? re: Real Ale Almanac

[monk]

I've been trying to formulate some recipes from this as of late and ran into a bit of a snag: some of the recipes give % for all the grist, then a separate % for sugar.

E.g.:
96% pale malt
4% crystal
10% invert

What does this mean? Perhaps I am dense...I do drink a lot of beer. How do you come up with the actual amount of invert?

Help a brother out!

Thanks,

The Monk

[boingy]

That particular one means someone either can't type or can't add up. I think it's just an error. I'd guess it should say 86% pale.

[monk]

Alrighty then! Somehow all the Brakspear ales are broken down that way. Then again, my copy is also one page off on the index (whatever ale you're looking for is actually one page later in the book than the index says).

It just occurred to me that this year is the 35th anniversary of Dave Lines' BBLTYB...so I might end up doing the Brakspear Special out of that anyway.

Thanks!

[Brotherton Lad]

Or does it mean 96% and 4% go into the mash and then an extra 10% goes into the boil, since you would stick the sugar in the boil and not the mash?

[seymour]

That particular one means someone either can't type or can't add up. I think it's just an error. I'd guess it should say 86% pale.

+1

I think so, too. For instance, according to my records, the recipe for Brakspear Special Bitter/SPA/Old/XXXX is:
86% Maris Otter, 3% Crystal Malt, 1% Black Malt, 10% #2 Invert Syrup

[oz11]

Or does it mean 96% and 4% go into the mash and then an extra 10% goes into the boil, since you would stick the sugar in the boil and not the mash?

That's how Les Howarth explains it in the "Home Brewer's Recipe Database". Makes sense, providing the malts add up to 100%