Anyone interested in a winter warmer

[Fuggled Mind]

I do like a bottle of Old Tom in winter.

Mind you, it's a bit on the strong side. I have to admit, I've never brewed a beer that strong. Would it put people off? Could it be scaled back to around 5% and still retain it's vinous dark fruity goodness?

[Hanglow]

I brewed a burton just the other week, so count me out for this one but this is what I brewed for your consideration

loosely based off a Fullers old recipe. Although, I used German malts as that is what I had, english malts would probably be better for this

OG 1.074
38.7% weyerman Vienna
38.7% Best Heidelberg pils
12.9% Invert no3
9.7% corn

50g Pilgrim leaf fwh
75g challenger pellets 60mins
25g challenger 15mins

IBUs no idea as I used a hopsock for the pellets and I'm not convinced I got as many ibus out of it as I thought I would. Hoping for around 70.

Step Mash for maximum fermentability and cereal mash for the corn although I'd just use flaked corn next time

London ESB and West Coast pale ale yeast

brett c to be added at bottling to some/all of it. I have a lot of strong bottles at the moment....

[Fuggled Mind]

I brewed a burton just the other week, so count me out for this one but this is what I brewed for your consideration

loosely based off a Fullers old recipe. Although, I used German malts as that is what I had, english malts would probably be better for this

OG 1.074
38.7% weyerman Vienna
38.7% Best Heidelberg pils
12.9% Invert no3
9.7% corn

50g Pilgrim leaf fwh
75g challenger pellets 60mins
25g challenger 15mins

That looks great. I brewed the 1935 Fuller's Burton in Ron Pattinson's Peace book. It's not as strong as the Old Burton Extra. I guess mine is around 2 months old. The abv should have been 5.56% but I ended up with 6% which isn't so bad. Flavourwise, you can really taste the sugar and you can really taste the hops. It's a nice pint but I think it'll be even better around Christmas. With so much invert no 3, what colour is your Burton? Mine is orange.

[jinjahbiscuit]

Malt Miller do an Old Peculiar clone mash kit. What about something along those lines? (Sorry Fuggled Mind, I kinda nicked your first thinking! )

[Hanglow]

That looks great. I brewed the 1935 Fuller's Burton in Ron Pattinson's Peace book. It's not as strong as the Old Burton Extra. I guess mine is around 2 months old. The abv should have been 5.56% but I ended up with 6% which isn't so bad. Flavourwise, you can really taste the sugar and you can really taste the hops. It's a nice pint but I think it'll be even better around Christmas. With so much invert no 3, what colour is your Burton? Mine is orange.

That sounds like a good one

I'm not too sure what colour it is yet as I'm still fermenting it - I think it was light brown though going into the fermentor

[Fuggled Mind]

Malt Miller do an Old Peculiar clone mash kit. What about something along those lines? (Sorry Fuggled Mind, I kinda nicked your first thinking! )

I have to admit, I've never brewed it but it's a great winter beer. Funny, I think I was 17 when I first tried Old Peculiar and thought it was one of the most disgusting things I'd ever tasted. I guess my taste buds just weren't ready for that much flavour. Back then, I was drinking Webster's, John Smith and Newcastle Brown Ale. Funny how our tastes change when we get older.

Cheers

Jason

[JonoT]

Old peculiar is a great beer, it was one of my 1st ever all grain brewes I did, took the recipe from Graham Wheeler book. There is also a recipe for old tom there too, though I've not brewed that one!

[super_simian]

Winter Warmer, currently bottle conditioning (early tastes are very promising);
OG:1.071 FG:1.018
Mild Ale malt 68%
Flaked maize 14%
Invert #3 10%
Medium Crystal 7%
Carafa III 1%

Challenger 6.8%AA 42IBU 60min

Danstar ESB yeast - 70% attenuation, fermented at 19C. ESB water profile.

Estery, but not overly so with hints of old leather. Deeply malty, slightly bittersweet with touches of liquorice. Deep red. Shaping up to be a solid drop.

[Fuggled Mind]

Winter Warmer, currently bottle conditioning (early tastes are very promising);
OG:1.071 FG:1.018
Mild Ale malt 68%
Flaked maize 14%
Invert #3 10%
Medium Crystal 7%
Carafa III 1%

Challenger 6.8%AA 42IBU 60min

Danstar ESB yeast - 70% attenuation, fermented at 19C. ESB water profile.

Estery, but not overly so with hints of old leather. Deeply malty, slightly bittersweet with touches of liquorice. Deep red. Shaping up to be a solid drop.

Looks good Super Simian. I can't get hold of mild malt. I always use Vienna. I still haven't found out if the two are really similar but I've made 2 different styles of mild using both Vienna from Weyermann and Best Malz with good results.

I like the idea of flakes maize and invert no 3 - like a true historic strong ale. Did you make the invert no 3 yourself?

Cheers

Jason

[jinjahbiscuit]

Looks good, could you use Golden Syrup for the invert?

[Fuggled Mind]

Hi jinjahbiscuit

Golden syrup probably won't work as well here. Invert no 3 is more about dark fruits and burnt sugar whereas golden syrup is more toffee and light caramel. Golden syrup won't add anything to the colour either but invert no 3 will.

If you look at this website
http://www.unholymess.com/blog/beer-bre ... ers-invert
2 methods are given.
You can make it yourself by inverting the boiling sugar and then continuing to boil it at 115°C for about 3 hours till it darkens.

You can also try the dilution method which is simply blending golden syrup and black strap molasses to get the required colour. The website provides a calculator to get the quantities right. I've not done this but someone on here brewed a porter making invert no 3 using the dilution method.

Graham Wheeler also says it's possible to use dark muscovado in place of invert no 3 as it's the same colour but I've never tried this.

Here is my homemade no 3. I have no real idea if it's the right colour but I followed the instructions. It's got that tan foam because I poured it straight into the jar when it was still very hot. Probably not a good idea.

[JonoT]

Many years ago I brewed a russian imperial stout, I used the dilution method of golden syrup and black strap, because I couldn't fit the gran needed into my mash tun, it made a lovely beer. Hit 12% if I remember rightly. I'd happily use the dilution method again on a strong beer.

JonoT

[jinjahbiscuit]

Thanks for the information Fuggled Mind. I'll have a go at making my own.

[Fuggled Mind]

Many years ago I brewed a russian imperial stout, I used the dilution method of golden syrup and black strap, because I couldn't fit the gran needed into my mash tun, it made a lovely beer. Hit 12% if I remember rightly. I'd happily use the dilution method again on a strong beer.

Thanks for that JonoT

If I'm in a hurry, I'll definitely give it a go. It's pretty time consuming to make invert no 3 and I can't see myself doing too often - though I am planning on making some invert no 1 using some golden white jaggery sugar I bought in an Indian supermarket.

Cheers

Jason

[Fuggled Mind]

Thanks for the information Fuggled Mind. I'll have a go at making my own.

It's a bit of a faff in the beginning but actually very straight forward. Still, I watched a few youtube videos on making invert. Mostly chefs but also an Australian demonstrating how to make golden syrup. Once the foaming has died down, you can leave it on a very low heat (and I mean very low) and leave it for the required time - just coming back to check very few minutes to make sure the temperature is constant.

So do you think invert no 3 or some dark sugar should go in a winter warmer?

Cheers

Jason