British Golden Ale Miraculix Best - Classic English Ale

[Miraculix]

Friday afternoon... it has taken all this time and all these beers to use up that 20 litres of silly maths mistake. Basically I'd put in ten times the amount of crystal due to a single decimal point error, and enough ignorance/stupidity not to automatically recognise it at the time.

Beer 1 = one gallon demijohn. I was so determined to taste your lovely beer. So restored the quantities to your original recipe by making enough Maris otter/wheat malt blend to dilute the 'crystal mess' to the right proportions. Used Lallemand English Ale London yeast. Summit/EKG hops.

Beer 2 = 20 litre carboy. Half and half 'crystal mess' to ''maris/wheat' blend. Lallemand English Ale London yeast. Summit/EKG/Cascade hops.

Beer 3 = one gallon demijohn. Pure 'crystal mess' to see what it would turn into. Hops and yeast chosen to attempt to be citrusy/orangy to go with the dark caramel to make a marmalade beer. Lallemand Nottingham yeast with Amarillo hops and nectarine peel. Strong OG of 1:054. This'll either be vile or fabulous but I had to make it to find out.

Beer 4 = one gallon demijohn. Same idea as 3. Lallemand Nottingham yeast with Mandarina hops and nectarine peel. Same turbo OG. This is a gentler hop than Amarillo so we'll see.

Beer 5 = 12 litres in a bucket. A small beer made from the second runnings. It had to be boiled fast as it had begun fermenting on it's own with all these other goings on. Used Nottingham yeast. Summit + some mystery hops that I suspect are Citra. Low OG 1:024 so added 150g golden syrup.

Finally finished. A daft thing to do, but learned a lot and we'll have oodles of beer. We will taste this recipe after all as long as no infection sets in. Fingers crossed.

That sounds like a fun experiment! I have to ask, did the wort just stand around all the time or did you start fermenting it before? Our did you reboil the wort?

 

[Mumathomebrew]

I hadn't boiled the wort after extraction once I realised the mistake. It was standing around before I boiled it and hopped it for each beer.

 

[Miraculix]

I hadn't boiled the wort after extraction once I realised the mistake. It was standing around before I boiled it and hopped it for each beer.

Ok, so if there was something growing in it is not anymore. That is good.

 

[Mumathomebrew]

Beers 2 & 3 look as if they're brewing ok, but beer 1 has a sort of fleshy brain thing filling the whole demi. There appears to be beer around it but it's huge. Weird.

 

[balrog]

Hey @Miraculix , where I shop there's no Crisp 57L. I can get Bairds Medium Crystal (70-80L) or Thomas Fawcett (81-90L). Without taking wads of time and energy to shop elsewhere for 4.4 oz of english crystal Crisp 57L would you go with the Bairds or the Thomas Fawcett?

 

[Miraculix]

View attachment 762077 View attachment 762078 View attachment 762079
Beers 2 & 3 look as if they're brewing ok, but beer 1 has a sort of fleshy brain thing filling the whole demi. There appears to be beer around it but it's huge. Weird.

Well..... That surely looks weird

I think it might be a ghost, or yeast being strange.

Hope for the latter!

I would just wait it out, it will probably settle.

 

[Miraculix]

Hey @Miraculix , where I shop there's no Crisp 57L. I can get Bairds Medium Crystal (70-80L) or Thomas Fawcett (81-90L). Without taking wads of time and energy to shop elsewhere for 4.4 oz of english crystal Crisp 57L would you go with the Bairds or the Thomas Fawcett?

I have no idea. I think I would go with Thomas because I know the maltster, but not the specific malt. Only judged by colour, Bairds would be closer though. I'm afraid I cannot help here, both will probably result in a fine brew.

 

[InspectorJon]

I made this beer today. The step mash turned out better efficiency than normal for me so I added some water at the end to get the SG right. More beer!

That Pub yeast is crazy. Its like cottage cheese. The yeast pouch was 4 months old so I made a half liter starter a couple days ago. My son commented on how strange the starter looked on the stir plate. I took it out of the refrigerator this morning, decanted and let it warm up. I put about 8 oz. of wort from the first step in with the yeast while I finished mashing and brewing. Kind of a vitality starter. It was bubbling when I pitched it at 5 o'clock. The beer in the carboy was foaming and blowing bubbles through the blowoff tube within 2 hours. I froze about 30 ml of the thick slurry from the starter to add to my yeast bank. I can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[Miraculix]

I made this beer today. The step mash turned out better efficiency than normal for me so I added some water at the end to get the SG right. More beer!

That Pub yeast is crazy. Its like cottage cheese. The yeast pouch was 4 months old so I made a half liter starter a couple days ago. My son commented on how strange the starter looked on the stir plate. I took it out of the refrigerator this morning, decanted and let it warm up. I put about 8 oz. of wort from the first step in with the yeast while I finished mashing and brewing. Kind of a vitality starter. It was bubbling when I pitched it at 5 o'clock. The beer in the carboy was foaming and blowing bubbles through the blowoff tube within 2 hours. I froze about 30 ml of the thick slurry from the starter to add to my yeast bank. I can't wait to see how this turns out.

That sounds like s very good brew day! Glad to here that, I've hadn't had a very good one myself since some time

... Too much experimenting lately...

 

[eshea3]

I have no idea. I think I would go with Thomas because I know the maltster, but not the specific malt. Only judged by colour, Bairds would be closer though. I'm afraid I cannot help here, both will probably result in a fine brew.

Both are competent malting companies. I've used the Fawcett, but had to change recently since my homebrew shop switched to Crisp. Not sure most people tasting the final result will be able to notice a difference between the 2.

 

[Miraculix]

Both are competent malting companies. I've used the Fawcett, but had to change recently since my homebrew shop switched to Crisp. Not sure most people tasting the final result will be able to notice a difference between the 2.

I just read that Fawcett has about 200 years of company history, so it's probably not the worst choice.

 

[eshea3]

I just read that Fawcett has about 200 years of company history, so it's probably not the worst choice.

Bairds about the same.

 

[Miraculix]

Bairds about the same.

Then there is only one solution! Double batch!

 

[balrog]

M-hm, m-hm, double, hmm. Yeah, I don't have the brew time for that. I'm going to disappoint further by letting you know that since Imperial is not readily available I'm going to try the Lalbrew London. Sorry to let you all down.

 

[Miraculix]

M-hm, m-hm, double, hmm. Yeah, I don't have the brew time for that. I'm going to disappoint further by letting you know that since Imperial is not readily available I'm going to try the Lalbrew London. Sorry to let you all down.

I like that one, it just does not floc so well.

 

[balrog]

I like that one, it just does not floc so well.

Nuts. Sorry to hear that. I despise things that don’t get the floc out of my dip tube’s way after they’re done. Then again, I love my WY1007. I am nothing if not complex.

 

[InspectorJon]

I brewed this on March 12, pitched a healthy starter of Pub A09. I thought this was only a moderate attenuater. FG is 1.006. My OG was 1.055 and I used Brewer's Friends' calculator to add water to bring it down to 1.047. I did not measure after dilution. Either the calculator was off or I used it wrong or this yeast accomplished 87% AA. The gravity sample tastes nice, like an English beer I have had on draft in a California pub. I'll bottle this weekend and see what the final product is like in a few weeks.

Has anyone else had Pub attenuate this much? I did the step mash. 45 minutes in the mid to upper 140s, 30 minutes around 160 and 15 minutes at 170F.

 

[Miraculix]

I brewed this on March 12, pitched a healthy starter of Pub A09. I thought this was only a moderate attenuater. FG is 1.006. My OG was 1.055 and I used Brewer's Friends' calculator to add water to bring it down to 1.047. I did not measure after dilution. Either the calculator was off or I used it wrong or this yeast accomplished 87% AA. The gravity sample tastes nice, like an English beer I have had on draft in a California pub. I'll bottle this weekend and see what the final product is like in a few weeks.

Has anyone else had Pub attenuate this much? I did the step mash. 45 minutes in the mid to upper 140s, 30 minutes around 160 and 15 minutes at 170F.

Never. How much water did you add and how much volume did you have before the dilution? As long as tastes good, all is good.

 

[cire]

Adding 1 part for every 6 parts of beer at 1055 (eg 1 gallon for every 6 gallons) would reduce gravity to 1047.

1006 is not altogether unusual for a British cask conditioned ale as they continue fermenting/conditioning in the pub cellar until they are served.

Step mashes are not normal for British beers in general, ales in particular. Low protein, well modified malts and pre treated mash liquors obviate any gain from acid and protein rests.

I'm sure the beer will be fine.

 

[InspectorJon]

I ended the boil with 15 quarts at 1.055. I added 2 quarts, which I thought would make it 1.047. I think it will be fine. I’m just surprised that Imperial Pub would attenuate at 87%.

I have read several other places that the step mash would help create better foam and could increase mash efficiency. The only other time I did it was with a doppelbock and I got higher mash efficiency than I anticipated that time also.

 

[Miraculix]

I ended the boil with 15 quarts at 1.055. I added 2 quarts, which I thought would make it 1.047. I think it will be fine. I’m just surprised that Imperial Pub would attenuate at 87%.

I have read several other places that the step mash would help create better foam and could increase mash efficiency. The only other time I did it was with a doppelbock and I got higher mash efficiency than I anticipated that time also.

It is not typically English but it enhances pretty much everything that we want to be enhanced in this recipe, I even think my biceps grew during the mash and I got fuller hair than yesterday, so yes, do it!

Your attenuation is completely not normal at all for this particular strain. Did you maybe use too much of the simple sugar?

The step mash makes better foam, better attenuation (not that high though), better efficiency and you start being the most attractive person in the world. Oh boy is the step mash a good idea to do!

 

[cire]

(15 X 55) / 17 = 48.5 , so 1048 after diluting 15 quarts @ 1055 to 17 quarts.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

My second batch of this beer is now ready, literally perfect timing as my last keg of the first batch kicked a couple days ago.

 

[Miraculix]

My second batch of this beer is now ready, literally perfect timing as my last keg of the first batch kicked a couple days ago.

That looks pretty good! The haze will go away in one or two weeks.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Yeah, it was the same way on the last batch. It was kegged a week ago so I expect it to take another 2 weeks to clear and mature a little. Its already good and I know it will get better. Great recipe.

 

[InspectorJon]

Your attenuation is completely not normal at all for this particular strain. Did you maybe use too much of the simple sugar?

I used 10 oz of table sugar inverted with lemon juice while I mashed and brewed. This in a batch aiming for 3.5 gallons into the fermenter.
75% 4.625 lb MO
10% 10 oz malted white wheat
10% 10 oz cane sugar, inverted
5% 5 oz Bairds Crystal 57L

Just bottled today. Tastes great. It has been sitting at 1.006 for three days now

 

[Mumathomebrew]

Reporting in from post 479.
Beer 1 - original correct recipe = got chucked as it had grown something weird in it
Beer 2 - half and half = quite nice but unstable ferm temps made it taste a bit like aspirins. Drinkable but not necessarily delicious (yet). Might improve with time.
Beer 3 & 4 - pure 100% mistake versions = actually both really, really delicious and would deliberately make this recipe wrong again on purpose. These are like dark stout marmalade. The Amarillo version was brighter but the Mandarina was lovely too. What luck from a mistake.

Beer 5 - small beer = haven't had time to take off the trub yet. Maybe ruined by now.

Thank you for the fun and the learning curve. I'll make this the right way again to try this properly. If the mistakes were this delicious then I bet making it correctly makes the most wonderful beer. I'll be sure to find out.

 

[kmarkstevens]

That Pub yeast is crazy. Its like cottage cheese.

Pub flocs like crazy. Like a snow globe with big old chunks. It's a great yeast.

 

[Miraculix]

Reporting in from post 479.
Beer 1 - original correct recipe = got chucked as it had grown something weird in it
Beer 2 - half and half = quite nice but unstable ferm temps made it taste a bit like aspirins. Drinkable but not necessarily delicious (yet). Might improve with time.
Beer 3 & 4 - pure 100% mistake versions = actually both really, really delicious and would deliberately make this recipe wrong again on purpose. These are like dark stout marmalade. The Amarillo version was brighter but the Mandarina was lovely too. What luck from a mistake.
View attachment 764899
Beer 5 - small beer = haven't had time to take off the trub yet. Maybe ruined by now.

Thank you for the fun and the learning curve. I'll make this the right way again to try this properly. If the mistakes were this delicious then I bet making it correctly makes the most wonderful beer. I'll be sure to find out.

Thanks for the update! I'm glad it turned out well... Sort of

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

Speaking of hopsytosis, I have about 4kg of hops in my freezer and... How long do I have left?