23/7/2009 Clotworthy Dobbin v5

[Jymbo]

Yes, it's another Clotworthy Dobbin clone. The fifth attempt to be precise - hopefully I'll strike gold this time. Anyway, here's what I came up with:

Name: Clotworthy Dobbin v5
Brewlength: 19 litres
Mash: 90 mins @ 66C
Boil: 90 mins
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Target OG: 1050
Target FG: 1012
IBUs: 28
Water: Porter type (Graham's water calc)

Grist

Maris Otter 3900g
Crystal Malt 350g
Chocolate Malt (Dark) 100g
Black Patent 20g
Wheat Malt 85g

Hops

Challenger 6.5% 12g 90mins
Northdown 8% 9g 90mins
Cascade 8% 15g 10mins
Cascade 8% 10g Add at 80C after boil

Yeast: WLP028, Edinburgh Ale, 1.5L starter.

Doughed in around 8:30 this morning and pitched the yeast at half one. No major hiccups except that my efficiency was much better than I bargained for. I planned for 19L @1050 and got 19.5 @1054. Still, not a bad compliant to have. I'm hoping the WLP028 will work well in this one giving it plenty of malt flavour- the best yeast prior to this in any of my Clotworthy clones has been Wyeast 1968 Irish Ale. None of the dried yeasts have come close although they still produced decent beers.

[delboy]

Good luck jymbo, you're bound to nail it spot on one of these times.

[WishboneBrewery]

Can I ask how the Thrapple is?

[Jymbo]

Can I ask how the Thrapple is?

Despite the Windsor giving up the ghost at 1017 the Thrapple is excellent. I can't vouch for how similar it is to Thrappledouser but it's definitely the best all grain recipe I've formulated. The EKGs and Cascade work beautifully together and the amber malt gives it a nice malt edge. It's slightly too sweet but I'm pretty sure that's down to the high FG, I'll definitely do the same recipe again with a different yeast - Windsor has a nice flavour but it's a pain in the arse for stopping early and it also takes a while to clear too.

[Jymbo]

Good luck jymbo, you're bound to nail it spot on one of these times.

Thanks, Del - I think the secret will be in the yeast - most of my attempts have been minor variations of the same recipe but they have tasted dramatically different depending on the yeast used. Ironically the first one has been the closest so far.

[Jymbo]

Haven't used WLP028 before but it doesn't work like any yeast I've used - it sits on top of the wort like about 3 or four inches of honeycomb. It's really thick and sticky too. After 4 days the gravity is down to 1016 and the yeast is still thick on top of the wort. Samples taste promising. Don't think the gravity is going to drop much further.

[delboy]

have you tried fullers yeast yet with this, i always detect a far amount of residual sweetness and diacaetyl in clot dobbin.
I doubt very much thats what whitewater use but it might produce something quite close to the original.

I might have a bash at it myself with fullers yeast, i've been meaning to buy some again anyway.

[Jymbo]

I thought about using the fullers strain, Del, but decided not to due to the level of esters that it gives off - I suppose it might be OK if fermented about 18C. I don't really get a lot of fruit off Clotworthy. I chose the WLP028 for its ability to leave a bit of residual sweetness but I know what you mean about the fullers yeast, it does give a great malty, sweet flavour which would probably work very well with the crystal and chocolate malts. I've been meaning to try some London Porter to get an idea how the fullers yeast tastes in a dark ale, but can't seem to source it anywhere locally.

[Jymbo]

I bottled this yesterday at FG of 1014. Chucked the last half pint from the FV in a tester bottle. Tasted tonight and there's a strong Diacetyl taste to it. Probably should have held fire and gave it a few days more in the FV to clean up. Anyway, hopefully there's enough yeast left in the bottles to clean up the Diacetyl. Ayone had any experience of this - does it need to be in the FV for a Diacetyl rest or will it work OK in smaller quantities in the bottle?

[Jymbo]

Tried a bottle last night and the diacetyl has cleared up nicely. Also, the beer is tasting very good and close to the Clotworthy taste. I'll give it a week or two before judging how good a clone it is.

[Paddy Bubbles]

Jymbo, can you remember how this one turned out? Is it the definitive recipe? Anyone else try it?

[Jymbo]

This one turned out well, Paddy, but I'm not sure it was any closer to the original than my first attempt which was very tasty. I think you need to use more chocolate malt than I have but that will darken it down quite a bit, so you'll need to go for the pale chocolate malt and use more. Also, lyonsey tried this recipe using Carared and belgian aromatic and he says is was very close. I tried something similar recently and didn't think it tasted like Clotworthy, although that may be my recipe rather than the ingredients. It was still a decent brew. I may try it again soon using the original recipe with a few changes - Cara Red instead of Crystal and 200g of pale chocolate instead of 100g of chocolate - oh yes, and maybe 15g of Sazz in the last 10 mins. I never picked that up from tasting Clotworthy, but now that it's been pointed out I can taste it.

I'd be interested to know how you get on if you do try this. I've tried it about six times now tweaking the recipe every time.