Modern Homebrew Recipes (19 page)

Formulation notes:
The back malt is only for color adjustment; using debittered black malt is fine. The rest of the ingredients are fairly traditional for English-style beers. The corn adds the rounded quality, with the Victory malt playing up the biscuit notes found in the base malt.

Variations:
This beer can handle more dry hopping; the listed version is fairly gentle in that department. The mix of hops is one of my favorites for English beers, but the varieties can be played with to get a different character. Using something more daring than Fuggles and Goldings is fun, but the Styrians work very well. The yeast can be changed but it won’t likely be quite as dry. Swapping calcium chloride for calcium sulfate in the water treatment will also reduce the dryness and sulfate content.

ENGLISH PALE ALE

This is a beer I brewed with my friend Ken Weems, who is one of the people who first taught me to brew. It was in the middle of winter, right before New Year’s Eve, and we both wanted something warming and chewy we could enjoy during the rest of the winter. But the caveat was we didn’t want a sipper; we wanted pints.

Style:
Strong Bitter (Classic BJCP Style)

Description:
Quite strong by modern English standards, this is in the range of export strong bitters. Probably borderline Strong Ale in England.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

RO water treated with ¼ tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons

1 tsp CaCl
₂
and 2 tsp CaSO
₄
in mash

Mash technique:

Infusion, mashout, dark grains and crystal malts added at
vorlauf,
no sparge

Mash rests:

152°F (67°C) 60 minutes

168°F (76°C) 15 minutes

Kettle volume:

13.5 gallons (51 L)

Boil Length:

90 minutes

Final Volume:

11.5 gallons (44 L)

Fermentation temp:

Start at 68°F (20°C), allowing to rise to no more than 72°F (22°C)

Sensory Description:
Malty-rich with bread, biscuit, and toffee flavors and a fruity yeast quality. The bitterness is quite high, but that will reduce with age. The hops have a floral, fruity, and spicy quality.

Formulation notes:
The no sparge technique reduces efficiency but improves the quality of the malt flavor. The Northdown and Tettnanger hops both add a spicy quality to the aroma. The increase in crystal malts add a more robust body and residual sweetness with dark toffee flavors. A warmer ferment adds additional fruitiness. The bready malt base easily supports the strong bitterness and fruity-spicy flavors.

Variations:
The hops can be changed if spicy late hops are not to your liking. The late hop character can be increased with dry hopping or increasing the quantity of knockout hops. Scaling the beer up to the 7 to 8% ABV range changes the overall feeling of the beer since the fruity flavors are often more prominent as it ages. Since this is a no sparge beer, you can also just make a strong beer with the first runnings and not bother topping off the kettle to the target pre-boil volume.

LANDLORD TRIBUTE (SMASH)

I tried to think up a cutesy name for this, but why bother? Timothy Taylor’s Landlord is truly a world-class beer. Enjoyed fresh from the cask, it is a sublime experience. This recipe is my tribute to this classic beer, which features the signature flavors of Golden Promise malt, Styrian Goldings hops, and Yorkshire yeast. You can’t really substitute any of those ingredients and still make the same beer. If there is ever a reason to buy a cask beer setup, this beer is it. This beer is on the strong side for an everyday bitter in the UK, so it often competes as a strong pale ale.

Style:
Best Bitter (Classic BJCP Style)

Description:
Light amber color, moderate bitterness, dry and hoppy finish with bready, toasty malt flavors. The flavor dimension of this beer is astounding in its complexity given the simplicity of the recipe.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

RO water treated with ¼ tsp (1.2 ml) 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons

1 tsp CaCl
₂
in mash, 0.5 tsp CaCO
₃
in boil.

Mash technique:

Infusion, mashout, dark malt added at
vorlauf

Mash rests:

152°F (67°C) 60 minutes

168°F (76°C) 15 minutes

Kettle volume:

8.5 gallons (32 L)

Boil Length:

70 minutes

Final Volume:

6.5 gallons (25 L)

Fermentation temp:

68°F (20°C)

Sensory Description:
It is surprising how much character and complexity comes from the malt in this beer; if asked to guess, I would have suspected a more complex grist. The biscuit quality in Golden Promise is much less than Maris Otter, and is more balanced. The bitterness is average for an English bitter, noticeable but not extreme. The dryness and tannic hop character enhance the hop bitterness, and provide balance for the malt (along with the minerally yeast). I like to serve this beer at cellar temperature (55–58°F/12–14°C) to maintain the right balance. If served too cold, the malt won’t be as tasty or impressive. Light amber color, a bit cloudy when young but eventually drops bright.

Formulation notes:
I tried to use the classic ingredients in this recipe, and to develop the same flavor profile and appearance as the inspiration beer. Golden Promise malt is a must; you can vary the maltster to see which you like better. Styrian Golding hops are required as the aroma addition. The 1469 yeast is the same Timothy Taylor yeast from West Yorkshire, so you really do need that for the minerally character. The dark malt is for color adjustment; you can use other methods if desired. The long hot steep of hops is intentional to provide a drying quality. Note the boil time and volumes (this beer required a hard boil).

Variations:
If you want to make this as a single malt and single hop (SMaSH) beer, use all Styrians for hops and decoct the grain to deepen the color. I think the brewery might use Fuggles as a flavor addition, so you might consider that as well if you are actually trying to clone the beer.
You could use this as a basis for a different bitter with perhaps Maris Otter as the base malt and any of the other well-regarded English yeasts (my preference would be the Wyeast 1335 British Ale II).

EXPORT IRISH RED ALE

After a trip to Ireland in February 2014, I learned a great deal about the differences between domestic Irish and export versions of Irish Red Ale. The local variety is like a grainy pale ale, while the export version is stronger and has a fuller body and more caramel character. Both are excellent beers, but I prefer drinking the export variety since it has a softer finish and more flavor. Many American craft brewers produce stronger versions of this style, but I prefer the more moderate strength version since the alcohol does not interfere with the malty flavors.

Style:
Irish Red Ale (Classic BJCP Style)

Description:
An export-style Irish Red Ale with a chewy body and slightly sweet balance. Caramel and toast flavors provide significant malt character. What most US judges think of as a classic example, so this tends to do well in competitions.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

RO water treated with ¼ tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons

1 tsp CaCl
₂
in mash

Mash technique:

Infusion, mashout, dark grains and crystal malt added at
vorlauf

Mash rests:

151°F (66°C) 60 minutes

168°F (76°C) 15 minutes

Kettle volume:

8 gallons (30 L)

Boil Length:

75 minutes

Final Volume:

6.5 gallons (25 L)

Fermentation temp:

70°F (21°C)