I just got an email reply from the head brewer at Shepherd Neame in the UK.
He gave me some great insight into the recipe and procedure for their Spitfire pale ale, which I had on cask recently. It was delicious, with a very nice diacetyl character. I'll post my email and the reply below. This is invaluable information on how to get that character in an english PA. Might be old news to some, but I was super stoked to hear it!
Here's the reply:
Hi Dylan
Thanks for your e-mail enquiry - it's great to hear you are a fan of our iconic Spitfire ale.
The key flavour contributors to this beer are the Shepherd Neame yeast, and Goldings + First Gold hops. You will be able to purchase the hops but the yeast is unique - I am not aware of 1275 Thames Valley Ale yeast but it sounds like a good starting point to use.
Well done for spotting the diacetyl character - this results from cropping the yeast after cooling to 4C as soon as fermentation has finished. We high gravity brew at 1048 OG and then dilute to sales gravity post fermentation.
Your current fermentation profile matches ours pretty closely - we collect at 18C, allow a free rise to 21C and then control at that temperature until target PG is achieved - this is 1008.5.
The grain bill is UK Pale Ale malt with UK crystal malt at 15% of the malt grist and some high maltose brewing sugar at 10% of the total extract.
Bittering hops are UK Admiral and we add the Goldings and First Gold 5 minutes before casting the copper.
Hope this helps and good luck with your brewing.
Richard
Richard Frost
Master Brewer & Production General Manager
Shepherd Neame
He gave me some great insight into the recipe and procedure for their Spitfire pale ale, which I had on cask recently. It was delicious, with a very nice diacetyl character. I'll post my email and the reply below. This is invaluable information on how to get that character in an english PA. Might be old news to some, but I was super stoked to hear it!
Here's the reply:
Hi Dylan
Thanks for your e-mail enquiry - it's great to hear you are a fan of our iconic Spitfire ale.
The key flavour contributors to this beer are the Shepherd Neame yeast, and Goldings + First Gold hops. You will be able to purchase the hops but the yeast is unique - I am not aware of 1275 Thames Valley Ale yeast but it sounds like a good starting point to use.
Well done for spotting the diacetyl character - this results from cropping the yeast after cooling to 4C as soon as fermentation has finished. We high gravity brew at 1048 OG and then dilute to sales gravity post fermentation.
Your current fermentation profile matches ours pretty closely - we collect at 18C, allow a free rise to 21C and then control at that temperature until target PG is achieved - this is 1008.5.
The grain bill is UK Pale Ale malt with UK crystal malt at 15% of the malt grist and some high maltose brewing sugar at 10% of the total extract.
Bittering hops are UK Admiral and we add the Goldings and First Gold 5 minutes before casting the copper.
Hope this helps and good luck with your brewing.
Richard
Richard Frost
Master Brewer & Production General Manager
Shepherd Neame