English Ales - What's your favorite recipe?

[monkeymath]

Somebody sent me a SMaSH beer made with Chevalier, Goldings and Wyeast 1275 and it was fabulous.

I need to find friends like yours.

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

I stocked up on some beer today...

 

[duncan_disorderly]

I need to find friends like yours.

It was a stranger off the interwebs actually! Had a lot of hops in it. Which I think is a good call with Chevallier.

 

[cyberbackpacker]

I stocked up on some beer today...View attachment 753039

I wish I could find that in Michigan!

 

[Hanglow]

My bitter brewed, bottled, carbed and dropped clear in under two weeks. Most of it dropped off at my dads house for him to get stuck into.

Bit of an aggressive pour meant a more german head, I'll say it was planned in tribute to the caramunich.

Happy xmas everyone

 

[schmurf]

I stocked up on some beer today...View attachment 753039

I only know one place in Sweden you can get those... unless you bought it in the UK?

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

I only know one place in Sweden you can get those... unless you bought it in the UK?

Well, you can also order things online through Systembolaget and pick it up at your nearest store...

 

[ba-brewer]

I brewed an AK bitter hopped with only Bramling Cross and there is a pretty distinctive minty flavor and aroma. I have only used Bramling Cross a few times before and flavor was more earthy. This was a new package of unknown harvest year, wondering if they sent something else or would minty be normal?

 

[kmarkstevens]

So, made a 3 gallon Chevallier SMASH with EKG for a BUGU ~1 and will dry hop with 5 grams on a 8 plato/1032 brew. Essex ale yeast with a small pitch. I also ordered 25 pounds of Chevallier from Midwest. Zeroing in on the right SMASHY keeper for this grain: An 8 plato session, a best bitter, and then mayhaps a barley wine.

 

[Knox]

I brewed an AK bitter hopped with only Bramling Cross and there is a pretty distinctive minty flavor and aroma. I have only used Bramling Cross a few times before and flavor was more earthy. This was a new package of unknown harvest year, wondering if they sent something else or would minty be normal?

Bramling Cross can have a minty quality when picked at the right time. When I was in Wales for vacation before this pandemic, I went to a brewery and the brewers were kind enough to spend an hour talking with me. There I learned that Bramling Cross is a hard hop to pick, as it has a relative narrow window for picking to get the best quality. There they talked about Bramling Crosses aroma and flavour qualities as being minty, peppery, black berry and hoppy.

Now that you mention bramling cross, the brew I have homebrewed the most of the last two years have been this British Golden Ale (see attached recipe). I am unsure how british it is in its current iteration, a few sacrileges have been committed:

1. I use purely Danish malt, mostly because I want to support a local maltster the best I can.
2. I don't even use Maris Otter (I really love a good quality Maris), instead I use Vienna. This is mostly because of availability and the maltster's pale ale malt just doesn't do the same as Maris.
3. I have begun using the cream ale blend from White Labs for all my ales. As I think it does a very good job at providing a fruity estery flavour to the beers without overpowering them.

Edit: Don't mind the Mash Ph or water profile. They depend on the water I get. I often take water from work which is soften, but sometimes I use my tap water which is pretty hard. RO water is expensive where I live, so it aint worth buying.

Cheers

 

[ba-brewer]

Thanks for the information @Knox, I could not find anything that referenced mint for brambling cross. I was a bit surprised when looking for information that there not many hops with a mint flavor. I recall getting some mint from some of the hallertau type hops.

Interesting recipe, I tend to use a few pounds of vienna malt to add a little character but I can see how it would be pretty good as the main base malt. I have never used the cream ale blend but it too seems interesting.

 

[Knox]

Thanks for the information @Knox, I could not find anything that referenced mint for brambling cross. I was a bit surprised when looking for information that there not many hops with a mint flavor. I recall getting some mint from some of the hallertau type hops.

Again it is anecdotal from my own experience and sensory evaluation, and from my memory talking with these Welsh brewers. You ain't alone!

Interesting recipe, I tend to use a few pounds of vienna malt to add a little character but I can see how it would be pretty good as the main base malt. I have never used the cream ale blend but it too seems interesting.

I generally just like Vienna Malt. It is like a house malt for me.
The Cream Ale blend surprised me, I did a few differnet takes with the yeasts.

1. S-04
2. US-05
3. London Ale
4. Cream Ale Blend

When I tasted the version with Cream Ale Blend, I hit the nail on the coffin. I was really happy with it.

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

Got some books in the mail.

 

[schmurf]

That's going to keep you busy for a while! Although they aren't exactly the kind of books you read from cover to cover

 

[kmarkstevens]

Quintuplets! RonP must think Xmas has actually come this year. I only have two of his books and one bespoke recipe. If you haven't done it yet, I do suggest requesting a birthday recipe (or a specific date of your choosing). Ron searched my birthday all the way back to the same date almost 40 years earlier in 1925 to find me a beauty of a 1032 partigyle AK (also included free as part of the partygyle was a PA and XK).

It's also a great birthday gift if you know a homebrewer, and combine the recipe with the ingredients.

Anyhoo, if you like Shut UP, it's the least you can do.

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

Only problem is I intended to order one copy of bitter! and one of strong!.
But then I accidentally the whole thing and ended up with 2 copies of bitter!.

 

[bwible]

Got some books in the mail.

I bought Mild! and Bitter! last year. Awesome references.

 

[bwible]

Thanks for the information @Knox, I could not find anything that referenced mint for brambling

I’ve seen Northern Brewer (the hop) described as having mint notes.

 

[Knox]

I’ve seen Northern Brewer (the hop) described as having mint notes.

Interesting! I haven't used Northern Brewer (the shop and hop! ) before, nor really looked at it if I am being honest.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

(sniffs)

Well I do use this stuff sometimes, that could be it?

https://www.originalsource.co.uk/products/originals/mint-shower-gel/

 

[bwible]

Interesting! I haven't used Northern Brewer (the shop and hop! ) before, nor really looked at it if I am being honest.

It was in all the Pete’s Wicked clones back in the day. I’ve used it a few times as a bittering but not recently. It does appear in English ale recipes, usually for bittering.

 

[Knox]

It was in all the Pete’s Wicked clones back in the day. I’ve used it a few times as a bittering but not recently. It does appear in English ale recipes, usually for bittering.

Before my time, unfortunately I have never had it. Probably why @Northern_Brewer was never really interesting to me as a hop. But maybe I should try it out in an ordinary bitter or in the Wicked Ale clone

 

[schmurf]

Only problem is I intended to order one copy of bitter! and one of strong!.
But then I accidentally the whole thing and ended up with 2 copies of bitter!.

Well if you have a spare copy and want to get rid of it, just send me a message and I'll buy it from you.

 

[DBhomebrew]

I’ve seen Northern Brewer (the hop) described as having mint notes.

Yep. I did some darker beers last year with NB FWH and bittering.. A little mint came through. Was really nice in a dry stout. Not a menthol hit, but very refreshing.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

It does appear in English ale recipes, usually for bittering.

Northern Brewer is a bit of an anachronism these days - she was one of the first varieties bred as a bittering hop, there was a brief period when an 8% alpha hop was exciting and lots of beers used her, but then she was fairly quickly superceded by newer varieties with higher alpha or better agronomics. I'm not sure anyone grows her seriously in the UK any more, but like her grandmother Brewer's Gold she does get grown a bit in Germany as they like her soft bittering for helles.

 

[cyberbackpacker]

Got some books in the mail.

Nice, enjoy! I have 16-17 of @patto1ro Ron's books, and they are great. As mentioned not what one would typically say is a style of book you would read cover to cover, but I actually did so, just because that's my personality.

Nevertheless, I find myself returning to these books often. Lots of great nuggets, tables, etc. that over time I can refer too when wanting to craft a recipe or need clarification on something.

 

[bwible]

Cracked open one of the pale ales I did with the Verdant yeast. Only bottled it a week ago. Light carbonation and its not completely clear.

 

[bwible]

Northern Brewer is a bit of an anachronism these days - she was one of the first varieties bred as a bittering hop, there was a brief period when an 8% alpha hop was exciting and lots of beers used her, but then she was fairly quickly superceded by newer varieties with higher alpha or better agronomics. I'm not sure anyone grows her seriously in the UK any more, but like her grandmother Brewer's Gold she does get grown a bit in Germany as they like her soft bittering for helles.

I have an American Pale Ale on deck I’m going to brew with NB for bittering and Cascade and Citra for finishing hops

 

[bwible]

Quintuplets! RonP must think Xmas has actually come this year. I only have two of his books and one bespoke recipe. If you haven't done it yet, I do suggest requesting a birthday recipe (or a specific date of your choosing). Ron searched my birthday all the way back to the same date almost 40 years earlier in 1925 to find me a beauty of a 1032 partigyle AK (also included free as part of the partygyle was a PA and XK).

It's also a great birthday gift if you know a homebrewer, and combine the recipe with the ingredients.

Anyhoo, if you like Shut UP, it's the least you can do.

I was intrigued by this and just looked at it. Somethings wrong, when you click on his button its generating an error saying “This agency is not eligible for donations.” ?

 

[WesBrew]

lots of info in here, i couldn't possibly absorb it all. I think i'm going to pump out some drinkable english ales this year and wanted to clean-up my untested recipes.
-i've never used sugars, are they drying out the beer? adding any flavor? full boil or add late? was also kicking around Admiral as a late hop in some of them but haven't seen it mentioned here. would some victory be out of place in a bitter or mild?
-also i used a balanced water profile on a recent Bronze medal ESB that was described as a little too malty for a strong bitter, should i lean towards a little bitter on the water? Water was adjusted on Brewers Friend. I used S04 and i'm not sure i loved it.