# Boddingtons Bitter Clone



## Rob S (6/3/12)

I spent a bit of time in the UK about a decade ago and remember turning A LOT of Boddingtons into pee. I can't remember how good or bad it was so I want to try to make a clone. I like this recipe I found, borrowed from Orly off Homebrewtalk.com.

There's a few things I don't understand (such as adding hops at the first sparge) but I'll post the original then my conversion to BIAB.

 Recipe Type: All Grain 
Yeast: Generic Youngs Aleyeast 
Yeast Starter: No Additional Yeast or Yeast Startery: No 
Batch Size (Gallons): 6.5 
Original Gravity: 1.040 
Final Gravity: 1012 
IBU: 40 
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60 
Color: 7.9 srm 
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 
Additional Fermentation: Ready soon after Carbonation. 
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5

Boddington's

Boddington's used to be brewed at Strangeway's brewery, which has closed. The brand is owned by InBev who have contracted with Hyde's to have their cask beer brewed at Moss Side. (The keg version is brewed by InBev at Salmesbury, near Preston, and Magor, in South Wales.)

This recipe is the the winning recipe to duplicate the cask Boddington's in it heyday when brewed at the Strangeway's Brewery.

Brew Type: All Grain
Style: English Ordinary Bitter 
Brewer: Orfy
Batch Size: 23.00 L 
Boil Volume: 30.50 L
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.0 % 
Prepare 40.21 L water for brewing 
Prepare Ingredients for Mash 
3.30 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 
0.25 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 
0.12 kg Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 
0.03 kg Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 
Single: Add 9.66 L of water at 75.0 C 60 min - Hold mash at 68.0 C for 60 min 
Add first wort hops to boiler at start of sparge 
Amount Item Type 
25.00 gm Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops -- Drain Mash Tun -- Batch Sparge 
Round 1: Sparge with 17.78 L of 77.0 C water. -- Batch Sparge 
Round 2: Sparge with 9.77 L of 77.0 C water. -- Add water to achieve boil volume of 30.50 L -- Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.030 SG

Boil for 60 min

Start to Boil. 
15 min into boil Add 25.00 gm Goldings,East Kent [4.00%] (45 min) 
Flame out 25.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.00%](60min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) -- 
Cool wort to fermentation temperature -- 
Add 3.00 L water (as needed) to achieve volume of 23.00 L -- 
Siphon wort to primary fermenter and aerate wort. -- 
Add Ingredients to Fermenter 
Amount Item Type 
1 Pkgs Youngs Generic AleYeast Yeast-Ale 
(Estimate: 1.040 SG) 
10 days Ferment in primary for 5 days at 20.0 C 
(Estimate: 1.012 SG) 
Bottle with corn sugar:75 
Age for 2 Weeks at 17.0 C

Taste Rating (50 possible points): 40.0 Brewed to be a match for the Boddington's Cask bitter at its peak


So here's my plan thus far...

Pale Ale (Perl) (Beds). 4.45kg. 89%
Cars Pils (Ger). 0.3kg. 6%
Medium Crystal (TF UK). 0.2kg. 4%
Chocolate Malt (TF UK). 0.05kg. 1%

60 min mash @ 68*C
10 min mash out @ 78*C

60 min boil
Northern Brewer 60 min
East Kent Goldings 45 min
East Kent Goldings 0 min (leave in until pitching temp reached then remove)
(make up to 40 IBU)


Ferment @ 17*C with Wyeast London Ale 1028


So that's the plan. It's pretty spot on percentage-wise with the grain, only thing I'm not too sure about is the usage of the Northern Brewer.

I'll put this into the Brewbuilder once I get some advice on here.

Cheers, Rob


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## S.E (7/3/12)

Rob S said:


> I spent a bit of time in the UK about a decade ago and remember turning A LOT of Boddingtons into pee. I can't remember how good or bad it was so I want to try to make a clone. I like this recipe I found, borrowed from Orly off Homebrewtalk.com.
> 
> There's a few things I don't understand (such as adding hops at the first sparge) but I'll post the original then my conversion to BIAB.
> 
> ...



I thought Boddingtons was only a nitrogen keg or can beer though your recipe states brewed to be a match for the Boddington's Cask bitter at its peak
Where in the UK did you drink it do you remember if it was cask or keg?

Unless you are going to use nitrogen you will probably want to serve it through an engine with a sparkler to get the creamy head and smooth taste.

If you dont have an engine you can get a similar result with a syringe, just pour a pint and use the syringe to suck up and squirt back a few times with the head of the syringe submerged. This can make beer a bit lively so go easy at first then harder if you dont get the desired result.


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## QldKev (7/3/12)

Why have you changed Marris Otter to Perl?

FWH is not just a 60min addition. You must add the hops to the wort before you raise from mashout, it does make a difference to the final product. Have a search for First Wort Hops on here.


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## Malted (7/3/12)

Rob S said:


> There's a few things I don't understand (such as adding hops at the first sparge)
> 
> 3.30 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain
> 25.00 gm Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops -- Drain Mash Tun -- Batch Sparge
> ...



First Wort hops *FWH *- in a 3 vessel brewing system you would throw the hops into the dry kettle and dump mashtun runnings on top of the hops in the kettle, the wort that comes out after sparging goes into the kettle too. This way the hops get hit with 78oC or so wort and sit in it until the wort is brought up to boiling point. Normally you would bring the wort up to boiling and then throw the hops in. Google the process to find out more about the merits or dissadvantages of the process.

Now in a *BIAB* _I guess_ you would throw the FWH hops into the wort as soon as you lift the bag to drain it? 

Apparently the FWH process imparts a smoother bitterness to a brew. Using northern brewer hops for bittering would be for this same reason as apparently Northern Brewer contributes a smooth bitterness. They are a higher alpha acid hop than EKG so you use less of them = cheaper. You could use EKG for bittering but would need to use more than 25g. Bittering with a low alpha acid hop can be nice in terms of flavours. Using EKG for bittering would change the flavour so maybe stick with the Northern Brewer; I was just explaining some whys and wherefores. 

Pale Ale Perle vs Marris Otter, I guess they are both winter varieties of the same colour range. Apparently Perle is not quite as flavoursome as Marris Otter and is said to be between Golden Promise and Marris Otter. Should still make a good beer but just bare in mind it is not quite the same as Marris Otter.

Leaving the EKG in until pitching temp is reached. Generally all hops are removed when pitching temp is reached or most times, before that. 
It depends on how you are cooling the wort. If you are no chilling then the hops would sit in the wort at temps hot enough to keep extracting bitterness from them and the brew can end up much more bitter than planned. Folks that no chill often change when the hops go in (i.e later) to account for this. Even if you did no chill, you drain the wort from the kettle into another container that can be sealed, the trub and hops are left behind in the kettle.

Are you just letting the wort sit in the kettle for a day or two until it is cool enough to pitch the yeast? You don't want wild yeasties getting a head start on your beer yeast. Make sure the top of the kettle has a sterilised seal. In this case you may want to shift the hop additions to later too. 

So since there are many ways to cool the wort (many more than what I have mentioned) how you do it is important to answering your question about whether to leave the hops in.


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## Rob S (7/3/12)

Thanks for the responses.

I chose perl over Maris otter due to availability at my lhbs, and because its a UK variety.

Mostly I drank it on tap at the pub. Sometimes i bought 600ml? cans of it. No nitrogen widget or anything strange. It was between 2000 & 2003.

I can try the syringe if I'm not happy with the head.

I'm not too guesses about the subtle flavour differences if i try slightly different grains, I'm just after a nice beer.

I could take a couple of litres of wort after the mash out and dump them in a saucepan with the northern brewer hops and bring that to the boil & reintroduce the wort minus the hops back into the main wort. Could that work for an FWH process?

If not ill add the Northern Brewer to the wort after mash out & bring to the blog then take them out.

I usually glad wrap my pot & put in the deep freezer (with temp controller) after the boil. I suppose its considered no chill, but it does get it down to pitching temp quickly.

Did I miss anything?


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## MHB (7/3/12)

Honestly I think you are way overcomplicating the brew, Boddingtons never was that full on.
Graham Wheeler has a recipe in Brew Your Own British Real Ale that I suspect will be very close to the money.
No disrespect aimed at Orfey, he has developed some very good clone brews over the years (His Hobgoblin is amazing), but he has a bit of the American disease that limits their ability to use one malt when you can cram in three.
Mark
View attachment 52883


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## manticle (7/3/12)

I've only had it in cans but 40 IBU seems way too high.


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## bkmad (7/3/12)

Having drunk a bit of it (cask, nitro and in can) when I lived in Manchester for a few years, I'd say the recipe MHB posted will be closer to the mark. 30 IBU would be about right and it is quite pale for a bitter so I don't think chocolate malt is required at all.


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## Rob S (7/3/12)

Thanks again Mark, it'd be far easier if I just sent you PM's 

You'll see this one appear on your order email soon with my other two.

Would you agree with using the Wyeast London Ale 1028?

I used it on the Newcastle Brown Ale clone and it's hit FG today and smells and tastes amazing.

Rob


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## RagingBull (7/3/12)

Rob S said:


> Thanks again Mark, it'd be far easier if I just sent you PM's



Don't sweat on it rob! A few of us lurkers are no doubt keen to follow this thread.


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## MHB (7/3/12)

One of many good choices Wyeast offer, personally I like the ESB but its a far from being a right wrong decision.
Always worth having a look at the Wyeast style guide ,1028 is mostly used in bigger beers but if you like it go for it, personally in lower gravity beers I find it a bit minerally.
Mark


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## Rob S (7/3/12)

Since I've used the London Ale 1028 in the Newy Brown Ale, I'll defer to your judgment and go with the London ESB. Once I try a few more yeasts I'm sure I will have more of an idea. That Wyeast website it fantastic.

I've also fiddled around with the ingredients as to what's available on your brewbuilder (EKG instead of Whitbread Golding, bumped up the grain bill a tad.

I'd appreciate your keen eye taking a look over it once the order comes through.

Cheers, 
Rob


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