Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter Clone Recipe

[Hanglow]

Is that a trick question?

[Clibit]

Is that a trick question?

Correct. I tricked myself! Went straight to the recipe and wondered where the yeast was!

[McMullan]

Anyone noticed any morphological indications Sussex I is a 'dual strain'?

[orlando]

This is the recipe I used, and Brewlabs Sussex #1 was the yeast. It turned out very nice, even if I do say so myself!

Which yeast did you use?

Have a look at the quote just above your question.

[Clibit]

Rather than all mocking, could someone just tell me what the piggin yeast is?! Cheers

[orlando]

Rather than all mocking, could someone just tell me what the piggin yeast is?! Cheers

Brewlabs won't say, but it is widely believed to be Harvey's but how close it is is even harder to say as Harvey's is a dual strain which presumably has to be kept in balance. but the yeast he used was Sussex # 1 but is number 2 more appropriate, who knows. Try getting a 5l tin of it, if it is conditioned with their yeast you could harvest it and grow it up.

[ManseMasher]

I emailed Harveys a while back, asking about their yeast. No response! So I won't feel guilty about buying a few bottles from their shop and culturing from them. Daft thing is, I used to live about 10 miles from them - now a visit to the brewery involves a flight or a ferry!

[orlando]

I emailed Harveys a while back, asking about their yeast. No response! So I won't feel guilty about buying a few bottles from their shop and culturing from them. Daft thing is, I used to live about 10 miles from them - now a visit to the brewery involves a flight or a ferry!

My last visit I spoke to Miles Jenner and asked about yeast being given away and he said he used to do it but kept finding "competitor" breweries popping up using it so he no longer does it. Most of the bottles I believe are filtered but their Imperial Stout does have the yeast in it.

[Goulders]

If you ask Brewlab (Alison Hedley) for Harvey's yeast they will send you it. Whether that is Sussex 1 or another unnamed vial who knows. I asked for Coniston Brewery and got sent Wards yeast, the now defunct Sheffield brewery; and a great yeast it is too. I've reslanted that one and will be using it for a Bluebird clone in a few weeks when my Boiler is fixed...

[dyqik]

[quote="Bazz"]Just to add to my last post, one thing that i did do that wasn't on Seymours recipe was to add some minerals to the water. Now i haven't really got into the water adjusting side of this hobby yet (I will) but as the owner of my LHBS, who lives a couple of streets away from me, assures me that our water is fine for brewing and tells me he has won competitions with his ale without even de-chlorinating it first. But i read on the Brewlabs website that the Sussex 1 yeast prefers high mineral worts, so between what my LHBS told me and what i've read in Graham Wheelers BYOBRA book i added 10g of Gypsum (5 in the mash and 5 in the boil doing BIAB) and 1g of Epsom salts. Totally un-scientific i know but it seems to have paid off.[/quote]

This makes sense - I did the brewery tour as part of my stag do in 2014, and the second brewer said that they "Burtonize" the water from their well (or possibly that the water is close enough to Burton-on-Trent water - it was my stag do, I'd been drinking by this point). I wouldn't go the whole hog as far as the published Burton-on-Trent water profiles go (see Martin Brungard's article on the Burton-on-Trent water from Zymurgy for why if you can get hold of it), but 10g of gypsum for the sulfate and calcium in fairly low mineral water makes good sense. A bit of calcium carbonate might be appropriate, but may not be, given the geology around Lewes (big chalk cliffs...). I've found it's generally a good idea to use something like the Bru'n'water spreadsheet to get your water headed in the right direction, and to get your mash pH close to where it should be.

Hi everyone by the way - I brew now in Maynard, Massachusetts, but I grew up in Eastbourne and Lewes. Sounds like I need to get a slant of Sussex I next time I'm in the UK (or get Brewlabs to send one over here).

[orlando]

A fundamental of water treatment is to know precisely what your water composition is. All calculators require this for you to get any meaningful results and ensure repeatable results. It is true that some parameters are quite wide, sulphate:chloride ratio for example is a matter of taste largely. Alkalinity however is different and if you live in an area where the alkalinity of your water varies widely it is very important to test for it each brew. That doesn't require a lab analysis each time but it does require at least the use of a Salifert kit. Your local water authority will give you at least an average of what your water content is but it is far better to have a proper lab analysis. Fortunately we have a service provided by one of our number, wallybrew,, that will provide you with a report specifically designed for brewing which can be plumbed in to any water calculator and set you on the road to better and more consistent brewing. Anything else is a bit like blind Archery where you draw a circle round where the arrow hits and claim a bullseye.

[tantalus]

Thank you Seymour. Am about as far away as you can get from a proper pint (nz). This recipe seems just about right ( from memory!).
Maybe it's just the glass I borrowed last time I was over but really enjoying it. will post a pic when i work out how.

Used the white labs fullers yeast (002) and the Brulosophy fermentation schedule . Have one aging on s04 and hope customs will allow a slant of Sussex 1 through soon....

[seymour]

Glad to hear it!

[tantalus]

although did add 100g of weyermans acidulated malt just in case, and ph was low at 4.9. no idea whether that made any difference, but it seems very close. maybe harveys has just a tiny touch of souring? it is certainly different from a lot of other cask ales.

[robbym123]

I have a batch of this fermenting away.
I followed Seymours recipe pretty much to the letter. I was lucky enough to be able to snaffle the dregs of a polypin at a party a few weeks back and built it up via a 2 step starter.

The brew went smoothly, only hitch being that i followed my normal process of increasing the fermentation temperature from 17c to 18.2c when the gravity got to 1.018. Suffice to say i wish i had a blow off tube fitted!.

Early days but hydrometer samples are tasting very 'Harveysesque'.