UK - style beers:
Best Bitter
Pale Porter
Stout
American -style
beers:
Nut Brown Ale
Pale Ale
Irish
Red Ale
Other:
Weissbier
Notes -
All these recipes are based on my partial mash brewing system. If you haven't read the page describing my brewing system I suggest you do so. These recipes will make a whole lot more sense if you do.
Gravity - I like low-gravity beers. I like beers that are 2.5-3% alcohol (I can drink more of them). The recipes I have provided will yield beers that ferment out to 2.5-3% alcohol (and will be really tasty). If you want more alcohol (I don't know why) you can just add more extract.
Extract - If you are using a partial mash system (like mine) I see no advantage at all for using anything except the lightest extract available. You can add the flavoring grains you want! Don't let someone add grains you don't know about and call it an "amber" extract.
Hops - I firmly believe in using high-alpha hops for bittering and other hops for flavoring and aroma. The bittering hops do add some flavor and I've selected these hops carefully. However, you can substitute other bittering hops without drastically changing the flavor. I also firmly believe in using hops appropriate to the style of beer. Don't give me a "bitter" that you've flavored with Cascades! If it is a UK style beer you need to use UK hops! I use pelleted bittering hops but for flavor and aroma hops I much prefer leaf hops.
Yeast - The yeast used will make a HUGE difference in the final beer. I've used Wyeast yeasts and yeasts from other sources. I usually have cultures of various yeasts in my refrigerator and I ferment my beers with yeasts grown from those cultures. I have made some suggestions about the type(s) of yeast(s) I think are appropriate, but you may have other ideas. Remember, if you use a different yeast you will get a different beer.
Mash:
5lbs. pale ale malt, 8oz. 40° L crystal malt, 4oz. wheat malt
Extract:
1.5lbs. light syrup
Hops:
3/8oz. Target (60 min.), 3/8oz. Fuggles (15 min.), 3/8oz. Fuggles (5 min.),
1/2oz. Fuggles (aroma)
Yeast:
Wyeast 1318
Comments: This makes a really great UK-style bitter. The Fuggles are hard to find sometimes, but are worth it to achieve the earthy flavor of UK bitters. I've fermented this with Wyeast 1056 but it doesn't really reach it's potential with this yeast. 1056 is too clean and doesn't produce the esters appropriate for this style. Any good English bitter yeast should work.
Mash: 5lbs. pale ale malt, 16oz. 40° L crystal malt, 6oz. chocolate malt, 4oz.wheat malt
Extract:
1.25lbs. light syrup
Hops:
1/2oz. Target (60 min.), 1/2oz. East Kent Goldings EKG (15 min.), 1/2oz. EKG
5min., 1oz EKG aroma
Yeast:
Wyeast 1318
Comments: This is obviously on the light end of the Porter scale. This recipe makes a really beautiful medium brown ale with good hops aroma and flavor and nice caramel malt flavors. This really needs a yeast with lots of character to achieve the proper style. I've suggested a really full character UK yeast, but others would likely work. 1056 is way too dry and clean to reach the proper style for this beer.
Mash:
4.5lbs. pale ale malt, 8oz. 120 L crystal malt, 16oz. 40 L crystal, 8oz.black
patent malt, 8oz. roast barley, 8oz. flaked barley.
Extract:
1.5lbs. light syrup
Hops:
1/2oz. Nugget (60 min.)
Yeast:
See below, 1056? some really dry Irish stout yeast?
Comments:
"Stout" is a really broad category. You can brew a beer following
the above recipe using 1056 yeast and get a really nice medium stout (lots
of malt character, really dry effect from the roast barley and the patent
malt, good dark caramel flavors), or you can try for something drier (a la
Guinness) with a very dry fermenting Irish stout yeast and you might even
add some acid malt to reproduce the Guinness flavor. Although I agree that
Guinnness is "the nectar of the Gods" (notice that John Kelly McCoy
is writing this page), I think that a slightly less dry stout is also an excellent
beer. This recipe yields a very complex and highly flavorful beer that is
not quite as dry as Guinness.
Mash: 4.5lbs. pale ale malt, 16oz. 40° L crystal malt, 8oz. amber* malt, 6oz. chocolate malt, 4oz. wheat malt
Extract: 1.5lbs. light syrup
Hops: 1/2oz. Galena (60 min.), 1/2oz. Cascades (15 min.), 1/2oz. Cascades (5 min.), 1oz. Cascades (aroma)
Yeast: should be a very clean yeast, 1056 does a good job.
* The "amber" malt I use is a lightly toasted pale malt. I toast it according to the directions in "Designing Great Beers". It gives a little color and a very nice toasty flavor. You might substitute Biscuit, Vienna, or Victory malt (but I much prefer my home toasted amber).
Comments:
As many American beers do, this one has very clear hop character and flavor.
The Cascades are really tasty and give a great aroma. In this beer the hop
flavor is supported by a rich toasty, nutty malt flavor. A really great beer.
Mash: 4.5lbs. pale ale malt, 8oz. 10° L crystal malt, 1.5oz. amber* malt, 4oz. wheat malt
Extract: 1.5lbs. light syrup
Hops: 1/2oz. Galena (60 min.), 1/2oz. Cascades (15 min.), 1/2oz. Cascades (5 min.), 1oz. Cascades (aroma)
Yeast: should be a very clean yeast, 1056 does a good job.
* The "amber" malt I use is a lightly toasted pale malt. I toast it according to the directions in "Designing Great Beers". It gives a little color and a very nice toasty flavor. You might substitute Biscuit, Vienna, or Victory malt (but I much prefer my home toasted amber).
Comments:
A real American pale ale, hop flavor and aroma dominate this beer. There is
a nice clean malt flavor supporting the hops, but this is a very clean, dry,
beer with clear hop flavor and aroma.
Mash: 4lbs. pale ale malt, 16oz. 40° L crystal malt, 16oz. amber* malt, 2oz. 120° L crystal malt, 4oz. wheat malt
Extract: 1.5lbs. light syrup
Hops: 1/2oz. Challenger (60 min.), 1/2oz. Challenger (10 min.)
Yeast: should be a very clean yeast, 1056 does a good job.
* The "amber" malt I use is a lightly toasted pale malt. I toast it according to the directions in "Designing Great Beers". It gives a little color and a very nice toasty flavor. You might substitute Biscuit, Vienna, or Victory malt (but I much prefer my home toasted amber).
Comments:
There's really no historical or classical style that corresponds to "Irish
Red". The style is apparently a modern invention. However, it is
tasty enough to warrant attempted recreation. This is a light tasty beer
with nice malt flavors and just a supporting hop bitterness and flavor.
The malt is very clean with a toasty flavor. The beer also has a very
pleasant reddish-brown color.
Mash: 4lbs. wheat malt, 5oz. 10° L crystal malt, 1lb. pale ale malt, 8 oz. rice hulls
Extract: 1.5lbs. light syrup
Hops: 3/4oz. Tettnager (60min.), 1/2oz. Tettnager (15min.)
Yeast: I prefer one of the lighter wheat beer yeasts such as Wyeast 3333. This gives a good clove/banana flavor, but isn't overpowering.
Comments:
As I've written it this produces a really light, dry, crispy beer with
hints of clove/banana flavor and aroma. This is a great beer on a hot
summer day when you've been working outside (a friend describes this as
a "lawnmowing beer").
Cheers,
Let me know if you like my recipes! March 2005
