Recreating Boddingtons

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Clibit
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Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by Clibit » Thu Apr 09, 2015 7:28 pm

I'll update in a month or so!

daf

Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by daf » Fri Apr 10, 2015 7:58 am

I have this clearing up in the FV right now. Fermented really quickly - like in a day, but then it's lower gravity than my usual stuff. I'll post up pics when I bottle it.


HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Snidey Boddingtons

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Standard/Ordinary Bitter
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 25 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 32 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.029
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.037
Final Gravity: 1.008
ABV (standard): 3.79%
IBU (tinseth): 26.79
SRM (morey): 9.44

FERMENTABLES:
3.5 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (87.9%)
0.25 kg - United Kingdom - Crystal 60L (6.3%)
0.03 kg - United Kingdom - Black Patent (0.8%)
0.2 kg - German - Carapils (5%)

HOPS:
20 g - Goldings, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 4.5, Use: First Wort, IBU: 6.06
30 g - Northern Brewer, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 7.8, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 15.76
20 g - Goldings, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 4.97

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temp: 68 C, Time: 90 min, Amount: 36 L

YEAST:
Mangrove Jack - British Ale Yeast
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 78%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 13.89 - 22.22 C
Fermentation Temp: 17 C
Pitch Rate: 0.35 (M cells / ml / deg P)


This recipe has been published online at:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... oddingtons

Generated by Brewer's Friend - http://www.brewersfriend.com/
Date: 2015-04-02 19:07 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2015-04-02 18:55 UTC

Billb

Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by Billb » Fri Apr 10, 2015 9:33 am

Looks interesting - make sure you let us know if you've hit the flavour too.

Clibit
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Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by Clibit » Fri Apr 10, 2015 12:49 pm

I was tempted to use some Northern Brewer late in the boil. Be interested hear how that affects things.

daf

Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by daf » Sun Apr 19, 2015 3:48 pm

Chaps, I am very, very pleased with this. I bottled a dozen and put the rest in the pb. This has properly cleared now, a week later.

Initially the aroma was pure Maris Otter malt, like freshly milled malt grains. A week in and the nose is strawy, woody and honey. Not overpowering, though. Taste is dry bitter malt, with a chalkily dry aftertaste. Exactly as I remember mid to late 1980s Boddies. Head retention isn't as pronounced as I hoped, but it's still there with a third to go. If it was force carbed through a corny there would be no issues.

I will be doing this one again, next brew. As it was low abv it fermented out in a day too!

Image

Image

It's a fantastic cleanser after my usual American IPAs that I normally brew and drink.

Billb

Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by Billb » Sun Apr 19, 2015 10:20 pm

Nice one, thanks for posting back with the photos. This looks really good - so good in fact that I might give it a try!

I notice you fermented it quite cool (17C) - guessing this will have helped keep it a pretty clean taste. I'm preferring to ferment most of my ales in that range now - makes quite a difference.

daf

Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by daf » Mon Apr 20, 2015 6:48 am

Hi and cheers. I'm yet to get an old fridge to make a fermentation chamber so it just goes in the utility room which is the only room without a rad, so it's more luck than design!

Clibit
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Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by Clibit » Mon Apr 20, 2015 8:57 am

That's a lot darker than Boddingtons, i'd cut the crystal and drop the black, but I'm delighted to hear it tastes the same!

Billb

Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by Billb » Mon Apr 20, 2015 9:37 am

True, Boddies was a golden straw colour. I just took it to be the photo white balance and the glow from the Man U shirt! ;-)

Clibit
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Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by Clibit » Mon Apr 20, 2015 10:52 am

Boddies apparently used pale malt and a small amount of brewers caramel, hence the straw colour. There are brewing records to support that, and the colour never changed significantly to my memory. I now think the hopping was mainly about bitterness and much less about aroma, just light hops on the nose. The beer was very dry. I think the way to get close to the Boddies formula is to:

- make a dry beer with a low FG
- use a little brewers caramel, crystal or black malt to reach about 10-12 EBC. I'm going with a little crystal malt, 3 - 4%.
- use a mash temp of about 65C and a yeast that will enable a low FG of about 1.006. Attenuation around 80%.
- use Goldings hops, primarily or solely. I now doubt that hops like WGV and Bramling X were used. Maybe Northern Brewer was used for bittering. It's likely that the hopping changed from time to time though, according to availability/price. Maybe WGV were used at times to make up the hops?
- aim for about 35 IBUs. Not sure about this, the 1987 brewery records show 22 IBUs, but I remember 70s Bodds being more bitter than late 80s. They mellowed it out in the 80s, I think. Maybe post Whitbread take over, 1983. Ron P reckons the bitterness dropped in the late 70s/early 80s. Maybe even push it to 40 IBUs, because I remember 70s Bodds as pretty bitter. That may have been my young palate though! And the dryness may have accentuated the bitterness.

I'm no expert, don't claim to be right, this is just where I've got to by reading stuff and a few brews of a similar nature. Ultimately, I suspect the defining features of Boddies were that it was very pale, very dry, more bitter than most other bitters that were around in the 70s, and hopped with English hops, probably Goldings and little if anything else. The yeast remains a mystery, I think. It's not Wyeast 1318. But I think any English ale yeast which attenuates close to 80% to provide a dry finish with mild esters would be suitable.

daf

Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by daf » Mon Apr 20, 2015 11:54 am

Cheers for the feedback. I'm going to reduce the black patent malt a bit next time around, but I won't add any more crystal. It does look lighter in the hand and in the house, but it's not as golden as Gordon McQueen's barnet just yet. I never checked the final gravity of the beer as I couldn't find my hydrometer (found it now).

I agree about the changes in hops - big breweries needed to shift in volume, and if the price and/or supply of certain hops (English ones anyway) could affect this detrimentally, then they had no qualms about adjusting quantities or buying in different, but similar hops.

Next brew of this is to do a lower mash - 66c - and maybe about 10g bittering at the start of the boil. I will still do the FWH as I think that gives such good balance to the caramel in there.

Billb

Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by Billb » Mon Apr 20, 2015 11:57 am

Thanks for that - all good advice. I'm going to have top try again now!!

Shame we can't tie down the yeast. I think it was 1318 I tried and it certainly didn't make it stand out as Boddingtons. Chances are, even if we could tie down what their yeast strain was it'd be gone now and not commercially available anyway.

daf

Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by daf » Mon Apr 20, 2015 11:59 am

Admittedly I was late to the party (due to my age) in the late 1980s (and under-age) but my impression was that the yeast was quite neutral - however I am a complete novice at this - so I'll just stick to the MJ British Ale yeast right now (and it's in my LHBS!)

daf

Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by daf » Mon Apr 20, 2015 12:00 pm

Have you tried the Marble Manchester Bitter (I haven't) - isn't that supposed to nod towards old Boddies?

Clibit
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Re: Recreating Boddingtons

Post by Clibit » Mon Apr 20, 2015 12:05 pm

I think the yeast was pretty neutral too. I also like the FWH idea. I would reduce your crystal to about 4%,personally, as well as removing the black malt.

Yes I've had Marble Manchester quite a few times - it's not the same as Bodds and not meant to be exactly the same, just a bitter of a similar ilk. It's good, similar, but different.

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