I brewed a small batch, 21st century version of a Burton-style, brown ale going this morning. In the late 18th & early 19th centuries before the days of India Pale Ale, the brewers of Burton-on-Trent were famed for their brown ales. I’m going to shoot for a little complexity to the malt profile and go with enough hops to suit modern tastes. Not super hopped up, but definitely more than what was found in the traditional Browns. Those old-timey Englanders didn’t understand that hops could be used for more than merely preserving beer.

Burton Brown, partial, 7 gallons
Grist bill: 8 oz of Dark Muscovado sugar, amber & wheat DME, honey roast, and a little crystal, and tad of chocolate roast malts.
Hops schedule : Nugget for bittering, Northern Brewer for aroma, and Pride of Ringwood for a dry hop during secondary fermentation.
Yeast: Nottingham dry (I’m going old school with the yeast).

It’s now in the 10 gallon fermenter. And clean up is done. Sunday’s mission is accomplished : -)
If the yeasty beasties do their job and I hold up my end of the deal, it should be ready to sample in early to mid-February.

I’ve also got a couple small batches of Bush cider in the pipeline (in the smaller vessels). That should be ready to bottle in two weeks. Drinkable in 6 weeks, about as good as it will ever get in 10 weeks.

I have a pot of moose chili simmering away, Susan will bake cornbread to go with that, and we’ll wash it down with the winter ale I brewed last fall. All in all, I’d say it’s a good Sunday here in King Salmon.

Bottled my pumpkin porter last week. The priming sugars are doing their thing. 2 more days to pop the top.

Matt, did you brew that using pumpkin pulp?

I did, I steamed a fresh pumpkin in the microwave, then ran it through blender to get that canned pumpkin consistency.

Let us know how it turns out.

My BrewPot today? Baltic Porter. A 10 gallon batch.

The Mash:

12 lbs. Best pils
10 lbs. Weyermann munich
8 lbs. Durst vienna
2 lbs. Castle Chateau Abbey malt (a belgian brown malt)
0.75 lbs. Weyermann Carafa I
0.5 lbs. Briess midnight wheat
0.5 lbs. Bries blackprinz
Mashed for 2 hours at 146°F

Hops:

4 oz. Tettnang first wort hop
3 more oz. yet to be determined when.

I am simmering the wort for multiple hours, then will shut it off and let the night cool it.

A good Baltic porter is darned tasty. Hope yours turns out well.

I had a Sinebrychoff Baltic last summer when I was in the City. It’s brewed in Finland, I don’t how close their recipe & process follows the old style Baltics that were brewed in London. But, it was one of the better beers I’ve ever tasted.

Sinebrychoff is excellent. So is Carnegie, which is brewed in Sweden.

My favorite baltic porter, however, is Okocim. Brewed in Poland. Topper's Cellar here in Helena used to get it, but it hasn't been around in a few years.

I ended up with a gravity of 1.070, and 12 gallons. Should have left it boiling a little longer, but I was too busy watching my Iggles get their rear ends handed to them by the SeaQuacks. I bittered it with 6 ounces of Tettnanger hops, and am using the California lager yeast, so it should be good.

I don’t get a chance to sample many beers anymore. The bottle shop at the general store has a limited selection : -) : -) We are heading to Austin, TX, in February. I’m planning on sampling what the local brewers there have to offer – I’m really hoping to find a place that serves up good brisket and local brewed beer.

I brewed a porter last fall (too much hops to be a London porter, but oh well ; -). I used Wyeast 1388. I am coming to like that strain for my winter beers / strong beers.

I’ve no clue on the gravities of any of my beers. My hydrometer broke when I shipped it to King Salmon and I’ve never bothered to replace it. I figured if folks could brew for 10-15,000 years without one, I could probably fumble my way through the process too.

Hydrometer? Hal, that is so 20th century.

http://www.midwestsupplie...oCFfzw_wcB

: -) : -) Yeah, I’m still working on mastering late 18th century technology.

That does look like an interesting tool.

Just popped the swing-top on my imperial chocolate coffee stout... 10.75 ABV and darned good. I have an Imperial Pilsner lagering right now with a second dry hop in progress, and just got my set up for all grain brewing......just put a cream ale in the carboy. A good "lawn mower" beer for the approaching North Carolina spring. I hope this cream ale turn out........the home brewing bug has hit in full force. My wife is going to let me go into full production mode. Boy am I glad that I lived in Bamberg Germany for 7 years and met a bunch of great brew masters.

Anyone got a English Pale Ale recipe they swear but they want to share?

Hal, the pumpkin was good, just didn't do a good job filtering at bottling.....It still was good......just another lesson learned. We didn't use a racking cane at siphoning, and it shows hence the sediment.

[Edited by Matt Hom (3/7/2015 6:37:31 PM)]

My bad...how the hell do I delete duplicate posts? I'm a MC.com troll

Matt, Thanks for the report on the pumpkin ale. Sludgy ale – that just makes authentic, right? ; -) Anyway, so long as is good to drink, that’s what counts.

I usually rack 3-4 times before racking it off for bottling – that gives me a pretty clear, clean ale.

For English ales I usually just google a bit, see what folks are brewing and then tweak the recipe to suit my own tastes (or to fit whatever supplies I have on hand).

Good luck with your brewing.


This is a pretty simple, basic ale recipe. If you left out the Biscuit malt, it would pretty much look (& taste) like most American-style pales. The Biscuit is just there for the red color it gives the beer – makes for a nice looking pour.

Red ale - 14 gallons

Grist
8lbs Amber DME
4lbs Wheat DME
3lbs honey roast
1lbs Victory
0.5lbs Biscuit
0.5lbs carapils
Hop Schedule
2oz Bravo 15% - 60 min
2oz Cascade 6% - 60 min
2oz Perle 9.1% - 30 min
2oz Golding 5.6% - 15 min
2oz Willamete 4.9 % - 15 min
1oz Cascade pellets for dry hop in stage 2 secondary

Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale.

10 days in primary fermentation.
7 days in secondary fermentation stage 1
7 days in secondary stage 2
7 days in secondary stage 3

Bottle primed – 0.75oz corn sugar per gallon. 6 weeks bottle conditioning.

Yesterday I brewed an English-style barley wine, using today's BJCP nomenclature.

It was based on a stock/Burton ale recipe for 1846 Truman XXXXK in Ron Pattinson's book Brewing Vintage Ales at Home

Recipe called for an OG of 1.117. I hit 1.107. So close enough.

5 gallons

17.5 gallons 2 row
10 gallons Maris Otter
4 oz, Northern Brewer 90 min
8 oz. Goldings 30 min

3 packets Nottingham yeast.

English Pale Ale recipe?

95% Maris Otter
5% crystal (anywhere from 20 to 80°L, drop it down to 2.5% if using anything darker)

Bitter with Challenger, Target, or Fuggles
Flavor and Aroma with EKGs or Stryian Goldings.

The yeast is the most critical. I highly recommend WY1469 West Yorkshire or WY1968 Fuller's yeast.

I bottled up 7 gallons of May ale yesterday. Now it time to brew a big batch for summer. Last summer I brewed a rye ale – this year I’m going with a strong wheat ale.

Summer Wheat Ale 14 gallons

Grist Bill:
12lbs Wheat DME
4lbs Pilsner DME
4lbs Honey Roast Malt
2lbs Victory Malt
1lbs Belgian candi

Hop Schedule:
4oz Columbus 15% 60 min
2oz Magnum 16% 60 min
4oz Centennial 10% 15 min
2oz Galena 13% dry hop

Yeast:
Wyeast Belgian Strong Ale 1388

Hal, what is "honey roast malt"?

If you are referring to honey malt made by Gambrinus, 4 lbs. is an awful lot of it, even for a 14 gallon batch. But, you might like the stuff. I find it to be a little overpowering.

Yup . . . that’s what it. I’m pretty sure it will be okay. I’ve used it in similar proportions before. Maybe my taste buds have mellowed, but I don’t think the honey malt is as “flavorful” as it was in the past. I think by the time it has conditioned, it will be fine and get me through the summer.

In three month or so the Kings will be running, a few weeks later and the Reds will hit. Fisheries biologists are predicting a Red run of 35 million or so in Bristol Bay this year. That will be interesting to see.

Fresh fish and beer always a good combination.

Fresh fish and beer always a good combination.

Yep, the rainbow run here has been exceptional this year, and we are having trout dinner about 2 nights a week now.

I've got yeast starters of WY1469 West Yorkshire and WY1275 Thames Valley going. I hope to take tomorrow off and fish the Missouri in the morning, followed by brewing a British bitter in the afternoon.

I think the folks around here who fish for trout are doing good with the Rainbows. They usually do, there are a lot trout in the waters here.

Last Saturday I stopped by the City docks to see if anyone was and about. The docks here in King Salmon are about 20-25 river miles inland from the Bay. Anyway, there was a seal in midstream fishing for Rainbows. Caught two big fish in the 10 minutes or so I watched.


Dolly Varden should be running in a couple weeks. Once in awhile a person can hook on to a big one.

Bottled both my Cream Ale and Imperial Pilsner last weekend. Looking to take a shot a brewing a Yuengling clone for the upcoming summer.