- Recipe Type
- All Grain
- Yeast
- Lallemand Windsor (1 Packet)
- Batch Size (Gallons)
- 5.5 Gallons / 21 Litres
- Original Gravity
- 1.054
- Final Gravity
- 1.013
- Boiling Time (Minutes)
- 30
- IBU
- 45
- Color
- 25 EBC
- Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
- 6 days @ 20°C, 4 days @ 21°C
- Tasting Notes
- Nutty, Orange Marmalade, Crisp
Sharing the recipe for this, having kicked the keg in record time.
I grew up in a pretty small village (circa 1200 people) in the South-West of England. Despite being small, we had, at varying times since I was born, between 1 and 3 pubs, and since it reopened in 1984, our own brewery (still inhabiting the site of a traditional English tower brewery dating from 1833 that had closed towards the end of the 19th Century).
Earlier in the year I heard that Chas Wright, the man who revived the brewery in 1984 (and a regular feature at many local pubs within a 2 or 3 mile radius of the village) had died, and so I decided to try and design and brew something that acted as a bit of a homage to him and his beers. Of the core range put out by Uley Brewery, Pig's Ear was always my favourite, and something I drank a truly absurd amount of off the hand-pump in the village local during my late teens and early twenties.
Pig's Ear is a 5% "Prize Ale", variously described as a Strong Bitter and Pale Ale by other sources. It's a pretty typical British cask beer of 5% ABV, a lovely copper-amber colour, and a great balance between bitterness and sweetness. It's pretty much exclusively available in pubs within about a 30 mile radius of the Brewery. One of the most marked characteristics of Pig's Ear's flavour profile that I've seldom seen in other beers of its style is a very pronounced nuttiness- specifically, something like roasted hazelnut- which plays really well with the earthy and mildly orange-marmalade hops and decent whack of crystal malts they clearly use. I'm not 100% definite, but I'm pretty sure they're using no adjuncts/sugar in Pig's Ear and other than that and taking a sort-of-guess they're using Warminster malts based on location and occasional (and quite possibly misinterpreted) allusions...I have exactly zero insight into the actual recipe.
I set out to make, not a clone per se (probably a hard thing to clone given I've had maybe 3 pints of it in the last five years...) but a homage of sorts to my memories of Pig's Ear, that channelled the same sort of flavour profiles and tickled my amygdala in the same highly nostalgic way. And, in my humble opinion, I succeeded.
My version is probably a little darker than the real thing, erring more towards Old Spot (Uley's other 5% Strong Bitter) in colour, but I'm very happy indeed with the flavour. A fantastically sessionable English pint with that characteristic nuttiness shining through.
Vital Stats:
ABV: 5.4%
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.013
EBC: 25
IBU: 45
BU/GU: 0.83
Recipe as below for circa 21L/5.5 gallon fermenter volume:
Using Warminster Floor Malted Maris Otter is really important. It pushes the MO "nuttiness" extra hard compared to other maltsters such as Crisp. It'll probably be good with other MO or flavoursome pale ale malt, but not quite the same. Mash profile is extremely simple:
Aim for circa 45 IBU with around 39-40 of that coming from boil additions. I did a modern 30 minute boil with UK challenger at 30 and a small hit of First Gold at 10m for a combined estimated 39.6 IBU followed by a beefier whirlpool of 70g First Gold done on the cooler side of the default 80°C. Yes, the bitterness is probably on the higher side for the style, but it balances exceptionally well and versions I brewed with IBUs in the 30s simply didn't present as well.
Fermentation is simple: you can do 10 days at 20°C with a single pack of Windsor, by which time it should have quite happily fermented out. You might want to ramp slightly towards the end to minimise diacetyl but honestly I think the risks are pretty low. My attenuation was bob-on 75% which IMO is perfect for this style of beer at this sort of ABV.
For fining, I dropped half a Protafloc in the boil at 5 minutes, and then 4ml BrauSol at kegging, but it could equally just be left to condition. The photo above is at around 3 weeks conditioning time at 6°C by which time it was beautifully crystal clear as you can see.
I grew up in a pretty small village (circa 1200 people) in the South-West of England. Despite being small, we had, at varying times since I was born, between 1 and 3 pubs, and since it reopened in 1984, our own brewery (still inhabiting the site of a traditional English tower brewery dating from 1833 that had closed towards the end of the 19th Century).
Earlier in the year I heard that Chas Wright, the man who revived the brewery in 1984 (and a regular feature at many local pubs within a 2 or 3 mile radius of the village) had died, and so I decided to try and design and brew something that acted as a bit of a homage to him and his beers. Of the core range put out by Uley Brewery, Pig's Ear was always my favourite, and something I drank a truly absurd amount of off the hand-pump in the village local during my late teens and early twenties.
Pig's Ear is a 5% "Prize Ale", variously described as a Strong Bitter and Pale Ale by other sources. It's a pretty typical British cask beer of 5% ABV, a lovely copper-amber colour, and a great balance between bitterness and sweetness. It's pretty much exclusively available in pubs within about a 30 mile radius of the Brewery. One of the most marked characteristics of Pig's Ear's flavour profile that I've seldom seen in other beers of its style is a very pronounced nuttiness- specifically, something like roasted hazelnut- which plays really well with the earthy and mildly orange-marmalade hops and decent whack of crystal malts they clearly use. I'm not 100% definite, but I'm pretty sure they're using no adjuncts/sugar in Pig's Ear and other than that and taking a sort-of-guess they're using Warminster malts based on location and occasional (and quite possibly misinterpreted) allusions...I have exactly zero insight into the actual recipe.
I set out to make, not a clone per se (probably a hard thing to clone given I've had maybe 3 pints of it in the last five years...) but a homage of sorts to my memories of Pig's Ear, that channelled the same sort of flavour profiles and tickled my amygdala in the same highly nostalgic way. And, in my humble opinion, I succeeded.
My version is probably a little darker than the real thing, erring more towards Old Spot (Uley's other 5% Strong Bitter) in colour, but I'm very happy indeed with the flavour. A fantastically sessionable English pint with that characteristic nuttiness shining through.
Vital Stats:
ABV: 5.4%
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.013
EBC: 25
IBU: 45
BU/GU: 0.83
Recipe as below for circa 21L/5.5 gallon fermenter volume:
| Malt | Weight | Percentage |
| Floor Malted Maris Otter (Warminster) | 4.56 KG | 85% |
| Crystal Double Roast Caramel (Simpsons) | 0.268 KG | 5% |
| Crystal T50 (Simpsons) | 0.268 KG | 5% |
| Wheat Malt (Crisp) | 0.268 KG | 5% |
Using Warminster Floor Malted Maris Otter is really important. It pushes the MO "nuttiness" extra hard compared to other maltsters such as Crisp. It'll probably be good with other MO or flavoursome pale ale malt, but not quite the same. Mash profile is extremely simple:
- Mash at 65°C for 45 minutes.
- Mash out at 75°C for 15 minutes.
| Hops | Type | AA | Weight | IBU | Timing | Process |
| UK Challenger | T90 | 8.0% | 43.5g | 29.2 | 30m | Boil |
| First Gold | T90 | 7.0% | 30g | 9.7 | 10m | Boil |
| Frist Gold | T90 | 7.0% | 70g | 6.1 | 30m | Whirlpool @ 75°C |
Aim for circa 45 IBU with around 39-40 of that coming from boil additions. I did a modern 30 minute boil with UK challenger at 30 and a small hit of First Gold at 10m for a combined estimated 39.6 IBU followed by a beefier whirlpool of 70g First Gold done on the cooler side of the default 80°C. Yes, the bitterness is probably on the higher side for the style, but it balances exceptionally well and versions I brewed with IBUs in the 30s simply didn't present as well.
Fermentation is simple: you can do 10 days at 20°C with a single pack of Windsor, by which time it should have quite happily fermented out. You might want to ramp slightly towards the end to minimise diacetyl but honestly I think the risks are pretty low. My attenuation was bob-on 75% which IMO is perfect for this style of beer at this sort of ABV.
For fining, I dropped half a Protafloc in the boil at 5 minutes, and then 4ml BrauSol at kegging, but it could equally just be left to condition. The photo above is at around 3 weeks conditioning time at 6°C by which time it was beautifully crystal clear as you can see.
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