British Brewer

Recipe: Old Speckled Hen (version 1)

Online version with calculator can be found here.

Next up in the series on Old Ales and Browns is another classic Old Ale available in both the UK and US, Old Speckled Hen, brewed by Greene King after its acquisition of the Morland Brewery in 2000.  We have already covered the history of Greene King with the Abbot Ale recipe last year but Morland also has an interesting past.

Prior to its acquisition by Greene King, the Morland Brewery was located in Abingdon, now part of Oxfordshire, in the UK and has a history dating back to 1711.  The original brewery was located in the town of West Ilsley started by a local farmer John Morland to brew stouts and porters, the popular ales of the time.  Over the next 150 years the brewery slowly grew, remaining a family business, eventually acquiring 2 small breweries in nearby Abingdon in 1860.  By 1880 Morland had moved its operations from West Ilsley to Abingdon and by 1885 they incorporated as a limited company registered as United Breweries.  From this point on the company grew rapidly, buying out a number of local breweries.  The company went public in 1994 and was acquired by Greene King in 2000.  Throughout its history the company had a reputation for respecting the breweries they acquired, maintaining the original brewery names and brews.  Post Greene King acquisition though only the Morland name survived, the Abingdon brewery did not and all production is now in the Greene King brewery based in Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, UK.

The history of Old Speckled is not so old but is definitely one worth noting.  I found this description on wikipedia:

Old Speckled Hen was first brewed by Morlands of Abingdon in 1979. MG cars celebrated the 50th anniversary of their move to Abingdon, from Edmund Road in Cowley. They asked Morland to brew a special commemorative beer for the occasion, for which they would suggest the name and they would design the bottle label. The name chosen was Old Speckled Hen which took its name from a car which was brought to Abingdon, when the factory moved.

The car was called the MG Featherweight Fabric Saloon made from cellulosed fabric stretched over a wooden frame and was black speckled with gold. It became the factory’s demonstration model and general runabout and as it chugged about the factory people would say “There guz the Owd Speckl’d un”.

The original beer label bore the MG colours of cream and brown. The bottle dressing was finished with a green foil capsule, which matched the background colour of the Borough of Abingdon Arms. The beer was an amber colour and was brewed at a gravity of 1050 to denote 50 years (i.e. 1929 – 1979) of production of MG cars in Abingdon.

According the company website the ale is described as:

“Old Speckled Hen” has a full, smooth flavour and is very easy to drink. Its rich amber colour and superb fruity aromas are complemented by a delicious blend of malty tastes.

Toffee and malt combine with bitterness on the back of the tongue to give a balanced sweetness. This is followed by a refreshingly dry finish.

I can attest to the validity of the above notes for the pre-1999 version. In my experience the current export version is not as balanced or as rich and comes across a little dialed down in the flavour department.  Not to worry though as is what this blog is about, trying to recreate the original and sample the ale fresh  as John Morland intended.

The company website gives nothing away around ingredients, colour, or bitterness. It states the ale comes in 2 varieties, a cask version at 4.5% ABV and a bottled version at 5.2%. We will focus on the bottled.  I consulted with the The Real Ale Almanac (5th edition, last published in 1999, so prior to the Greene King acquisition. Important to note considering many experts on this beer claim the recipe was changed) and it confirms the bottle strength is 5.2% ABV, with an OG of 1050 (a given considering the history of the ale), uses Pipkin Pale Malt as a base, Crystal Malt, brewers sugar, Challenger hops for bitterness, Goldings and Challenger for aroma with a range of 30-35 IBUs of bitterness.

Here are the tasting notes from the Almanac:

Nose: Superb Goldings hop aroma (considering using Goldings for a flavour addition at the end of the boil)
Palate: Full hops and fruit in mouth, long dry finish with hops and delicate fruit notes
Comments: Rich coloured and fruit flavoured strong ale with generous hop support.

(my italics) The only hint we have for colour is it is “Rich” and “Amber” (from the company website). My own experience put the colour as a light amber almost a dark golden colour.  Given we have the OG and final ABV, bitterness and fermentables I believe the colour is a variable that will resolve itself. For yeast I will go with Wyeast #1275 Thames Valley Ale, its high attenuation will give the dry finish and both yeast and ale hail from the same location. So lets get busy and input the ingredients into the beer calculus system on hopville.com and balance the quantities in order to create a workable recipe conforming as best we can to the constraints above.

Morland Old Speckled Hen (BJCP Beer Style: Strong Ale, category: Old Ale)

• 2.5 Gallon, 60 min boil
• OG 1050, FG 1011
• 5.2% ABV
• 35 IBU
• 10° SRM (Gold to Copper)
• Ready to drink in 2+ Months

Base Malt and Fermentables:

• 2 lb 4 oz Light Dry Malt Extract (60 mins)
• 4 oz Cane Sugar (0 mins)

Specialty Grains:

• 6 oz Caramel Crystal 60L

Hops

• Bittering Hops – 0.5 oz Challenger (60 mins)
• Flavour Hop – 0.125 oz Challenger, 0.125 oz Goldings, East Kent (15 mins)
• Aroma Hop – 0.5 oz Goldings, East Kent (0 mins)

Yeast

• Wyeast Thames Valley Ale (1275)

Other Additions

• 1 tsp Irish Moss (15 mins)
• 1/4 tsp Yeast Nutrient (10 mins)

Process

• Please follow the process guidelines outlined in my post here.  You will require all the equipment specified here.
• Primary Fermentation: 7 days at 65-75°
• Secondary Fermentation: 2 weeks in the same location as the primary
• Prime and store in the bottle for at least 4 weeks before consuming
• Peak flavour will be reached after 4 weeks in the bottle

Tips and Tricks: Cleaning Bottles

After cracking open a bottle and pouring a drink ensure to empty the bottle of sediment and rinse the inside in HOT water a couple of times.  Experience has shown me that if you do this all that is required to clean the bottle in the future is a tiny amount of dish soap and a bottle brush. You save time and money by not having to use sanitizer.

Recipe Update – Flowers Original Ale 9/10

Finally the time has arrived to review the Flower Original Ale clone recipe, the penultimate brew in our English Pale Ale series.  Well the title says it all, its a winner and the first recipe to be promoted to my permanent recipes page.  It really is a pleasure to drink.  It has a light mouthfeel, going down easy as a good session beer should. The flavour is packed with fruit, its fresh with a balanced malt/hop flavour profile with the Target and Goldings hop really coming in on the front and a sweetness from the Crystal coming in the back.  The tasting notes call from a “hop edge and a dry finish”, this recipe delivers.

The brew process went well.  The OG came in at 1042, exactly on the money with the recipe, the colour came out exactly as planned though to be honest I am comparing with memory (unreliable given the amount of this stuff I drank in my youth) and some pictures I found on Google images.  The fermentation process went well with the recipe calculator calling for a 1009 FG which is exactly the measurement on the hydrometer out of the primary.  Aroma seemed close to.  I was indeed hopeful but I have been hopeful before and walked away disappointed.  I bottled the beer after 1 week in the secondary using Cooper Carb drops for priming.  Following my own tip to leave ales primed with Coopers for 4 weeks I waited one whole month before sampling the final brew.  So here we are, our first beer to get promoted to the permanent recipe page, and the first of the BJCP English Pale Ale series. 🙂

So my record in the English Pale Ale recipe section has picked up a bit in recent weeks.  Here is the current roundup with 1 recipe to go:

• My example generic best bitter modelled after the BJCP style using only kent hops, Kentish Best Ale, was a solid 7/10
• I have upgraded my Fullers ESB also to a 7/10 after my lessons learned on aging ales
  
• Green King Abbot Ale – 6/10
• Wadworth 6X – 4/10
• Flowers Original Ale – 9/10
  

I have the Fullers London Pride clone conditioning and showing promise. So maybe I can get 2 of my English Pale Ale classification recipes to reach my self imposed 8/10 grade required to be promoted to my permanent recipes page.  Getting to this page ensures its a recipe I have faith in and something I would recommend to other people to brew. I will continue to refine the other recipes that did not make the grade with the goal of getting all of them over 8/10 and therefore enjoyable by all.

I welcome everyone to go ahead and brew this recipe and enjoy a near reproduction of a British classic. Send along your comments, brew notes and suggestions, we still have one 1 point to gain for a 10/10 after all.  Give one to a Bud Lite drinker, it will make them cry, InBev can go……… nite nite

On Tap (Feb 22nd 2010)

Sorry for the light post week, its been my first week at work and my head is spinning, not from the work but more just being back in the corporate world.  So far so good and I actually found myself enjoying wearing a suit, weird.  I have been brewing though (and finishing a couple of the older batches), managed a new brew on Saturday and moved some beer around.  Guess its time for the On Tap Update

Primary

• Olde Luddite English Strong Ale (2 days (p) ) – A new Old Ale kit from Northern Brewer, thought I would add some Old Ale kits to my current Old’s and Browns series.  OG came in perfect and the ESB yeast is doing its thing.

Secondary

• Theakston Old Peculier Clone (1 wk(p) 2 days (s) ) – My first pass at this classic old ale, FG came out in range along with the colour, that is all we can ask. Now for 2 weeks in the secondary
  
• Twelfth Night Stout (2 wk (p), 1 day (s) ) – A new extract clone recipe of Rogues Shakespeare Stout from Northern Brewer featuring the PacMan ale yeast strain from Rogue.  This one is an ass-kicking 70 IBU stout destined for the keg. Week 2 in the secondary.
  

Bottle/Keg Conditioning

• Fullers London Pride clone (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 1 wk, 3 days (b) ) – came out crystal clear from the primary with the FG exactly on target. Looking forward to seeing how this brew finishes off.  Week 2 of its 4 week conditioning period.
  
• Spitfire Premium Ale clone (1 wk (p), 2wks (s), 2 wks, 3 days (b)) – my 2nd pass at Spitfire Ale, the Shepherd Neame classic from Kent UK.  Completely cleared but with a lot of sediment in the bottle.  This has another 1 week to go before opening
  
• Grateful Dead Guy Ale (1wk (p), 2wks (s), 2 wks 3 days (b)) – a new special edition kit from Northern Brewer featuring the newly released PacMan ale yeast strain from Wyeast/Rogue Breweries, this one is a Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone. Still got one week to go, cannot wait.
  
• Lord Fatbottom Ale (1 mth (p), 3 mths (s)) – exactly half way through its 6 month rest.

Drinking

• Flowers Original Ale clone (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 4 wks (b)) – my first brew of 2010 and first attempt at the classic Flowers recipe.  Opened and drunk a couple, look for the review later this week. Its a good one 🙂
  
• Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone (1 wk (p), 3 wks (s), 3 mnth 1 wk (b) ) – Really liking this brew a lot.  I learnt the technique Dog Fish Head uses is called Hop Bursting. I ordered a kit with a similar recipe in its honor.
  

Tips and Tricks: Carb Tabs

When using Coopers Carb tabs to carbonate your bottled conditioned ale do not open a bottle for at least 4 weeks. Coopers takes double the time of cane sugar or DME to carbonate an ale.

My Favorite Extract Kits

For those that are regular readers you know that in between my British ale brewing I brew a bunch of kits from Northern Brewer (NB).  The quality of the brews is high and every few months they introduce something new.  I especially enjoy the beginning of every new quarter when Wyeast and White Labs put out a special limited edition selection of yeasts and NB crafts a special recipe to showcase the yeast.  This quarter NB put out a Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone and Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout clone to complement the Wyeast Special Edition release of PacMan yeast, the proprietary strain from Rogue Breweries

I have brewed quite a few of these kits over the last 12 months, some more than once and a couple one too many, so I thought I would provide my own little guide to the kits I have drunk and some little tips I have picked up along the way.

1) Quality – Almost all the pre-prepared recipe kits I have brewed have been of the highest quality. The ingredients are fresh and pre-packed to the right quantities.  Grains are crushed and hops are sealed and fresh. If brewed correctly the quality of the finished brew is also of the highest order with some exceptions.  I thoroughly recommend the clones such as the Broken Spear Bitter (Brakespear Best) or the Grateful Dead Guy (Rogue Dead Guy Ale).  I have done side by side comparison with the commercial version and the clone and they are so close, helped of course by the fact that the yeast strains hail from both version are the same.

Here are my top 3 quality favorites:

#1 New Old Ale – winner of my 2009 brew of the year. This ale matures well with age, strong fruit with a rum quality on the back with a balanced hop flavour make this strong old very approachable.  Many friends who are not ale drinkers have been converted after drinking this ale because it is so well balanced with a distinctive flavour.  Leave this brew in the bottle for at least 2 months before drinking,

#2 Sinistral Warrior IPA – this brew is currently in my 2010 favorites list.  A killer American Style IPA with a high IBU count.  But give this brew 2 months in the bottle and watch as the ale begins to mellow slightly whilst retaining the hop driven peppery spice leaving a really smooth IPA. It goes down way too easily for its alcohol content, so be careful.

#3 Peat Smoked Porter – an American style porter that goes down smooth like desert.  It has a full mouthfeel and delivers a balanced hop malt character.  The kicker with this stout is the inclusion of peat smoked malt giving an almost bourbon note to the drink.  This ale will fill you up, its not a session drink and is great as an end of the evening brew.  Needs at least 1 month in the bottle.

2) Degree of Difficulty – NB extract kits are not hard to brew, if you can cook oatmeal you can brew these kits.  The OG’s tend to be conservative but SRM and IBU calculations to my eyes and taste are typically on the money.  There are some exceptions.

#1 Lord Fatbottom Ale – a very viscus Barleywine. The kit ships with a monster 14 lbs of extract and its nearly impossible to avoid the hot break boiling over.  I recommend using a 10G boiler for this brew.  Many people who have brewed this ale have reported the need to kick start the primary fermentation with champagne yeast as the ABV climbs over 10%, most yeasts pack up and go home with ABV’s over 10.  Its a tough one to brew, I have and its is a decadent, thick hop bursting delight.  I have one in the carboy conditioning away at a happy 13% ABV.  Needs almost a year to finish. I recommend at least 1 month in the primary, 6 months in secondary. But come prepared.

3) Ones to avoid – not everything or everyone is perfect and NB kits are no exception.  We all have times when our brews have gone wrong due to matters well within our control, wrong ingredients, poor sterilization, temperature etc.  But sometimes there is nothing we can do, the ale just isn’t that good.  Here are my least favorites from NB

#1 Cream Ale – just don’t try it, it’s bland, has poor head retention with nothing distinctive whatsoever.  The brew process was accurate, OG, FG, color and IBU perfect. It just doesn’t taste of anything.

#2 Irish Draught Ale – this was a big disappointment but the wife liked it.  None of the nutty character claimed by the kit was present, it was a little too dry and left an after taste not too my liking, the late clover honey addition appeared to have no effect. I had high hopes for this brew based in the reviews but I will not be brewing this one again.  Again the brew process was perfect, the taste just wasn’t there

So that’s my list for now.  I have the two Rogue clones on the go right now and I cracked a sample of the Dead Guy Ale clone and had a bottle of the real thing immediately after.  The results are almost identical.  This brew will definitely be making my favorites list this year. If you have a favorite kit drop me a line or post a comment, would love to get some recommendations.

On Tap (Feb 15th 2010)

Tomorrow I will be starting my new job, exactly one year to the day that I officially parted ways with Fidelity after an almost 9 year career there.  This past year has been amazing, I have been a full-time father, got to spend the 1:1 time with the wife we never had before our first child was born (and loved every minute), built a very large blue stone patio, watched our house addition get built, have some great trips, become school treasurer and board member and last but by no means least re-connected with my hobby of old, home brew. Its been a great time, a time of reflection, growing and learning the true value of people and things.  So going back to the office will be bitter sweet.  I am not saying goodbye, the kids, wife, house, school and beer will all still be there but the relationship will change as I add a work life to the mix. But I have changed to, priorities have been reset this past year and I hope I have grown enough to not let work get in the way of my real life back home, one that has On Tap Updates like this one.

Primary

• Theakston Old Peculier Clone (1 day (p) ) – My first pass at this classic old ale.  Realized too late I put in only half the Lyles Golden Syrup I wanted but I think everything will work out.  Yeast is still getting going so too early to tell how this one will turn out

Secondary

• Twelfth Night Stout (1 wk (p), 1 day (s) ) – A new extract clone recipe of Rogues Shakespeare Stout from Northern Brewer featuring the PacMan ale yeast strain from Rogue.  This one is an ass-kicking 70 IBU stout destined for the keg. The FG was on the low end of the attenuation scale but still within range.
  

Bottle/Keg Conditioning

• Fullers London Pride clone (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 3 days (b) ) – came out crystal clear from the primary with the FG exactly on target. Looking forward to seeing how this brew finishes off. Will give it 4 weeks in the bottle before sampling
  
• Spitfire Premium Ale clone (1 wk (p), 2wks (s), 1 wk 3 days (b)) – my 2nd pass at Spitfire Ale, the Shepherd Neame classic from Kent UK.  Completely cleared but with a lot of sediment in the bottle.  This has another 2 weeks to go before opening
  
• Grateful Dead Guy Ale (1wk (p), 2wks (s), 1 wk 3 days (b)) – a new special edition kit from Northern Brewer featuring the newly released PacMan ale yeast strain from Wyeast/Rogue Breweries, this one is a Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone. Still got 2 weeks to go, cannot wait.
  
• Lord Fatbottom Ale (1 mth (p), 11 1/2 wks (s)) – sitting peacefully as part of its 6 month rest.
• Flowers Original Ale clone (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 3 weeks (b)) – my first brew of 2010 and first attempt at the classic Flowers recipe.  Still cooking, one more week before its ready to sample and review
  

Drinking

• Swampswill 6X (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 5 wks, 3 days (b) ) – my first attempt at a true Wadworth 6X clone.  Not as I had hoped due to the use of oak chips. See review.
• Chiswick ESB (1 wk (p), 2 wks (s), 7 wks (b)) – version 1.0 of my Fullers ESB clone. Improved beyond all recognition, only 1 bottle remaining
  
• Draught Irish Ale (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 5 wks (k)) – my first attempt at Northern Brewers Irish Ale. Solid keg brew, does well with the BeerGas. Been taken offline whilst my keg system is out on loan to a friend. Will transfer whats left to a Growler.
  
• Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone (1 wk (p), 3 wks (s), 3 mnth (b) ) – Finally ready to drink after 3 months bottle conditioning. It tastes great in a snifter, the hops are potent and peppery with the caramel malt notes coming in the back.  Will definitely continue to improve with age but I am considering upping the amber malt load for the next brew and using brown sugar over white cane.

Why age beer? Or why my Fullers ESB clone now tastes great

As readers are by now painfully aware I had some issues with my Fullers ESB Clone recipe.  My first review of the clone came after only 2 weeks of conditioning in the bottle and only 4 weeks since the brew began. A little early methinks.  Well the review gave  low grade, only 4/10 citing poor clarity, overly malty and sweet and low carbonation.  But this is not the end of the story, a week later we get a slightly happier tone in the On Tap Update under “Drinking” citing better mouthfeel and improved flavour. I seem to remember it had cleared also.  What a difference a week makes.  Well 2 weeks on from the original review during a review for a disappointing Wadworth 6X clone (still is disappointing btw) we get great news, I have upped the rating to a 6/10 as the flavour had now drastically improved over the original.

This brings me to the other night, almost 7 weeks to the day from its bottling date and only 2 bottles remaining.  I crack a bottle, carbonation is perfect, flavour is definitely ESB, a really bright beer that goes down smooth.  I have to rate this an 8/10, its good, really good.  So what have I learned from all this. First up, don’t write a review on ESB’s until at least 6 weeks, let beer condition for longer, it obviously needs it. The ESB clone has showed just how drastically an ale can improve over a 5 week period.

So what does happen to ale as it ages?  First of all it depends on how long and where.  Most beers can last for months in a temperature controlled, dark area.  Once a beer has carbonated (typically 2 weeks), it is best stored at 55ºF in a dark room.  Light is the first enemy of aging as it causes a premature breakdown in the hops leading to a skunky, “off” taste.  Over time the hops will naturally breakdown but constant temperature and lack of light will greatly prolong an ales life.  Temperature is the other big factor with aging, a fluctuating temperature can cause spoiling and rapid aging leading to prematurely off beer.  This can and has happened during hot summer months and is why I am seriously considering converting an old fridge for beer storage this coming year.

So, given we have taken temperature and light into consideration what does happen to the various flavour notes?  Aging essentially is a mellower. Hops will gradually breakdown causing strong hop flavours to blend into the malt profile (important for Imperial IPA’s and Stouts, that need at least 3 months), strong caramel and toasted malts subside into subtle coffee notes, alcohol notes become soft tawny port, and the sweet base malt breakdowns into a more complex blend of flavours. This happened with the Fullers ESB, the “overly malty sweetness” balanced out perfectly with the hops, become more fruity with a hint of citrus.

Some beers really benefit from extended aging, something typically synonymous with wines.  Sweet malty beers with a baseline ABV level of 8% often fare well if stored for prolonged periods of time. Barleywines, Imperials, Old Ales, and Browns are good candidates.  A general rule of thumb, the higher the ABV the longer it will age.

To wrap up, I have changed the Fullers ESB clone recipe from version 1.  I still think the 120L Crystal is too much malt and have opted for the 60L instead which will also lighten the colour a little, something I still believe is required. I have managed to acquire the complete hop mix recommended by the brewers website which appears to be working well for my London Pride clone. I have also learned that White Labs English Ale is actually the Fullers yeast strain. So some major changes, it will need one more run before being declared a success but I do know that next time I will definitely be leaving the finished product in the bottle for at least 6 weeks before I crack open a bottle.

Hops

Thought it was time for the next installment in our ingredients deep dive. So far we have covered water and the mighty yeast so I thought it was time to take a deeper dive into one of the more complex and underrated of all the ingredients in ale, hops.  I say underrated because hops do more than just provide the bitter flavour to balance out the sweet malt. Hops also contribute to the aroma and arguably more important have anti-bacterial properties that favor brewers yeast over bacterias keeping beers fresh and allowing a hopped ale to age without spoiling.

I have often wondered how hops came to be used in beer. I have to admit they are not an obvious choice.  Fermentation of fruit and grains has been an activity well documented in history going back into ancient times and I am sure much experimentation was done to improve flavour and longevity, especially given the quality of water and food was not a guarantee.  We take for granted today our near universal access to clean drinking water in the modern western world, something that was not a given for brewers of old.

So I went online and through my history of brewing books and found all kinds of explanations as to how hops came to be used.  In the end I came back to an old faithful (though I don’t think the author, Martyn Cornell, would not appreciate the old bit), my favorite beer history blog, Zythophile.  In a post dated Nov 20th 2009 titled “A short history on hops” Mr Cornell provides a well researched and thorough piece on the hop and its rich history.  I will not try to re-write the piece, I could never do it justice and I would probably make a mistake, something Mr Cornell would get very upset with. He is not only a famous beer historian but a beer myth buster also and not afraid to speak out against inaccurate and lazy research. The one paragraph that leapt out of the page (or browser) was the following”

Book I, Chapter 61, “De Hoppho”, or “Concerning the hop”, says of the plant: “It is warm and dry, and has a moderate moisture, and is not very useful in benefiting man, because it makes melancholy grow in man and makes the soul of man sad, and weighs down his inner organs. But yet as a result of its own bitterness it keeps some putrefactions from drinks, to which it may be added, so that they may last so much longer.” (Abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), mystical philosopher and healer, published a book called Physica Sacra, which translates best as “The Natural World” (circa 1150).

The author then goes on to note:

What probably kept the usefulness of hops from being discovered for so long is that the bittering, preserving resins in hop cones are not very soluble, and the hops need boiling for a long time, around 90 minutes, for what is called isomerisation

Please read the rest but the above brings us to the most important discussion around hops and brewing, how they work.  Male and female flowers form on separate hop plants. The hops used for brewing are the female flower cluster, which contains many small flowers.  Female hop flowers, also called cones, are harvested in August-September and dried.  The female cones are important because they contain lupulin glands that contain alpha and beta resins and other essential oils used to impart specific aroma and flavour characteristics.  Alpha and beta resins are measured as the % weight of the hop cone and displayed on the packaging as alpha acids and beta acids.

ALPHA ACIDS – contain the chemical agents Humulone, Cohumulone and Adhumulone and are used to impart bitterness, the higher the alpha % the more bitter the hop.  Alpha resins are not very soluble and require at least 60 mins boiling to extract the bitterness.

BETA ACIDS – Beta resins and hop oils are used to impart flavour and aroma.  Unlike the alpha acids these oils are water soluble and will quickly boil off in the kettle so cannot be in the pot for too long.  A hop will impart flavour if boiled between 5-15 mins and aroma if boiled for 1-3 mins.

An important note to brew calculator users.  The hop alpha and beta % used by these applications are averages for a particular variety.  The actual resin % does vary year to year and even crop to crop from the same region.  It is important to note the published %’s on a package prior to use and recalculate your recipe hop levels to ensure you maintain the appropriate bitterness and flavour characteristics.

A well designed and useful bitterness and flavour hop reference chart can be found here with another great reference on creating flavours found here. This chart and others like it can assist us when it comes to decide the type of hops we should use and the quantities and timing during the boil to attain the flavour and aroma characteristics for our final brew.  Experimenting with flavour is an art and something every homebrewer should have fun with. For example if I were to use the above chart to brew a great spicy, citrus American IPA consider the Williamette as your flavour and aroma hop.

While flavour and aroma are part of the art of homebrew, bitterness is more the science.  Bitterness is measured in most calculators and modern recipes in International Bittering Units (IBU’s).  There is debate as to the most accurate IBU formula for small batch homebrews but it appears that most books and online resources use the Tinseth formula created by hop head Glen Tinseth. Measured in parts per million (ppm), if you do not have access to a brewing calculator or just enjoy doing the brew math by hand here is the Tinseth formula for estimating a brews IBU:

IBU = Utilization * ( oz of hops * ( Alpha Acid% / 100 ) * 7490 ) / Gallons of Wort

Utilization refers to how much of the alpha acid is actually used and is dependent primarily on the boil time, but is also affected by specific gravity of the wort and whether the hops used are pellets or whole hops.  I will not use this post to get into a discussion on the use of pellets over whole leaf except to say I use pellets.  In my experience they are easier to store and stay fresh longer.  Typical utilization %’s are in the range of 15 to 25% depending on the length of the boil. Pelletized hops have about 10% more bittering potential than whole hops because the soft resins have been upset and made more available during the pelletizing process.   To calculate utilization using the Tinseth formula use the following (for pellet hops add 10% to the final value).

Utilization = ( 1.65 * 0.000125^( OG of the wort – 1 ) ) * ( ( 1 – 2.72^( -0.04 * Hop Boil Time ) ) / 4.14 )

Taking the Theakston Old Peculier brew I researched last week as an example with an IBU target of 29 and the research indicating the use of Fuggle hops. The Fuggle pellets I have in stock have a stated alpha of 4.5% so using the formula above, the alpha %, the batch size and target OG for the brew of 1.060 I would calculate the following:

Step 1 – calculate utilization for both the 60 mins and 15 min additi0ns (adding an additional 10% for pellets)

60 min: ( 1.65 * 0.000125^( 1.060 – 1 ) ) * ( ( 1 – 2.72^( -0.04 * 60 ) ) / 4.14 ) = 21.14% (whole hops) or 23.25% (pellet hops)

15 min: ( 1.65 * 0.000125^( 1.060 – 1 ) ) * ( ( 1 – 2.72^( -0.04 * 15 ) ) / 4.14 ) = 10.5% (whole hops) or 11.5% (pellet hops)

Step 2 – calculate the IBU for the final brew, you may need to

play around with the hop quantities to get the final IBU right. Remember that higher quantities of later addition hops lead to a more intense the flavour and aroma without adding to the bitterness.

60 min: 23.25 * ( 0.67 * ( 4.5 / 100 ) * 7490 ) / 2.5 = 21

15 min: 11.5 * ( 0.53 * ( 4.5 / 100 ) * 7490 ) / 2.5 = 8.25

IBU = 29.25 (21 + 8.25)

Hope this has helped. I have included a basic excel spreadsheet with the above example.  Have fun, remember to always check the alpha % and adjust your recipe accordingly, research recipes from your favorite brews to see the types of hops used and investigate the websites of your favorite commercial brews as they often post the hops they use and associated tasting notes. Next up the Malt and yes there will be more math.

On Tap (Feb 8th 2010)

Been a fun week wrapping up projects and getting ready to start the new job.  My new role will involve wearing a suite again, something I have not done since 1998. Just ordered 3 new ones and some shirts, got to say its nice to wear them again, kind of a work uniform.

It was fun researching Theakston Old Peculier and finally publish the recipe. I expect to begin the brew later this week.  Here are the rest of my brewing updates in this weeks On Tap update.

Primary

• Twelfth Night Stout (2 days (p) ) – A new extract recipe from Northern Brewer featuring the PacMan ale yeast strain from Rogue.  This one is an ass-kicking 70 IBU stout. This is destined for the keg. The OG came in close to the recipe and all is well in the primary so far.

Secondary

• Fullers London Pride clone (1 wk (p), 3 days (s) ) – came out crystal clear from the primary with the FG exactly on target. Colour and aroma were promising. Could this be another winner?

Bottle/Keg Conditioning

• Spitfire Premium Ale clone (1 wk (p), 2wks (s), 3 days (b)) – my 2nd pass at Spitfire Ale, the Shepherd Neame classic from Kent UK.  Came out a little cloudy from the secondary, little surprised as I used finings. Must have been the dry hopping and some yeast activity.  It is clearing in the bottle and the flavour was great.
• Grateful Dead Guy Ale (1wk (p), 2wks (s), 3 days (b)) – a new special edition kit from Northern Brewer using the newly released PacMan ale yeast strain from Wyeast/Rogue Breweries. Came out of the secondary crystal clear and tasting yummy, I had 2 sample glasses even though it was flat. I cannot wait for this one to be ready
• Lord Fatbottom Ale (1 mth (p), 10 1/2 wks (s)) – sitting peacefully as part of its 6 month rest.
• Flowers Original Ale clone (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 2 weeks (b)) – my first brew of 2010 and first attempt at the classic Flowers recipe.  Still cooking, will not touch for at least another week, maybe 2.
• Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone (1 wk (p), 3 wks (s), 11 wks (b) ) – Only ONE MORE WEEK remaining of its 3 month rest, can we resist. I know I will try 😉

Drinking

• Swampswill 6X (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 4 wks, 3 days (b)) – my first attempt at a true Wadworth 6X clone.  Not as I had hoped due to the use of oak chips. See review.
• Chiswick ESB (1 wk (p), 2 wks (s), 6 wks (b)) – version 1.0 of my Fullers ESB clone. Still improving with age, with 6 weeks in the bottle, only 4 22 oz bottles left
• Draught Irish Ale (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 4 wks (k)) – my first attempt at Northern Brewers Irish Ale. Solid keg brew, does well with the BeerGas. Been taken offline whilst my keg system is out on loan to a friend (see below)
• Dry Irish Stout (1 wk (p), 1 wk (s), 4 wks (k)) – my second batch of Northern Brewers Guinness clone. Finally picked up by my friend for his poker night. Went over and installed my keg system for him to use.  Tasted great. Hope they all enjoy.