12/02/09 - London Pride

[Jymbo]

Did this today using Wheelers recipe and Wyeast 1968. Adjusted slightly to suit efficiency and added a few extra IBUs to compensate for 2L starter and for low yeast attenuation with 1968. Also added a few EKGs in at 10 mins.

Brewlength: 23L
Efficiency 70%
Target OG: 1040
Mash Temp: 66C
Mash Duration: 90 mins

Grain Bill

Maris Otter: 3860g
Crystal: 150g
Flaked Maize: 325g
Black Malt: 28g

Hop Schedule

90 mins: Northdown(7.9%), 11g
90 mins: Challenger(8.0%), 20g
15 mins: EKG(5.8%), 20g
5 mins: EKG(5.8%), 10g

Yeast: Wyeast 1968, 2L Starter (200g DME)

Bitterness: 33 IBU

Everything went smoothly - only diversion from plan was that I got 23L @ 1044 instead of 23L at the planned 1040. Not sure where the extra efficiency came from. Adding the starter bumped the final volume up to 25L.

[adm]

Nice work Jymbo. i love a good pint of Pride. Used to drink it all the time....

[Jymbo]

Gravity finished up at 1010. That's an apparent attenuation of 77%. I thought this one was supposed to be a low attenuator. Anyway, bottled 3L and put the rest into the keg. Crystal clear already.

[DarloDave]

let us know how this turns out, i wouldnt mind having a crack at a london pride clone

[Jymbo]

Will do - tasted decent enough going into the keg. My only concern is that there's not enough yeast left in suspension to carbonate. I had trouble with this yeast in the past - after ten days in the fermenter there wasn't enough yeast left to carbonate the keg.

[Jymbo]

Had a few pints from the keg last night for the footy. Excellent taste - very, very close to the real thing. The yeast was a bit awkward to work with but the results were worth it - I would highly recommend this recipe.

The only real trouble I had with this brew was that there wasn't enough yeast left in suspension to carbonate when I kegged it. Luckily I'd kept some of the slurry in a bottle so I made a very small starter and threw it into the keg and that did the business. I also had to rouse the yeast every day for the last couple of days in the FV to keep it going.

[Jymbo]

Had a few more last night and a bottle of real LP. Next time I'd add a few extra flavour/aroma hops just to get closer.

[Hogarth]

It's a bugger this yeast, isn't it? I used it six weeks ago and the beer was as bright as daylight come bottling day. It's just beginning to get fizzy now. Tastes lovely, though.

Glad to hear your LP turned out well. If you do it again, have you thought about caramelizing some of the first runnings in a saucepan? It emphasizes the toffee taste that's v. characteristic of Pride.

[Jymbo]

have you thought about caramelizing some of the first runnings in a saucepan?

I've tried this before, Hogarth , thought not in LP. Turned out alright in a Clotworthy Dobbin - although it made it a bit too sweet, I probably needed to up the IBUs to compensate. Have you had good results with caramelizing in LP? BTW, what LP recipe did you use - I thought the Wheeler recipe was pretty close, although I've also heard good reports about Dave Line's recipe.

[Hogarth]

I've made variations on the Dave Line version, usually omitting the sugars. Caramelizing does make it sweetish but that's how I like it. The thing I love about real London Pride is how much flavour and body it has given its relatively low ABV, and caramelizing helps with that.