Help with grain substitutions for Arrogant Bastard clone

[hoppybob]

In the middle of trying to sort out ingrediants for an all grain Arrogant Bastard clone, managed to find the chinook hops but tracking down the US pale two row malt is proving difficult from a UK retailer (and since we need 11.5lbs getting it from the US is out)

The recipe is as follows

11.5 pounds pale two-row malt
1.5 pounds crystal 120
1.25 oz chinook pellets (12.5 aa%) (15.6 AAUs) @ 90 min
1.0 oz chinook pellets (12.5 AAUs) @ 30 min
0.5 oz chinook pellets (6.25 AAUs) @ flame out
1 tsp Irish moss
White Labs WLP007 or WLP001 (English Ale Yeast)

Can the grain be substituted with something more accesible like maris otter?

Also, the crystal malt states 120l but i can only seem to find 90, would i up the malt to compensate or what?

Plus, it asks for white labs english ale yeast 007 (for high gravity ales) but i was wondering if anyone had experience with this type of yeast, having never used white labs yeast before. Is it instantly pitchable?

[Andy]

Maris Otter is 2-row so yes you could use that.

[Seveneer]

I believe DaaB is correct that the pale malt you get from the homebrew shop in the UK is 2 row.

The shop I use carries crystal malt that I believe is 145L but looking at the web page for Warminster Malts, where I believe they order from, they do three colours of crystal, 90, 145 and 180.

Your shop might be able to order what you're after if you ask but personally I'd use the 90 and be done with it if that's what they've got. As DaaB says, just add a little more.

WL yeast is pitchable according to their web page.

/Phil.

[Frothy]

Recipe looks great - what's the volume? I heard last year that Budweiser UK insist on importing all their malt & ingredients from the US. As a farmers son I won't drink it on principal as our own stuff is just as good.

Matt

[hoppybob]

thanks for the quick responses

think i'll go with the maris otter and enquire about the types of crystal they sell, but i'll just add a tad more if all i can get is the 90

The expected abv is about 7%, Ab itself is 7.2 so in and around that and i'll be happy

[Seveneer]

I heard last year that Budweiser UK insist on importing all their malt & ingredients from the US. As a farmers son I won't drink it on principal as our own stuff is just as good.

I wouldn't drink Budweiser because it's cr*p!

[Andy]

I heard last year that Budweiser UK insist on importing all their malt & ingredients from the US. As a farmers son I won't drink it on principal as our own stuff is just as good.

I wouldn't drink Budweiser because it's cr*p!

[BigEd]

In the middle of trying to sort out ingrediants for an all grain Arrogant Bastard clone, managed to find the chinook hops but tracking down the US pale two row malt is proving difficult from a UK retailer (and since we need 11.5lbs getting it from the US is out)

The recipe is as follows

11.5 pounds pale two-row malt
1.5 pounds crystal 120
1.25 oz chinook pellets (12.5 aa%) (15.6 AAUs) @ 90 min
1.0 oz chinook pellets (12.5 AAUs) @ 30 min
0.5 oz chinook pellets (6.25 AAUs) @ flame out
1 tsp Irish moss
White Labs WLP007 or WLP001 (English Ale Yeast)

Can the grain be substituted with something more accesible like maris otter?

Also, the crystal malt states 120l but i can only seem to find 90, would i up the malt to compensate or what?

Plus, it asks for white labs english ale yeast 007 (for high gravity ales) but i was wondering if anyone had experience with this type of yeast, having never used white labs yeast before. Is it instantly pitchable?

While the thin malt flavor of Arrogant Bastard beer is part of the profile using UK pale malt will only drastically improve this beer. Consider yourself lucky that you can't buy American pale malt in Britain. It's very bland in flavor compared to the European malts. Now if you ditch those Chinook hops and use Challenger you will really have an improved beer.

[mysterio]

Yeah, Maris Otter is generally considered a more premium malt, in fact I think you pay quite a bit more for it in the US than the standard base malt. It's supposed to be a bit 'maltier'.

[steve_flack]

The shop I use carries crystal malt that I believe is 145L but looking at the web page for Warminster Malts, where I believe they order from, they do three colours of crystal, 90, 145 and 180.

Warminster quote their malt colours in EBC units - not Lovibond. Anyway the product listing I have for Warminster (http://www.warminster-malt.co.uk/pdfs/mainproducts.pdf) gives their crystal malts as 105, 145, 200 and 400. A rough conversion to Lovibond gives 50, 70, 100 and 200 Lovibond. EBC is the European measure of colour, SRM/Lovibond is the American unit.

It isn't just colour they're aiming for by using the darker crystal malts in Arrogant bastard and other beers. The flavour profile of the different color grades is different and using more than one type of crystal gives a more interesting flavour. In Arrogant bastard it's hardly worth the effort but in other beers that are more balanced, using different crystals can be very worthwhile.

BTW, Whitelabs say their yeast is pitchable. There's plenty of people that would disagree with them. In my experience it is pitchable but unless you make a starter don't expect to see any action for at least 24 hours. For stronger beers especially, a starter is a must IMO.

[Seveneer]

Warminster quote their malt colours in EBC units - not Lovibond. Anyway the product listing I have for Warminster (http://www.warminster-malt.co.uk/pdfs/mainproducts.pdf) gives their crystal malts as 105, 145, 200 and 400. A rough conversion to Lovibond gives 50, 70, 100 and 200 Lovibond. EBC is the European measure of colour, SRM/Lovibond is the American unit.

The Warminster homebrew products listing states 105, 145 and 180 (I mis-quoted 90 rather than 105). Didn't realise it was in EBC though.

/Phil.

[fizzypop boy]

I heard last year that Budweiser UK insist on importing all their malt & ingredients from the US. As a farmers son I won't drink it on principal as our own stuff is just as good.

I wouldn't drink Budweiser because it's cr*p!

but i think you spelt it wrong....it's Budsheiser

[Seveneer]

My mistake!

[niall]

I've used several White Labs yeasts. I've only made a starter once and that was because the yeast was 4 months past 'Best Before' date. White Labs advise making starters in this case and where you're brewing high gravity beers. I've pitched the others straight from the vial and had no problems.

I didn't see you mention your target OG but maybe 7% would qualify as high gravity. Then again if it's a high gravity yeast maybe it doesn't need a starter

[Frothy]

but i think you spelt it wrong....it's Budsheiser

A couple of my favourite beers are American. SNPale Ale, Samuel Adams boston Lager - definately the way lager ought to be. Apparently the most popular beer in the USA is Bud "light" if you could imagine that. Been scratching my head about crystal malt for a while - learn something new every day.

Matt