Federation Special Ale - Northern Clubs UK

[aamcle]

I've lifted this from an out of print book.

For 23 litres.

Pale Malt.....................2900g
Torreffied Wheat..........460g
Black Malt...................45g
White Sugar................500g

Hops.

Target.........................25g at 90 mins
East Kent Goldings......5g at 15 mins
Syrian Goldings...........5g at 15 mins
Irish Moss...................10g

Yeast Nottingham or S04 at 19°C

Mash 66°C for 90 mins
Boil............for 90 mins
OG............1.040
FG............1.006
ABV...........4.6%
IBU...........22
Colour.......23 EBC.

This was brewed for the Federation of Workingmen's Clubs in the UK. The Clubs have gone, the brewery has gone and so has the beer, it was so long ago that I can barely remember what it tasted like.

I'll be brewing it soon.


aamcle

 

[Ogri]

Those bittering hop additions are the epitomy of frugality That brewery knew how to eek out their money's worth.

Interested to hear your impressions of the final product and whether it brings the nostalgia flooding back, either way.

 

[JKaranka]

I think it has been transcribed as time from boil. I've seen that before in older UK recipes. Really it means one 90m addition and two 15m additions. The original recipe is likely to have contained invert sugar syrup instead of plain sugar and/or flaked maize.

 

[aamcle]

I think it has been transcribed as time from boil. I've seen that before in older UK recipes. Really it means one 90m addition and two 15m additions. The original recipe is likely to have contained invert sugar syrup instead of plain sugar and/or flaked maize.

Your right I've transcribed it the wrong way around I'll fix it now.



aamcle

 

[aamcle]

Brewed and gone, it was well received by those who got a taste

Considering how simple and inexpensive it is to make I can hardly recommend it enough.

aamcle

 

[Northern_Brewer]

It looks like you're out on the FG - according to the Whitbread Gravity Book, draught Fed Special came in at 1.011 (and a smidge higher OG as well at 1.041 per the label for an attenuation in the 72-74% range and 3.8%-ish ABV, also the colour was a tad lighter at 17-18).

I guess if you're looking for a dry yeast then Mangrove Jack's M15 Empire Ale might be appropriate, it's meant to be very similar to the now-discontinued M03 Newcastle Dark, which was supposedly from a brown ale from those parts...

 

[aamcle]

I took the recipe from one of Graham Wheelers Brew Your Own British Real Ale books, mine is not the current one version. They don't all list the same recipes and what's more some of the actual recipes were updated from book to book and yeasts are never specified.
Graham recently died with his final project unfinished which is quite a loss for the brewing hobby.


ATB. aamcle

PS. I'm entering his recipe for Top Hat Bitter into a beers swap to be held in his memory and following that up by brewing some more Fed Special to get my beer stocks up.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I guessed it would be a Wheeler recipe, white sugar and then making up the colour with black malt is quite typical of his recipes, certainly in the old days. Which is not a criticism, just a reflection of what was readily available to homebrewers, there was far fewer hops available and no liquid yeasts etc. He adapted as better ingredients became available.

But if you look at more recent recipes then it looks like Fed used Target, Bramling Cross and (presumably Hereford) Goldings in all their beers, and then either Challenger or "Styrians" (Savijnski as we would now call them). In those days there may have been little choice of yeast beyond S-04 and Notty, but something like M15 looks a better match. I'd replace the white sugar + black malt with glucose syrup or golden syrup.