Bitter or similar recipe needed from these ingredients

[Hanglow]

Hi

I was going to make this recipe to build up some lovely yeast for a couple of bigger beers, but I forgot to order the mild ale malt.

http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... ay_11.html

I am also going to use WLP002 (fullers supposedly) as I, again, forgot to order the other yeast

With that in mind, could any of you suggest a nice little recipe that uses and goes no higher than 1.040 OG

Crisp Maris otter as a base malt

I also have

Crystal 75 -lots
Abbey Malt - 500g
Flaked Barley - 500g
black patent - 400g
torrified wheat - maybe 200g


Invert no ? - cooking at the moment, we shall see what it ends up like
Other sugars - dextrose, white sugar, golden granulated, light muscovado


Hops - I'd like to keep to EKG and fuggles


At the moment I'm just leaning towards MO, bit of crystal (5%), bit of invert (5%) if it tastes ok and maybe some flaked barley like in the original recipe. maybe up the hopping just a tad.

However Ive had that abbey malt around for a while and it's tempting me, but I've never used it. Could i be used here do you think?

cheers for any suggestions

[seymour]

Brew the Barclay Perkins recipe exactly as you'd planned, and use the Abbey Malt in the place of Mild. It'll be perfect. So will the Fuller's yeast; it's the most old-timey London brewery strain around anymore.

[Hanglow]

Cheers seymour, I was hoping you'd post


Yeah I wasn't really worried about the yeast, I just wanted the whitbread one for the whitbread stout I want to brew next. But I'm sure it'll be fine for most things




Current recipe

[seymour]

No matter what you do, that's all good stuff, you can't help but make some tasty English ale. Cheers!

[Hanglow]

Yeah looking forward to it, been too long since I brewed

Here's what the shop said about the abbey malt I bought

"EBC 40-50. Use up to 50%. Highly malt-aromatic. Adds deep-amber to red-brown colour,
maltiness, body, and mouthfeel to finished beer. Promotes flavour stability.
This pseudo-base malt will add great color and pronounced malt aroma and flavor.
Great for Traditional Abbey Ales, Trappist Ales, Belgian Specialty Beers, Belgian "Blonde" Beers, Belgian "Bruin" (Brown) Beers, Fest Beers, Belgian Amber Beers, Belgian Ales, Faro, Fruit Beers "


I thought it was one of the ones like crystal where you don't want to use too much of it

have you used it before?

[seymour]

Yeah, I've used it. I think the "don't use too much caramelized malt" worry is a modern one. Next time someone tells you that, ask them their favourite style of beer. Predicted answer: American IPA. I'll keep saying it, Mate, you're letting us rob you of your proud brewing culture.

Think about the historical context of those old ales Ron Pattinson describes. I'm oversimplifying, but brown malts and mild malts were basically less-expensive, less-cleanly kilned than the expensive, delicate, neutral pale malts. Porters used to be made of 100% brown malt, all of which would be considered "too caramelized" by today's standards, fermented with yeast considered "too estery" by today's standards. Likewise, I used to think true mild malt was fairly pale, like Vienna, but talk to Barney. He's been brewing with lots of mild malt, swears by it (I might anger him by revealing his secret weapon), and says his stuff turns out brown-coloured. Very interesting.

In any case, if you're worried about Abbey being too dark, split the weight in half with more Maris Otter. No matter what, you're not going to ruin anything.

[Hanglow]

I'll be fine with the colour I think


The invert has worked a treat, last time I did it was a pain in the arse as I had to keep tending to the gas hob and keep stirring to keep the temp right. This time I just got it up to temperature then stuck in the oven at 120C for three hours. Nice and dark, no off flavours at all and really flavoursome. I'm guessing it's about an invert no 3 colour as it has a red hue to it

[seymour]

Nice work, that's going to be a very special beer.