Adnams Old

[TheSheeprug]

I seem to have drunk many a pint of this in years gone past, though not much recently. However, at a pub lunch today I enjoyed a pint and was reminded of those times, so I'm wondering if anybody has had a stab at making it. For those who've not had the pleasure, Adnams Old is essentially a seasonal mild, 4.1%, produced October - Jan. Read about it here: http://adnams.co.uk/about/news/beer-new ... lable-now/

SR

[seymour]

Roger Protz summarized this simple recipe in each edition of his Real Ale Almanac:

In versions 1 and 2:

ADNAMS OLD
OG: 1.042
IBU: 23
MALTS: Maris Otter 2-row pale malt and Crystal malt
HOPS: Fuggles and Goldings

In versions 3, 4 & 5:

Identical except the "malts" were changed to Maris Otter 2-row pale malt, Crystal malt, and Laevuline inverted sugar syrup.

I haven't tasted this particular beer (sadly) but based on what I know about English Old ale, you should use all the hops for the full boil, no emphasis on aroma or dry hops. Ferment with a characteristic English ale yeast strain. After fermentation, rack to a secondary vessel and bulk-age for as long as you can stand. Don't worry about some splashing or aeration, a little oxidation is desireable in this case.

Now, the big missing puzzle piece here is the yeast. Adnams uses a proprietary dual-strain which is not for sale. They sell some bottle-conditioned beers, but that's an entirely unrelated yeast. BUT, if you really want it, you can purchase an Adnams mini-keg which the brewery admits still contains their live primary strains. Drink the delicious beer, save the last dregs and build up a new starter. The ratio between the two strains will drift over subsequent generations, but it will likely get you closer than any other alternative.

In case you're interested in going a different direction, one of the limited edition Wyeast strains right now is Wyeast 9097-PC Old Ale Blend.
http://www.wyeastlab.com/vssprogram.cfm?website=2

[TheSheeprug]

Thanks Seymour.
Maybe I should add the Real Ale almanac to my Xmas list.

Regarding the recipe, there's no mention of any malt other than pale and crystal, so I guess there must by quite a lot of crystal to make it that dark. Or there's some caramel in there too. For hops the website says Boadicea, but its quite mild so I assume thats not quite so important.

SR

[oz11]

Don't rule out the brewery adding caramel to darken the beer. I seem to remember someone posting up a copy of a chart from Adnams brewery listing the ingredients. I'll try to find the thread and post a link.

EDIT: FOUND IT and it does list caramel as an ingredient for the Old.

[seymour]

Excellent cross-reference, oz11, straight from the source. Good to know Protz was pretty close, I guess.

[oz11]

I shouldn't claim any credit for this, the original thread is HERE!

[bryanferry]

I tried to brew the Old earlier in the year using yeast from a Mini keg of broadside without much success. I'm going to make myself feel better by saying I must have had the old version of the recipe as I missed invert sugar (rather than the more likely errors in my process).

slightly off topic but on the Adnams ingredients spreadsheet there is 'Dixon's E M', anyone have any idea what that is?

[seymour]

...on the Adnams ingredients spreadsheet there is 'Dixon's E M', anyone have any idea what that is?

Dixon's Enzymic/Enzymatic Malt: Acidified malts, known as enzymatic malts, may be made, either by spraying lactic acid solution onto germinating barley, or by inoculating green malt with lactic acid or lactic bacteria. Used for sour beers or in small percentages to acidify or lower the ph in the mash chemistry of any beer. A natural preservative which stabilizes and extends shelf-life. Slightly brightens and improves the flavor as well, when used in moderation. Acidification is said to promote proteolytic activity during mashing when a proportion of enzymic malt is incorporated in the grist. It can also be thought-of as simulating the old-fashioned sour mash process which was once used for Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, for instance.

[bryanferry]

I take my proverbial hat off to you Seymour. 500g now added to the shopping list to make the Adnams Spiced Winter.

[seymour]

I take my proverbial hat off to you Seymour. 500g now added to the shopping list to make the Adnams Spiced Winter.

Sounds like a great idea. I just used 2% in my Chocolate Milk Stout, it seems to have added a nice subtle tartness to an otherwise very sweet beer.

[orlando]

I take my proverbial hat off to you Seymour. 500g now added to the shopping list to make the Adnams Spiced Winter.

Sounds like a great idea. I just used 2% in my Chocolate Milk Stout, it seems to have added a nice subtle tartness to an otherwise very sweet beer.

Had a pint of this in a pub near Blickling Hallcalled the Bucks Arms. Have to say I was nervous about buying a pint but the landlord gave me a taster and I was really surprised how delicious it was. Harvey's Old, that I drank quite a bit of in the 70's, was an Old Ale I never quite took to and expected similar. I would like to brew it but I look at that grist bill and think nope it won't taste anything like that. Your enzymatic malt however is interesting and so is the caramel. I have the yeast so I just need to pin down where I can get the malt and how to make the caramel. I can bulk age in a redundant KK so just need to know for how long. Might be in time for this to be ready for Xmas. On another note I found an old soldering iron when I worked in the cellars at The Lamb in Eastbourne, I would heat this up in the fire and plunge it into half a pint of old in my pint pewter tankard and that made an instant "mulled" beer, have to say it improved it.