AG #8: Adnams The Bitter Clone - 29/09/2012

[Kegman]

Hi,

OK, today I've made an Adnams Bitter clone. I based it on steve_flack's post here: http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... =5&t=42698 which I particularly liked because it matched the brew ingredients chart I photographed at the Adnams brewery posted here: http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... =5&t=52921

I scaled it down to make 23 litres but also adjusted the measurements since my Goldings were 5.68% and the Fuggles were 5% (I couldn't get pellets so I'll add the whole in a muslin bag):

Pale Malt................3.74 kg
Brewers Caramel..........8.63 ml (added in boil)
Goldings (whole, 5.68%)...53g..60 mins
Fuggles (whole, 5%)....22g..10 mins
Fuggles (whole, 5%)...19g..dry hop after fermentation

I've been dabbling with batch sparging and didn't feel my 60 minute sparge worked so good so despite steve_flack's post I went for the 90 minute.

I also ended up with more run off than I could fit in the boiler (all the first run-off went in) so I decided to boil for 90 minutes, topping up with the extra run-off for the first 30 minutes, so again a bit of a change.. sorry steve_flack! I did however only boil the Goldings for 60 minutes.

I wasn't sure when to add the Brewers Caramel so that went in at the same time as the Goldings. 8.63ml was a minuscule amount, I ended up measuring it with a cough syrup medicine cup! It must be seriously concentrated if it's going to add any taste.

I used Nottingham yeast and made a flying yeast starter which went well, it was seriously going for it when I added it to the brew.

I intend on adding the dry hop Fuggles after fermentation when I transfer to the pressure barrel.

I'll take some snaps of it tomorrow when it should have a nice yeasty head on it, then update you all with the progress and more snaps.

Kegman.

[super_simian]

The caramel is unlikely to add any flavour, just colour.

[simple one]

The caramel does add flavour if it's the same one as mine - 3500 ebc.
I did this recipe and although it's pretty much the brewery recipe, mine lacked the hop punch/sharpness. I also used flower/leaf to dry hop, and I think if I did it again I would up the amount of fuggles used considerably, testing by tasting for when the flavour is just right before removing of the hops. (I have also bought some fuggle pellets and I think I'll use a mini cask to get the yeast when I have another crack at it)

[Kegman]

The caramel does add flavour if it's the same one as mine - 3500 ebc.

I used Brupaks Brewers Caramel which according to this page here is 33,000 http://hopville.com/recipe/551734 If the Caramel didn't add any flavour it would just be the Pale Malt and hops bringing it which would surely taste more like a summer ale, so my guess is it does.

I did this recipe and although it's pretty much the brewery recipe, mine lacked the hop punch/sharpness. I also used flower/leaf to dry hop, and I think if I did it again I would up the amount of fuggles used considerably, testing by tasting for when the flavour is just right before removing of the hops. (I have also bought some fuggle pellets and I think I'll use a mini cask to get the yeast when I have another crack at it)

Yeah, it'd be good to use the proper yeast as from what I've read, this is the extra piece of the puzzle. I'll get some pellets next time as well.

So far so good, lovely yeast head on it, looks more like a Tarka Dal than a beer right now! Gave it an extra aeration and it smells really good, very Adnams IMO. Obviously licked the paddle clean and that is also very Adnams although sweeter as you'd expect at this stage. Really looking forward to it, I'll put up more pics as I progress.

[Kegman]

Well, it had been fermenting for 48 hours earlier today so I decided it was probably a good time to add the dry hop Fuggles. As I couldn't get pellets I had a muslin bag ready but it dawned on me that it would probably float so hunted around for something to put in to make it sink. I settled on a glass ramekin as it was pretty weighty, fairly small and being glass wouldn't rust or contaminate the beer. I sterilised the ramekin with normal steriliser and boiled the muslin bag for 10 minutes. Added the ramekin and the hops to the bag, tied it up and lowered it in.




And it bloody floated!



Typical eh?! It's mostly under the surface but I'll sterilise my paddle and bob it around a bit daily just to be sure!

[Hogarth]

Looking good there!

I should think your hop bag will be fine as it is. At this stage it'd be better to put the lid on and not introduce any more air into the FV.

Funnily enough I made an Adnams bitter clone on Saturday too. Didn't use any caramel, but I got the yeast from an Adnams keg and so far it's tasting terrific.

[Kegman]

Looking good there!

Cheers, also it's not as yellow as the bulb in that room makes it look...

I should think your hop bag will be fine as it is. At this stage it'd be better to put the lid on and not introduce any more air into the FV.

Good thinking, it's mostly submerged and with my history of infections it's probably best not to touch any more.

Funnily enough I made an Adnams bitter clone on Saturday too. Didn't use any caramel, but I got the yeast from an Adnams keg and so far it's tasting terrific.

Ah fantastic! So other than the caramel, was it the same recipe?

[Hogarth]

Not quite, I went with:

22litres
3.6kg pale malt
320g sugar
20g Challenger (8%) -- 90mins
10g EKG (7%) -- 90mins
10g EKG (7%) -- 15mins
10g Fuggles (homegrown) -- 15mins

OG was 1041, a bit too high. Tonight I'm down to 1017.

I'd have added some black malt but I couldn't find the jar.

For the dry hops I'm going to put some into the fermenter, and some into the keg too. I love that herbal, minty, grassy aroma of Adnams.

Hope yours turns out well. Seeing as you're in Bury you can always pop into the Cannon and try the real thing ...

[Kegman]

OG was 1041, a bit too high. Tonight I'm down to 1017.

Mine was 1044 and today 1004 which calculates as 5.3%. Not what I was expecting at all but hey-ho!

For the dry hops I'm going to put some into the fermenter, and some into the keg too. I love that herbal, minty, grassy aroma of Adnams.

Yeah me too. I'm new to dry hopping, can you just add them to the keg and leave them or do you have to crack it open at some point and fish them out?

10g Fuggles (homegrown) -- 15mins

Do you grow them yourself?

Hope yours turns out well. Seeing as you're in Bury you can always pop into the Cannon and try the real thing ...

Are you referring to The Old Cannon Brewery? If so, yep There's quite a few Adnams pubs around and a pub called the Dove which is probably my favourite around here for real ales.

[Hogarth]

Mine was 1044 and today 1004 which calculates as 5.3%. Not what I was expecting at all but hey-ho!

Hmm, that does seem rather fast and furious, even for Nottingham. How does it taste?

I'm not sure about dry-hopping. Adnams just put hops into the barrel and leave them, but of course that beer's going to be drunk within a couple of weeks. It's different with a homebrew keg that's meant to keep, so it might be a good idea to fish them out after a couple of weeks. There's always my patented dry-hopping with magnets approach.

Yeah, I grow fuggles up the front of my house, which I use for late-hopping and dry-hopping.

I must try the Dove -- I'm always looking for new places for when I go up to Bury to visit my Dad. I generally go into the Old Cannon to drool over the boiler and mash tun. Their beer's pretty good too.

[Kegman]

Hmm, that does seem rather fast and furious, even for Nottingham. How does it taste?

Measured it again yesterday and it was 1012 so I think I must have misread it before. Tastes great BTW

I'm not sure about dry-hopping. Adnams just put hops into the barrel and leave them, but of course that beer's going to be drunk within a couple of weeks. It's different with a homebrew keg that's meant to keep, so it might be a good idea to fish them out after a couple of weeks. There's always my patented dry-hopping with magnets approach.

Now I like that idea! Good thinking

I must try the Dove -- I'm always looking for new places for when I go up to Bury to visit my Dad. I generally go into the Old Cannon to drool over the boiler and mash tun. Their beer's pretty good too.

I know, lovely little set-up they have. The Dove is a bit more rough and ready but very popular with real ale drinkers so nothings sitting around in a cask for weeks on end. In fact, you'll generally find there's different beers on between the lunch time and evening sessions.

[Kegman]

Excuse me while I down this Picture is slightly blurred but you should be able to see that it's beautifully clear and the colour is about right. It tastes bloody lovely, a good malty nose and taste followed by a nice bitter after taste but as another poster pointed out, not enough hops.

When I went to transfer it to the keg I found the hops had actually sunk which was a result. On fishing them out they were sitting in the ramekin (which I'd used for weighing the bag down) and in the bottom was a creamy buttery like substance, I'm guessing from the hops. It would have been good to have had this diluted into the beer rather than sitting in the ramekin so I probably lost some of the hoppy taste right there.

I think I'll go for the Fuggles pellets next time for the dry hopping and also up the quantity, maybe even double it. All in all though, thoroughly recommended.

For the record my original gravity was 1044 and final was 1010 which I calculate to be 4.53%, it's 4.1% in the bottles so pretty close.

Kegman.

[Hogarth]

Glad it turned out well. How does it compare to the real thing? Mine's nothing like, but it's a bloody nice pint: one of my finest.

[seymour]

...Mine's nothing like, but it's a bloody nice pint: one of my finest.

Would you attribute that to the dual-strain yeast balance changing on you, or simply a different grainbill?

[Hogarth]

...Mine's nothing like, but it's a bloody nice pint: one of my finest.

Would you attribute that to the dual-strain yeast balance changing on you, or simply a different grainbill?

I reckon it could be all sorts of things. I got an OG of 1041 and an FG of 1006, which gives me an ABV of 4.5%. That's way too high, cask Adnams is 3.7%. I didn't use caramel, which apparently does lend a taste to the beer. The recipe might have been wrong. The yeast ... who knows? I used all the yeasty dregs from a 5l keg, growing them up in 600ml then 2l of wort. I don't know what yeast I ended up with ... but I will say that this beer is quite similar to one I once made with Wyeast 1335, which is supposed to be one of the Adnams strains. Other factors might be the shape of my fermenter and the fact I'm not brewing it in Suffolk by the sea. The fact is, it's difficult enough even to recreate one of your own beers accurately, so to clone a distinctive beer like Adnams is probably very hard indeed. But I'm going to keep trying.