Old Burton IPA?

[JKaranka]

Has anybody tried to brew the old Burton IPAs? Not just one or two of the characteristics but most of them?

Mainly:
- OG around 1.055-1.065 of just pale malt
- 80-120 IBU, mainly low %aa bittering hops
- 800ppm sulphur water
- Dry hopped
- Brett aged for at least 9 months

 

[unionrdr]

They weren't sours that I ever read. I made a #3 Burton AE a couple years ago on 10/8/11 according to my notes. But afterword, I read I needed more hops. They never said what kind though. English hops it would seem to me? Here's a shot of the finished beer anyway.

And a shot of the ingredients;

OG was 1.065 against estimated 1.070. FG 1.018. But next time, I'd at least double the hops to get it a bit closer to the original that was dying out as a style in the 1890's.

 

[JKaranka]

Brett wouldn't make it sour. It would just munch some of the complex sugars drying it out. Brett Claussennii would be the one to use m

 

[unionrdr]

Here's some reading on old English ales & Burtons to contemplate.
https://zythophile.wordpress.com/tag/burton-ale/
http://www.beerconnoisseur.com/burton-ale
And some specifics on ingredients & tasting notes;
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2012/01/lets-brew-wednesday-1879-william.html
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/05/burton-ale-in-1790s.html
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/02/improved-burton-ale.html
Hope these help a little.

 

[JKaranka]

Ah, I've read most of those. I was more wondering about experiences brewing a Burton IPA rather than references:-D Btw, not Burton ale, which was more of a strong stock ale that became darker over time.

 

[unionrdr]

They were numbered, And the #3 I brewed was said to be the precursor of modern pale ales. From what I read elsewhere, they were highly hopped. So they'd be more of a full-flavored IPA by today's definition. I used US fuggle, willamette & US golding at the time, as the lhbs didn't have to English originals of the fuggle & EKG. Using one ounce of each, the flavor was nice. But doubling the amounts & using the English originals would increase the flavor. The US species are lighter flavored & inferior in my opinion.

 

[Headcutter]

This is a project that I just started to work on. My first batch isn't ready yet, but I already know that my recipe needs to be reworked.

http://www.headcutterbeer.com/first-attempt-white-label-ale/

http://www.headcutterbeer.com/white-label-ale/

 

[jrgtr42]

IIRC, there was an article a couple years ago in Brew Your Own magazine about Burton ales.
Again, IIRC, it was a big (imperial) IPA recipe, then allowed to sit and age for a year or so. At that point, all the hop aroma and flavor would fade out, leaving the big malt character, with some bitterness left behind.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, the #1 Burton was more like a barleywine IPA from my reading? Nice read headcutter. I figured that EKG had to be prominent in the brew, But back then, wood & straw, or both were used to kiln malts, the straw kilned being the more favored one. So pale malt to them may well have been the color I got. It came from one of the links I have as being a ruddy amber. My now lost file showed a watercolor poster add for the beer that shoes the ruddy amber color. Still can't find another link for that one.

 

[JKaranka]

I shouldn't have used Burton in the title! Lots of ales were brewed in Burton, mainly pale ales. They were famous for exporting IPA (as were London and Edinburgh). Burton ale is a different thing, and became a darker beer over time.

Has anybody brewed with the historic Burton water profile? 800ppm sulphur, etc.

 

[Headcutter]

Check out the links above. But like I said, my first batch isn't ready yet. For my next attempt I will lower the FG, and set the OG based on a higher than expected attenuation.

 

[JKaranka]

Yes, just read. Curious to see how they come out. I think back in the day they were more extreme (more hops, more sulphur) although conditioned longer to compensate.

 

[Headcutter]

I put lots of gypsum in this one. Those numbers are for a 10L batch.

 

[Headcutter]

I agree that an export version would be more extreme. Also, you'll note that I decided not to go for any Brett, which was one of the things mentioned in your first post.

 

[unionrdr]

I think you may be right about the conditioning time. I've read some pretty wild claims that Fox8 news talked about once. some college or other did some research & found one brewer added some drug to the casks to make it seem older than it was. He claimed the casks were 14 years old! I gotta call BS on that one. How ya gonna stay in business with that many barrels tied up for so long? Anyway, English hops & pale malt for sure. If anyone goes AE, I'd use Munton's plain extra light DME with pilsen LME @ flame out. I love the herbal lemon grass of east kent golding, the herbal tea of stirling as well. The excess hops could be another compensation for the brackish water in Burton Upon Trent? I still have some packets of Burton salts I never used.