I haven't posted on here for a while, i have brewed so many batches to get it 100% right, as i said before my lagers where up to commercial standards, but my ales wasn't, but now they are! My ales were very good in the passed, but bland.....brew on!


Richard

How 'bout sharing that "exellent ale" recipe with me Mr. Gale.
Matt

It may take a while for it to get across the pond, but yes, Bopper, do share . . . I am in the opposite position, and hoping my lagers come around!

Brew on, near and far . . .

jmo

jmo
For some reason i though i'd brew up some ales - love my lagers- thought a change of pace
might to me some good.
So "Bopper" how 'bout it- I need some inspiration.
Matt

Congrats Bopper! Now that I got my temperature control down, and a few All Grain batches under my belt I've notice dramatic improvement as well...drinking probably my best stout to date right now. What did you do differently with this ale to improve it? Brew on!

I have brewed countless amount of ale's, so here is what i have brewed....

English ale..mash at 67c for 90 mins..boil for 60 mins

*Hard water

6 gals us...

8lbs Maris otter

Hops..Fuggles 23-25 ibu's start of boil
0.5 ozs of fuggles and golding's 0-mins(steep for 30 mins)

Yeast 1968 or(1845 fullers from bottle)

5.5 oz British cyrstal

Now here comes the tricky bit....(burnt)Caramel..(use a wooden spoon)..

To make burnt caramel, you need white table sugar, wack about a 1Lb in a large pan with a little water, bring it to the boil without stirring, then stir slowly stir it, it will take alot of boiling and alot of smoke will be present, you will see it start to change colour, it will go black with hints of red at the bottom of the pan..The burnt caramel will be good as long as you don't have black flake in the bottom of the pan, it will go like toffee when cooled, break it up, then you can add it to the wort piece by piece to achive the right colour, suggest colour very dark brown...you will have to take some wort in another pan and heat it to melt the burnt caramel,then add to main batch of wort, until you have very dark brown colour.

THIS IS THE BEST ALE I HAVE EVER MADE, BEAUTIFUL DARK BROWN WITH RED HINTS.


Richard

What would you compare this to?

Its pretty close to a Wadworth 6x, most british brewery's use a small amount of sugar.


Richard

The 1st book on home brewing I bought was "Brewing beers like those you buy- buy Dave Line". Bought that in 1986, learned alot 'bout all grain and it steered me in that direction. Not 'fraid to put a little sugar (brown) in my ales. His hopping was way too much for me so
I found my own way there. I like to use a little sugar in ales its that much less to worry about,
but then I think I'm going to change the way I handle that now.
Thanks for sharing
Matt

Matt you should have said: I'll be your huckleberry, How 'bout sharing that "exellent ale" recipe with me Mr. Gale. I envision Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday here.....

Interesting Idea RG. I sometimes take the first 1.5-2 Gal of wort on a stove top and reduce that to maybe .5 gal. Then boil the full batch in the keggle. Great addition to a Scottish ale...

Ive used most types of sugars, but burnt caramel is the answer, the clarity without fining is excellent. I went to the county of surrey, nr. london, went a club and observed the ales, the clarity and colour, is just like mine.


Richard

I have made my own burnt caramel much in the way RG describes it. Muy easy. No smoke tho-

Thanks for info Richard. Why the wooden spoon?

-Kent Porter

Dear Kent


Why the wooden spoon? cuz you need to stir the bottom of the pan, all that grinding! I would take a pic of my ale, but i can't find the digi camera, i think the daughter has lost it! I will get a pic of it, some how and post it.


Richard

P.S I need someone to brew it, to prove im not telling a load of old baloney

Doc Holiday = drunkard.

Homebrewers = well, . . .


Richard, I may very well give this recipe a shot. I just hope it doesn't smell like baloney. Thanks for the details.

j ? I was being nice, though " beg to differ" on somethings but I usally keep my "type" shut,
I think I'll use a plastic spoon.
Boil the 1st runings ('bout 1/2 gal. for me - 3 gal batches and all) works good for amber/dark
lagers as well. Making a Barleywine today no crystal - just going to boil a little of the 1st run.
And going to add some dark brown sugar, RG.
Wish me luck
Matt

I have used a plastic spoon in the past for doughing in, its an experience.


Richard

Richard , you don't need water or the spoon. I put 8 oz's of sugar in a foil pan in a 350f oven and 20 minutes later.................... caramel.
I use it in my Fuller's clone

Thanks Jim, That sounds so much easier to do and clean up.....

Yeah, just let it cool and pop it out in one piece.(remember I'm a baker)

I have never made ale like this before, the carity and the tastes is the dogs bollocks, only amend is, i dry hopped it with half ounce of golding's. Im kegging it tomorrow.

Richard

I'm doing an ale Monday. I'll be using WLP022 Essex yeast. I'll use your grain bill with some
(2ozs) cry.40'L and demerara sugar.
Willl do any harm to caramelize dem-sugar? Think that'ld be too much ? It'll be a 3.5 batch and
I'll adjust to fit my system, just wonderin' 'bout caramelizing dem-sug. I know it won't be
the same but.............?



Matt

Can I possibly get a clarification of "dogs bollocks"?

English saying..similar to us saying its really bad ass,... really excellent etc

Jim , how do you add it to your beers, and do you notice a difference in taste?. While im at it, can you use different sugars for different tastes??.

Richard, i always use sugar in my bitters, not as much as most, but 5% seems to be my standard amount. Love bitters.

Got some in the oven now, i dont wanna risk burning one of our pans, my wife wont understand that its beer related and a worthy sacrafice haha


Hey jim, after 20 mins, it is still sugar. Though it is probabaly 1/4'' deep. SHould it be really spread out???

Worked out good, took more than 2o mins, but i believe thats because it was so deep. Next time i'll use a really big tray. If i dont eat it all, i'll do an all MO bitter with it. Mmmmm bitter.

Does anyone know if i can do this with other sugars, for example brown sugar???>

@Chris - ya know, just like the 'Bees Knees'...

Any sugar will work.

While not for beer Dulche Leche is caramelized Sweet condensed milk.

I've got to try lactose and report back.

I add it during the mash out so it melts before the boil

Thanks jim, i tried brown sugar, but it kind of burnt!. I have a bitter in a cube now with cane sugar awaiting some burton ale yeast. Mostly Maris Otter, 7% wheat, and a tiny amount of dark crystal, maybe an ounce for colour. Can't wait to try it.

We've used honey in some of ours. I suppose that we're fortunate that we have local bee keepers and honey rocks. Nice clean flavor and not as pungent as the clover stuff you get at the grocery.

Jim D - excellent idea - while it took a bit more than 20 minutes - I put sugar in a pie plate, put it in the oven and voila... Bitter being brewed soon!

Frank B, a cheap ol alum. pie plate?

I use cheap disposible alum pans.......................................only I reuse them.

Cheapie old some-sort-of-metal pie plate from when I moved in with my lady friend (now wife) 8 years ago. The caramel popped right out after cooling. As for the pie plate - it's nearly disposable! Trust me, I would never use the good bakeware of SWMBO...