More to real ale recipes ?

[Fatgodzilla]

I enjoy getting onto this forum as a means of building up new knowledge on brewing. The Real Ale Recipe threads is brilliant and I have tried to emulate some of the recipes with limited results. It makes me realise that local conditions (inc water and yeast) must be just as important as the malt and hops added to make a good brew. For instance, I made a simple ale out of marris otter and EKG using Wyeast London Ale - the result isn't undrinkable, just fairly bland and thin.

Now I am thinking that the brewer, faced with his simple ingredient bills, must do some things to ensure the bill makes a better beer. What are some of these techniques ? Surely a clone recipe for a real ale using one grain one hop and whatever yeast you want can't be that simple.

Remembering I live in Australia, have never visited the UK and probably can't, the real ale raved about can't be that dull, can it ?

[monk]

Just a guess, and that from someone with no more experience than you, but I would imagine that brewers use carefully (temperature ) controlled fermentation to get some great flavors out of their yeasts. Also, the realities of their brewhouse may contribute--perhaps their kettles cause some caramelization to occur? I think that's one of the most fun parts of homebrewing: discovering what characteristics your own homebrewery has and exploiting them to make the best beers you can.

[steve_flack]

IMO the two ends of the beer strength spectrum are the hardest to get right - 5-6% are easy but the low strength beers are hard to make taste not like hopped water and really strong ones are hard to make not taste like syrup. There's a lot of skill in making a great 3.7% bitter - even a lot of commercials don't get it right.

[BeerCheez]

The recipe you just gave was virtually identical to my first AG brew, and I wasn't too impressed with what resulted either. One big difference for me was mineralising my water (see the table in Ben Turner's book 'The Beer Makers Companion') I have started adding black malt (about 10%) using two or three different hop types at different stages in the boil (make sure they are fresh never old!) and finally ditch Wyeast london ale (In my opinion it gives the same nasty bread flavours you get in Gervin dried ale yeast). Doing all this will improve your beer (as it has mine) very much.

[subsub]

Agree totally Steve, getting a big beer taste for a small beer is a pain. And it's mainly what I concentrate on now.

[mysterio]

I'm not so sure, I find the low gravity bitters amongst the easiest to brew and are usually my best beers... get your mash temperatures right, use a decent yeast (not Nottingham...WLP023 is my current favourite) and it should be a doddle. And dont slap CO2 on them, just prime the keg and use minimal pressure to dispense to avoid killing the hoppiness (don't ask me why, but force carbonation kills hops). Drink it fresh and dry hop with some Goldings pellets if it's going to be hanging around.

[Fatgodzilla]

Thanks all. Just an aside, my "local" - read "nearest" home brew club (some 200klm away) is the Illawarra Brewers Union (The IBUs) is going through a CAMRA phase. We have a mad pommy or two in the group and beer engines are now the club's latest craze. We'll be having a real ale day in February next year. Who would think it, a bunch of stupid Aussies and the odd lost Pommy drinking "real ale" in the heat of the Australian summer. We have to cool the beer down to get to British room temperature. Beer engines of course and not a gas bottle in sight. Anyone near Sydney (we are based in Wollongong, 80klm south of Sydney) at the end of February welcome.

[Madbrewer]

I'm not so sure, I find the low gravity bitters amongst the easiest to brew and are usually my best beers...

Are the recipes easiest to formulate though Mysterio? I too like to brew a session beer, But I find it a challenge getting something 'interesting' to drink rather than a thin bland brew (if I construct the recipe myself). If you have a good recipe to start with though it's generally not a problem & like you say it's fermentation tends to be easier & clears down quicker.

[MartialAnt]

Remembering I live in Australia, have never visited the UK and probably can't

If ever you want to do a straight house swop so you can live in the UK just PM me. Mines a 3bed semi in a nice quiet area just below the Lake District. So if you ever want to see rain then this is the place to be.

[Fatgodzilla]

If ever you want to do a straight house swop so you can live in the UK just PM me. Mines a 3bed semi in a nice quiet area just below the Lake District. So if you ever want to see rain then this is the place to be.

I awake every morning to the sounds of waves breaking on the beach and the birds .. well they squark not cheep. And we are still in drought here. Maybe we should organise a holiday swap so you can see some sun and I can see some rain. You'd have to walk my dog (part dingo actually). We'll agree to leave some beers in the fridge !

[confused]

going back to the original recipe surely a brew made of purely MO will be pretty thin. I've never fancied it myself, preferring always to have some kind of crystal, caramalt, roast malt etc to give a little body and sweetness to the beer.

Brewing with MO alone you've got something akin to a lager recipe, with an ale malt and yeast?

[oblivious]

IMO the two ends of the beer strength spectrum are the hardest to get right - 5-6% are easy but the low strength beers are hard to make taste not like hopped water and really strong ones are hard to make not taste like syrup. There's a lot of skill in making a great 3.7% bitter - even a lot of commercials don't get it right.

I have been thinking about this, have you ever though of making a low strength bitter with Vienna or all Munich malts?

[jonnyv]

I've brewed with just MO before.

I did a two hour boil and got some great caramlisation going on which in turn made a great beer hopped with just Fuggles.

[bosium]

You'd have to walk my dog (part dingo actually).

He doesn't eat babies does he?