (they don't use it, more like Pearl or something)
12oz Crystal 60L
8oz Brown Malt
6oz Flaked Maize
6oz Chocolate Malt

2/3oz Challenger @ 60m.

Needs about half an oz of Brewers' Caramel to bring the colour from 20SRM to 35+SRM.

 

[WhoDatDad78]

Yeah, split peas! :-D Could do a blend between a British strong ale and some sort of Belgian farmhouse / enkel.

Maybe I should go easier and try to clone my local mild (bottle version at 4.1%)...

Brewery says:

"Dark 3.5% abv

Our award winning Dark

One of our most popular and famous beers, Dark was first brewed in the 1920s and is still award winning today.

Crystal, chocolate and brown malts create the smooth treacle coloured beer. The recipe, unchanged since the 1920s won the World’s Best Dark Mild at the World Beer Awards in 2011 proving the longevity of Dark."

Aiming at OG of 1.041 (bottle version is stronger) for 5.5 US gallons with:

6.25lb Maris Otter (they don't use it, more like Pearl or something)
12oz Crystal 60L
8oz Brown Malt
6oz Flaked Maize
6oz Chocolate Malt

2/3oz Challenger @ 60m.

Needs about half an oz of Brewers' Caramel to bring the colour from 20SRM to 35+SRM.

Mmm that looks tasty.

 

[GHBWNY]

My next English brew is this AG from the HBTF recipe thread, but I can't tell you whose without re-checking.

All-Grain – English Nut Brown Ale
________________________________________
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.012
IBU: 22.7
Boiling Time: 60 min.
Color: 16.3 SRM
Primary Fermentation: 7 days
Secondary Fermentation: 14 days

9 lb Pale Malt (2-Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.6 %
1 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
1 lb Flaked Oats (1.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
0.5 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.3 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.1 %

1 oz Fuggles [AA 4.5%] (60 min) 14.7 IBU
1 oz East Kent Goldings [AA 5%] (15 min) 8.1 IBU

1 Pkg Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Single Infusion mash, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Mash Grain Weight: 11.75 lb
Sparge Temperature: 168F
Sparge Water: 4.2 gal

Mash In: 14.7 qt of water at 166F, mash @ 154F 60 min

** Based on 70% brewhouse efficiency

 

[patto1ro]

Yeah, split peas! :-D Could do a blend between a British strong ale and some sort of Belgian farmhouse / enkel.

Maybe I should go easier and try to clone my local mild (bottle version at 4.1%)...

Brewery says:

"Dark 3.5% abv

Our award winning Dark

One of our most popular and famous beers, Dark was first brewed in the 1920s and is still award winning today.

Crystal, chocolate and brown malts create the smooth treacle coloured beer. The recipe, unchanged since the 1920s won the World’s Best Dark Mild at the World Beer Awards in 2011 proving the longevity of Dark."

Aiming at OG of 1.041 (bottle version is stronger) for 5.5 US gallons with:

6.25lb Maris Otter (they don't use it, more like Pearl or something)
12oz Crystal 60L
8oz Brown Malt
6oz Flaked Maize
6oz Chocolate Malt

2/3oz Challenger @ 60m.

Needs about half an oz of Brewers' Caramel to bring the colour from 20SRM to 35+SRM.

I'd be astonished if the recipe really hadn't changed since the 1920's. In fact I can see that it. In 1951 the OG was 1033.9, whereas more recently it's been 1035 or 1035.5.

 

[JKaranka]

I'd be astonished if the recipe really hadn't changed since the 1920's. In fact I can see that it. In 1951 the OG was 1033.9, whereas more recently it's been 1035 or 1035.5.

That's fairly minimal tweaking in 60 years. I wonder what the OG was before 1930. Somewhere in the 1040-1045 ballpark? To me it would be surprising enough if it always contained Brown and Chocolate malt.

 

[lowtones84]

I'd be astonished if the recipe really hadn't changed since the 1920's. In fact I can see that it. In 1951 the OG was 1033.9, whereas more recently it's been 1035 or 1035.5.

Is this Ron? Thanks for dropping in! For the sake of argument, could be the same recipe with a slightly better efficiency I suppose.

That's fairly minimal tweaking in 60 years. I wonder what the OG was before 1930. Somewhere in the 1040-1045 ballpark? To me it would be surprising enough if it always contained Brown and Chocolate malt.

I agree that it probably has changed at least a bit in that time. The "has withstood the test of time" bit is good fun and marketing though. Why the flaked maize in this if they don't list it? Are you tasting it or giving a guess as a way to dry it out more?

 

[JKaranka]

Is this Ron? Thanks for dropping in! For the sake of argument, could be the same recipe with a slightly better efficiency I suppose.



I agree that it probably has changed at least a bit in that time. The "has withstood the test of time" bit is good fun and marketing though. Why the flaked maize in this if they don't list it? Are you tasting it or giving a guess as a way to dry it out more?

I'd expect it in an ingredient list from the 1920s. Either flaked maize or some invert sugar. It does have a hint of both roasted malt and a hint of dark fruit.

 

[Schol-R-LEA]

That's fairly minimal tweaking in 60 years. I wonder what the OG was before 1930. Somewhere in the 1040-1045 ballpark? To me it would be surprising enough if it always contained Brown and Chocolate malt.

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't modern Brown Malt a relatively new thing? I didn't think that it was made in the 1920s at all, at least not under that name - AFAIK, until about ten years ago, the term 'brown malt' always referred to the straw-fired torrified malt used as the base malt in Porters prior to the 1780s, which slowly declined in use after the introduction of coke-fired pale ale malt, then vanished outright after the development of patent malt made it unnecessary for coloring. What we call 'brown malt' today is pretty much a homebrewing specialty item, unrelated to the older brown malt, being basically a higher-kilned version of amber malt - and like amber, it has no diastatic power to speak of, and hence cannot be used as a base malt.

Also, based on this agricultural website, I had the impression that most if not all of the modern pale ale malts made in the UK today are of barley cultivars developed since the end of WWII (I gather that the main cultivars right now are Concerto for spring barley and Cassata for winter, with the homebrewer favorites Maris Otter, and Golden Promise almost exclusively grown for the home and craft brewing markets - I have heard that no mainstream commercial brewers in the UK still use them, but I don't know how true that is). Apparently one older winter variety, Pearl, is still grown, but I have no idea if any is getting malted in any significant quantity. Whether this would be considered significant, I am not sure, but it does cast more doubt on the 'same recipe for 95 years' claim.

 

[JKaranka]

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't modern Brown Malt a relatively new thing? I didn't think that it was made in the 1920s at all, at least not under that name - AFAIK, until about ten years ago, the term 'brown malt' always referred to the straw-fired torrified malt used as the base malt in Porters prior to the 1780s, which slowly declined in use after the introduction of coke-fired pale ale malt, then vanished outright after the development of patent malt made it unnecessary for coloring. What we call 'brown malt' today is pretty much a homebrewing specialty item, unrelated to the older brown malt, being basically a higher-kilned version of amber malt - and like amber, it has no diastatic power to speak of, and hence cannot be used as a base malt.

Also, based on this agricultural website, I had the impression that most if not all of the modern pale ale malts made in the UK today are of barley cultivars developed since the end of WWII (I gather that the main cultivars right now are Concerto for spring barley and Cassata for winter, with the homebrewer favorites Maris Otter, and Golden Promise almost exclusively grown for the home and craft brewing markets - I have heard that no mainstream commercial brewers in the UK still use them, but I don't know how true that is). Apparently one older winter variety, Pearl, is still grown, but I have no idea if any is getting malted in any significant quantity. Whether this would be considered significant, I am not sure, but it does cast more doubt on the 'same recipe for 95 years' claim.

Hiya! It didn't always refer to the early Brown malt. It's been continuously used as a malt in Britain but it saw a lot of evolution in the 19th century. I'd be keen on some 1850s blow malt myself (Brown was blown like popcorn for a good few years). You can see brown popping up in 20th century recipes quite a lot but not blown anymore. I'd expect the 1920s one to be fairly similar to the modern one. Just to clarify, modern Brown malt isn't just a homebrew fad, it is a malt with a long history that is very different through the 18th, 19th and 20th century.

You can search in Ron's blog for more.

Btw, Amber malt is even more difficult to pin down. Modern Amber is very different from most diastatic Amber malt of the 18/19th centuries. Plus each malting would call different amber things 'amber'. An example was Guinness, where British brewers visiting the brewery would comment on how different their Amber and Black Patent malts were.

 

[patto1ro]

That's fairly minimal tweaking in 60 years. I wonder what the OG was before 1930. Somewhere in the 1040-1045 ballpark? To me it would be surprising enough if it always contained Brown and Chocolate malt.

Yeah, it was probably somewhere in the low 1040's in the 1920's.

 

[Schol-R-LEA]

Well, then, thank you for setting the record straight. Apparently the issue is more complicated than I thought, but then I was mostly going by Terry Foster's descriptions of 18th century porters vs 19th century ones.

 

[JKaranka]

Well, then, thank you for setting the record straight. Apparently the issue is more complicated than I thought, but then I was mostly going by Terry Foster's descriptions of 18th century porters vs 19th century ones.

A reference about blown Brown malt:
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/brown-malt-follow-up.html

Malts are cool and underrated

 

[deere322]

http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2010/07/lets-brew-wednesday-1952-lees-best-mild.html



Just kegged this one up, tasty sample right out of the fermenter.

OG 1.037

FG 1.004

4.4% abv



Used the London Ale III yeast. Very odd aromas when it was fermenting and was a bit worried that I may have got a funky yeast pack, but alas, don't worry...yada yada yada.



Excited to drink it two weeks from now.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1461367775.027979.jpg

 

[JKaranka]

http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2010/07/lets-brew-wednesday-1952-lees-best-mild.html



Just kegged this one up, tasty sample right out of the fermenter.

OG 1.037

FG 1.004

4.4% abv



Used the London Ale III yeast. Very odd aromas when it was fermenting and was a bit worried that I may have got a funky yeast pack, but alas, don't worry...yada yada yada.



Excited to drink it two weeks from now.

View attachment 351420

I remember checking that recipe many times. How roasty is it?

 

[unionrdr]

I had a very interesting experience when asked to do the article about Brewer's Friend's one gallon AG porter kit. Turned out an ale with the usual color, tan head & really good flavor. Very smooth, sessionable...yet rich wonderful flavor. The grains were mixed & no exact grain list was given, however.I'd say it's a nicely sessionable, barely though, of a robust porter. It'd be great with some vanilla bean infusion.

 

[deere322]

I remember checking that recipe many times. How roasty is it?

I didn't find it roasty at all but it's still young so time will tell.

 

[deere322]

Rather tasty as a matter of fact

 

[JKaranka]

Scaled from metric. Expecting 90% attenuation with the sacc followed y brett combo. 9% ABV, ~70IBU, 12SRM.

10.5lb Maris Otter
1/2lb Amber Malt
1.5oz Black Malt
1.5lb Invert Sugar Syrup

1.5oz Challenger @ 60m
2.5oz EKG @ 20m

If the OG doesn't hit the region of 1.075 I can always top up with some more invert but I'd be happy enough with hitting 1.070 and leaving it around the 8.5% mark.

Just bottled this one into champagne bottles. It's been going three and a half months with brettanomyces C. I had a tad more volume and a bit less efficiency so ended up with an OG of 1.065.

The bottling sample was surprisingly clean. Dry, just a vague hint of pineapple. No molasses or sherry notes yet. Slight feeling of sweetness even if it was pretty dry and crisp, probably because of the flavour of the invert sugar. Definitively didn't taste the aprox., 60 IBU its meant to have. Got high hopes for it once it funkifies for a couple of months.

 

[Hanglow]

How did you pitch the yeast? Co pitch at the start or bottle with the brett? Those champagne bottles should hold up well to any secondary fermentation

 

[lowtones84]

Sounds pretty nice to me, what kind of style are you aiming for?

I'm brewing a gruit today, but using my last two years of English beer brewing experience for the malt bill. I've done a couple of gruits before, so I'm relatively confident in this.

4 gallons

6 lb. Maris Otter
.5 lb. Crisp Crystal 77L
1 oz. Roasted Barley
8 oz. raw honey @ flameout

Yarrow, Marsh Rosemary, Sweet Gale, and my own addition to the traditional gruit herbs: Hyssop. These will be done in three additions, dialing back on the more mossy herbs and up on the floral for flameout. A bit higher ratio of crystal than I typically go for, but I think a bit of extra sweetness may help those who aren't used to this kind of beverage. Smelling pretty fantastic right now if I do say so myself!

 

[JKaranka]

How did you pitch the yeast? Co pitch at the start or bottle with the brett? Those champagne bottles should hold up well to any secondary fermentation

I let Sacc. work for 6 days before adding the Brett. I've left it for 3 & 1/2 months working with the Brett. and bottled it with a small priming sugar addition (about half of what I'd usually go for). I'm going to crack one or two in the meantime, but mainly thinking about drinking around Christmas.

It's a stock ale (a bit like a KK used to be). The closest in the BJCP 2015 would be Old Ale (17B). The numbers and ingredients actually seem to fit with the BJCP guidelines, apart from the drier finish. I just think BJCP is a bit funny saying the lowest FG in an old ale aged with bugs is 1.015.

 

[JKaranka]

Drove to Belgium (almost 8 hours to get to Bruges ferry included). XX Bitter is like a historic British pale ale having brewed some. Maybe darker than all pale with some sugar but bitterness is good.

 

[Hanglow]

I had a bottle of that very fresh a few months ago and I think I got a bad bottle It was very bitter as intended but completely TCP laden and very thin. I also had their Saison de dottignies, which was pretty good

 

[JKaranka]

Absolutely loved Liefmans Goudenbad. It's like a Belgian old ale / stock ale. Britain definitively has to get back into stock ales...

 

[deere322]

So I've been using Fuggles quite a bit lately and need to start using my lb of EKG I have in the freeze.
I created this recipe on a whim and would like some critiques please.


3 By Gold Bitter

7.5 lb GP
1lb lyles golden
1.5 oz Goldings 60
.5 oz Goldings 15
.35 oz Goldings 0

London ale III

Mash 152