Brewday 14/08/2008 - Belfast Ale Clone
Brewday 14/08/2008 - Belfast Ale Clone
After my last disasterous brewday I've decided to have another bash at formulating my own recipe. This time it's a Belfast Ale Clone. Here's the recipe:
Brewlength: 19L
Target OG:1043
Efficiency: 70%
Bittering: 34IBUs
Mash Duration: 90 mins
Grain
Maris Otter: 3450g
Crystal Malt: 300g
Chocolate Malt: 65g
Torrefied Wheat: 120g
Hops - Bittering
EKG(5.4%): 13g
Northdown(7.9%): 9g
Challenger(7.1%): 10g
Hops - Flavour and Aroma
15 mins - Fuggles(3.7%): 20g
5 mins - Fuggles(3.7%): 10g
0 mins - Fuggles(3.7%): 30g
10g Irish Moss @ 10 mins
Yeast: Safale-04
Started the mash about an hour ago at 67C. I've added plenty of Fuggles to the recipe for flavour and aroma as the cask version of this ale has lots of hop character. Hope it turns out OK - I did a Clotworthy Dobbin clone a few months back (also from whitewater brewery) and it turned out excellent.
Brewlength: 19L
Target OG:1043
Efficiency: 70%
Bittering: 34IBUs
Mash Duration: 90 mins
Grain
Maris Otter: 3450g
Crystal Malt: 300g
Chocolate Malt: 65g
Torrefied Wheat: 120g
Hops - Bittering
EKG(5.4%): 13g
Northdown(7.9%): 9g
Challenger(7.1%): 10g
Hops - Flavour and Aroma
15 mins - Fuggles(3.7%): 20g
5 mins - Fuggles(3.7%): 10g
0 mins - Fuggles(3.7%): 30g
10g Irish Moss @ 10 mins
Yeast: Safale-04
Started the mash about an hour ago at 67C. I've added plenty of Fuggles to the recipe for flavour and aroma as the cask version of this ale has lots of hop character. Hope it turns out OK - I did a Clotworthy Dobbin clone a few months back (also from whitewater brewery) and it turned out excellent.
Kegged: 'Nowt
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Pretty straightforward brewday. The calculations were fairly good - I planned for 19 litres @ 1043 and got 19.5 litres @ 1042. Still got the cleaning up to do 

Kegged: 'Nowt
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Yes, Jim - I got some info on the grist from oblivious. Apparently the "Beer & Cider in Ireland: The Complete Guide" states:
You can taste the chocolate in Belfast ale - although it's much less pronounced than in the Clotworthy which is essentially an Irish red. So hopefully 65g is about right - it didn't seem too pronounced when i tasted the wort.
I based the recipe on this - not sure how it'll turn out but I based my Clotworth Dobbin recipe on info from the same source and it turned out very well.Belfast Ale grist is pale, crystal, chocolate and some malted wheat for head retention.
Hops are challenger, North down and Goldings for bittering and some Fuggles at the end of boil. It is susposed to be bitter that an Irish red but less an a best bitter
You can taste the chocolate in Belfast ale - although it's much less pronounced than in the Clotworthy which is essentially an Irish red. So hopefully 65g is about right - it didn't seem too pronounced when i tasted the wort.
Kegged: 'Nowt
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Good man, Roger. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
Kegged: 'Nowt
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Down to 1016 this morning - had a bit of a sip too. This one is going to be good.
Kegged: 'Nowt
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Roger, not sure if you've done this brew yet, but you won't be disappointed. It's been in the keg for a week and a half now and it tastes superb. The fuggles and the malt are very well balanced and the bitterness is just right. It could probably have done with a bit more chocolate to get closer to the Belfast Ale taste, but it's turned out very nice in it's own right.
Kegged: 'Nowt
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
I fermented at about 18-19 C with Safale-04 - took about a week to finish.
Kegged: 'Nowt
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Mine finished a few points lower than that, Roger - what yeast did you use?
Kegged: 'Nowt
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com
Bottled: Summer Lightning, Belfast Ale, JPA, Guinness Foreign Export
http://www.hopandgrain.com