Coniston Old Man Ale

[Binkie Huckaback]

A couple of weeks ago, I had Coniston's Old Man Ale and I think it's probably one of the nicest beers I had in the last year. It had far more flavour than I'd expected at 4.2% and I'd like to have a go at brewing something similar.

The Coniston website says:

Malt - Roasted Barley, Crystal & Pale Ale Malts
Hops - Challenger/Mount Hood

And Roger Protz says: “A radically different beer... it has roast barley added to the pale and crystal malts. It has a deep burnished copper colour, a rich port wine aroma, a big chocolate and creamy malt palate and a dry, grainy, roasty finish balanced by hop bitterness and tart fruit. It is a remarkably complex beer that deepens and changes as you sup it.”

I found a recipe here, but it's only for a 4.5 litre batch:

https://www.beginbrewing.com/2018/07/co ... 0.html?m=1

1.7 kg Maris Otter Malt
28g UK Roasted Barley Malt
340g Crystal 80L Malt
7g Challenger hops @ 6.8% AA (60 min.)
5.5g Mt. Hood hops @ 5.6% AA (15 min.)
4.3g Challenger hops @ 6.8% AA (15 min.)
10g Challenger hops @ 6.8% AA (5 min.)
3.6g Mt. Hood hops @ 5.6% AA (5 min.)
1/4 tsp. Brewtan B added to mash water
1/4 tsp. Brewtan B added to the first hops cage
1/8 tsp. Super Irish Moss added to the second hops cage
1/2 vial White Labs Clarity Ferm
1 packet Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley Ale Yeast
3 gallons plus 8 ounces starting water in keg

I have no idea what 'starting water' is, unless the author means sparge water. Also, I'm pretty sure Brewran and Clarity Ferm aren't strictly necessary.

Does anyone have any thoughts on that recipe?

[MashBag]

Agree about the Brewran and Clarity Ferm.

Immediate reaction. That does seem like a big grain bill for 1 gallon to make a 4.2%

The hopping looks nice and is imo appropriate volumes.

But the grain comes in at around 10kg for 23l.

[MashBag]

I have just read the link.

Says its all really.

My first attempt to clone Coniston's Old Man Ale was sort of a flop. Instead of producing a reddish brown English style brown ale, it produced a deep black ale reminiscent of an export stout. I don't know if this is because the homebrew shop didn't measure the specialty malts correctly, or because I ordered the amounts incorrectly, or what, but it bore no resemblance to the beer I was trying to brew......

[f00b4r]

That looks like it was made for a Picobrew Zymatic machine, it has a low efficiency so requires a heftier grain bill and is built like a coffee machine with steam injector so ignore the water stuff. That and the Brewtan makes me think it was likely made by an American brewer too, given that there brewery is in the Lake District I wonder if they have tried the original and if so was it an (old) imported bottle?
That and the comments on the taste of the clone might make it better to start from scratch.
It might be worth emailing the brewery if no one on here has tried a clone before.

I do miss a pint of their beer in the Black Bull.

[Binkie Huckaback]

Thanks @f00b4r. Thanks for the advice and I think I will email the brewery. I'm always a little embarrassed to do so, although I know many brewers are quite amenable to requests of that kind.

[bitter_dave]

Thanks @f00b4r. Thanks for the advice and I think I will email the brewery. I'm always a little embarrassed to do so, although I know many brewers are quite amenable to requests of that kind.

IIRR a forum member has emailed them before and they responded (it was about yeast in the bottle and the response was that it was a mixed strain that would be hard to use unless you had the right type of fermenter). The fact that I can remember this shows I spend too much time here! In any case, no harm in sending an email.

[Binkie Huckaback]

Haha. At least time spent here is learning and helping others @bitter_dave !

[f00b4r]

Let us know if they come back to you.