# St. Austell HSD (Hicks Special Draught)



## TheWiggman (22/3/14)

I’ve got a pommie mate who longs for his beer back home which I’ve taken the liberty of trying to replicate. Based on a random internet post and their web site, here are the basics –

*[SIZE=10pt]St. Austell HSD/Hicks Special Draught "Strong Cornish Ale"[/SIZE]*
[SIZE=10pt]St. Austell Brewery - St. Austell, Cornwall, UK
*OG*: 1050[/SIZE]
*ABV*: 5.0%
*IBU*: 32
*Colour*: 17°SRM/33°EBC, reddish brown
*Grainbill*: Maris Otter, Crystal Malt, Black Malt
*Hops*: Fuggles, Goldings, dry-hopped as well
*Yeast*: primary strain available in bottle-conditioned Admiral, Proper Job, or Black Job

I’ve had 2 attempts using the same basic process. First attempt was my first ever AG brew.

Attempt 1
4.70kg Maris Otter
0.30kg Carared (45 EBC)
0.15kg Black malt

50°C 20 mins > 67°C 60mins > 78°C mash out, fly sparge with tap hot water.

EKG / Willamette @ 60 mins and 15 mins to reach 32 IBU (don’t remember exact amounts)

Accidental high gravity boil with 1.058 in fementer. Watered down to OG 1.051. FG 1.006 at 18-25°C.

20g EKG / Willamette day 4 in primary. Bottled after 3 weeks (long story...).

Attempt 2
4.40kg Maris Otter
0.40kg Crystal (160 EBC)
0.06kg Black malt

56°C 20 mins > 67°C 60mins > 78°C mash out, batch sparge with 78°C water.

44g Fuggles @ 60mins
20g Goldings @ 15mins
18g Fuggles @ 4 days

OG 1.048, FG ??? (mate didn’t measure it). Bottled on day 8. 18°C in mate’s freezer using my controller.

London Ale 1028 used for both.

The feedback I got on the first one was –
· Not too far off, hops a bit different
· Too brown, not red
· Very grassy – but we can thank the extended dry hopping for that.
· Knocks your socks off with the alcohol content.
Still not sure why it attenuated so low. Was its 2nd culture.

My biggest change on #2 was to use BB crystal instead of carared and to up the amount to add redness. I reduced the black malt to maintain colour.
I’ve tasted #2 after 2 weeks in the bottle and he’s used 2 x carbonation drops per 640ml bottle against my advice. It’s a bit overcarbonated.
There is a distinct sugary smell and taste about it, but most notably the smell. Has a toffee odour and almost no hop scent. To taste it is appropriately bitter, some hop presence but has a very strong sugary taste about it, hinting towards toffee. The colour is quite red when held up to light, but has a brown appearance otherwise. It’s closer to the real thing.
The Pom’s feedback was that the first one was a better drop and also noted the sugary taste and smell.

Any suggestions?

It’s only 2 weeks in the bottle, so has some aging to do, but the sugary taste has me perplexed. 8% caramalt shouldn’t be too much to my knowledge to be imparting such toffee tastes and smells. The other thing may be the carbonation drops, but again I’ve never had this when I’ve used them.
I’m hoping it will improve over time but this is an ale.


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## TheWiggman (7/4/14)

How are you going Wiggman? Yeah good thanks, appreciate the reply.

I'm trying it again now (2 weeks later) and the sugary flavour has softened. Aroma still very strongly of toffee. It tastes very light in body and slightly flavourless, and I'm thinking I maybe mashed it at too low a temp. It was supposed to be 67°C, but I set my controller to 64°C to make up for the error I worked out my thermocouple has. I'm struggling to think it would have that much impact but I've been wrong before.

Again, any ideas?


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## biggles266 (7/4/14)

Hello Wiggman & Wiggman (haha),

I lived in Cornwall a few years ago and fell in love with the local Ales! Proper Job was my favourite. Couldn't get enough and the first thing I do back in the UK is get myself a 'Proper Job' and a proper pastie. I tried to buy some over here and found one importer in WA but they never came through with the goods.

To be honest I saw St Austell and just wanted to say how great that brewery is but I've re-read the above and I would say apart from anything else I would definitely say it's over carbonated for the beer style. Even for APAs that I bottle I only use table sugar equivalent to 1 carbonation drop. That might explain a small amount of the sweet taste? Probably not the toffee taste though. I've only done AG APAs and Wheat/Saison beers so far so can't comment on anything else.

I think I'll have to try an HSD as above but perhaps I'll follow your first recipe not the second. I'm not surprised the first one knocked your socks off at 6.37%. That's a little bit boozy!


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## black_labb (7/4/14)

As mentioned carbonation levels will change flavour quite a bit.

I haven't tried the beer so these tips are based entirely on my experience butchering english ales (and occasionally really nailing them, which is fortunately becoming more common)

Choosing the right Crystal malts can be hard when replicating english beers, they have quite a range of crystal malts and a big range of flavours from them.

I'd guess that the Carared is probably not the right crystal malt to use. The 160ebc crystal malt is going to be pretty full flavoured being that dark (probably the toffee you picked up). I'd suggest maybe a medium crystal might be the way to go (60-80ebc).


In numbers I'd suggest

4.7kg MO
100g Black
300g 60ebc crystal

22 ibu of Fuggles @60
5 ibu of Fuggles @15
5 ibu of EKG @15
dry hop EKG @ 1g/L

I love ringwood ale yeast and it would work very well with something like this but so would many other english ale yeasts


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## TheWiggman (8/4/14)

Appreciate the replies.
Turns out he only used one carbonation drop but they're still heavily carbonated. He's bottled it a bit too early so I'm guessing this too may have some impact on the flavour (no yeast cleaning up after itself etc.).
Next attempt I'll give your recipe suggestion a go with the different yeast. I have a feeling the caramel malt will have a big impact on flavour. Plan to mash at 67°C and will double check with a better thermometer.


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## yum beer (8/4/14)

Agree with BL, use a lighter crystal, med or even a bit of pale and medium...seems a lot of pommy breweries like a mix of crystals.
Personally I'd be going for PAle Chocolate not Black so its not over powering the colour.
Mash in the high 60's will help your body but in turn will increase the sweetness but the change of grains should bring that down a bit.
Let it ferment fully and give it a cold rest for 4 or 5 days before bottling. Carb low and give it a few weeks to carb up.


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## TheWiggman (8/4/14)

I'm trying to stay true to the original recipe, contents of which can be seen here -

http://www.staustellbrewery.co.uk/beers/draught-beers.html

It states they use black, crystal and MO. With my limited experience, I've found that 'crystal' can mean many different things, but the suggestion of 60 EBC seems fair. It's supposed to have a hint of redness (and my pour last night showed a nice reddish hue almost identical to the pics online). I figure I can balance the black malt to get the target EBC and still maintain some red.

Ideal temp for ringwood ale yest? 20°C?


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## black_labb (8/4/14)

20*c is about right for ringwood. I like to pitch lower and let it rise over a few days but 20 will work nicely and may be easier to deal with.

The black malt will make the beer quite red if not used too heavily where it goes black.


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## TheWiggman (8/6/14)

Not sure if I should start a new thread or there might be info out there but...

This 'toffee/sugary' taste I complained about above has come up in one of my other beers - Better Red Than Dead. I used the original recipe -





3.2 kg

Bairds Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt







1.4 kg

Weyermann Munich I






0.28 kg

Weyermann Carared






0.23 kg

JWM Crystal 140






0.12 kg

JWM Roasted Malt

I kegged this and about 5 x 500ml bottles and primed with raw sugar (CSR). I normally use dextrose but had run out and this was the first time I'd used it. Tasted very fruity and interesting out of the keg, and changed as it aged. Not much, but perceptible. A decent drop.

I had one of the bottles last night as well as about a fortnight ago. Rubbish. Tasted overtly toffee-like and had a similar sugary smell. In fact the taste was overpowered by it, just like the St Austell effort above. I struggled through the bottle.

Can bottle priming with carbonation drops or raw sugar do this to certain styles of beer? I also sugar primed my XXXX Bitter clone and it tasted very similar to it in the keg.


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## dicko (8/6/14)

Hi Wiggman

I recently brewed a similar beer and I inverted the sugar/dextrose addition by heating it in a mixture of water and tartaric acid until it turned golden to light amber colour
The beer came out quite dry and not cloying at all with hints of toffee in the background.
I used the ingredients I had on hand but you could sub the BB for Marris Otter and use any english yeast.
I added the sugar syrup on day three of fermentation and I think this is what got the beer to attenuate quite dry. I am very happy with it.

Here is a pic and the recipe I used below if you are interested



Recipe: 008 English Bitter
Style: English Best Bitter
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0) 15/05/2014. This beer is dry on the pallete, no cloying at all, which I am happy with.
It has toffe notes in the background which may be the sugar syrup I made or the addition of the pale choc malt.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 30.26 l
Post Boil Volume: 26.00 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 20.00 l 
Bottling Volume: 19.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.046 SG
Estimated Color: 8.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 62.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 82.0 %
Boil Time: 80 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU 
32.52 l RO WATER Blank Canvas Water 1 - 
8.00 g 01 Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 m Water Agent 2 - 
6.00 g 02 Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 3 - 
3.00 g 03 Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 4 - 
3.00 kg Pale Malt, (Barrett Burston) (1.5 SRM) Grain 5 70.7 % 
0.35 kg Munich, Dark (Joe White) (15.0 SRM) Grain 6 8.2 % 
0.18 kg Cara Pils (3.0 SRM) Grain 7 4.4 % 
0.10 kg Crystal, Medium Bairds (78.7 SRM) Grain 8 2.4 % 
0.07 kg Chocolate, Pale Bairds (301.5 SRM) Grain 9 1.6 % 
0.54 kg Dextrose (0.0 SRM) Sugar 10 12.7 % 
20.00 g Pride of Ringwood [9.00 %] - Boil 60.0 m Hop 11 20.3 IBUs 
20.00 g Goldings East Kent [4.20 %] - Boil 30.0 Hop 12 7.3 IBUs 
3.00 g 13 YEAST NUTRIENT (Boil 10.0 mins) Other 13 - 
4.00 g 11 BREW BRITE (Boil 5.0 mins) Fining 14 - 
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 15 - 
4.00 g 14 POLYCLAR (Secondary 1.0 days) Fining 16 - 


Mash Schedule: My Standard Mash
Total Grain Weight: 4.24 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time 
Mash Step Add 32.52 l of water and heat to 66.0 C over 4 min 66.0 C 60 min 
Mash Step Add 0.00 l of water and heat to 71.0 C over 8 min 71.0 C 20 min 
Mash Step Add 0.00 l of water and heat to 77.0 C over 5 min 77.0 C 15 min 

Sparge: If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Notes:
------
I inverted the 540 gramms of sugar to a colour of amber.

Estimated PH of the mash is 5.41

Fermented this on ther bench as fridges were full and it went off like a bomb.
A violent ferment in the first two days then slowed right down. I added the sugar syrup on day 3. I hope it will ferment it down to FG.
Gravity checked on 1/5/14 and it is down to 1008. Nearly finished.

Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
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## TheWiggman (1/10/14)

Righto... lining up for attempt #3 now that I have a bit of a grib on AG.
For starters, the caramel/toffee flavour above has come down to diacetyl. Riddled with it. I'll take proper precautions this time.

I've taken on most of the advice except the lighter crystal. I'm using dark crystal because that's what was available from Barleyman. I have some JW light crystal here, should I just use that instead? 
Also, going for a Whitelabs yeast. Not sure if I should bother with the protein rest.

```
BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: St. Austell HSD \ Hicks Special Draught "Strong Cornish Ale"
Brewer: Leigh Wignall
Asst Brewer: 
Style: Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 28.20 l
Post Boil Volume: 23.92 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l   
Bottling Volume: 22.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 31.9 EBC
Estimated IBU: 32.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 85.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 85.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
0.25 kg               Dark crystal - Bairds (250.0 EBC)        Grain         2        5.8 %         
0.07 kg               Black malt - Bairds (1300.0 EBC)         Grain         3        1.6 %         
45.00 g               Fuggles [4.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min         Hop           4        22.0 IBUs     
16.00 g               Goldings, East Kent [5.40 %] - Boil 15.0 Hop           6        5.1 IBUs      
20.00 g               Goldings, East Kent [5.40 %] - Dry Hop 4 Hop           8        0.0 IBUs      
4.00 kg               Pale Malt, Maris Otter - Bairds (5.6 EBC Grain         1        92.6 %        
20.00 g               Fuggles [4.10 %] - Boil 15.0 min         Hop           5        4.9 IBUs      
1.0 pkg               British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) [35.49  Yeast         7        -             


Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 2 Step, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 4.32 kg
----------------------------
Name              Description                             Step Temperat Step Time     
Protein Rest      Add 14.29 l of water at 53.2 C          50.0 C        30 min        
Saccharification  Heat to 66.7 C over 15 min              66.7 C        45 min        
Mash Out          Heat to 75.6 C over 10 min              75.6 C        10 min        

Sparge: Fly sparge with 21.27 l water at 75.6 C
Notes:
------
St. Austell Brewery - St. Austell, Cornwall, UK
OG: 1050
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 32
Colour: 17Â°SRM/33Â°EBC, reddish brown
Grainbill: Maris Otter, Crystal Malt, Black Malt
Hops: Fuggles, Goldings, dry-hopped as well
Yeast: primary strain available in bottle-conditioned Admiral, Proper Job, or Black Job

Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
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```


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## manticle (1/10/14)

Keep it simple, eliminate one variable at a time.
Wouldn't p rest for longer than 10 mins, 5 preferable. Certainly not 30.


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## Blind Dog (1/10/14)

Not sure why you'd want a protein rest? Mind you I'm not sure why anyone drinks St Awful in the 1st place, so what do I know?


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## TheWiggman (2/10/14)

The rest was a default output from Beersmith, forgot to change it.


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## Dips Me Lid (2/10/14)

Nice choice on WLP 005, I've been brewing with this yeast for the last few months and I really love the ester profile it provides, the sweet spot fermentation temp for my tastes is about 21c, I pitch at 18 then free rise to 21c then slowly ramp 0.5c a day after two days at 21c till I hit 23c then I hold it there.

It's quite flocculant and I've found a bit of rousing helped to clean up some diacetyl flavours this yeast throws off, I do a forced diacetyl test before racking off the yeast to try and ensure it's ready to keg, could be worth doing if you're having problems with diacetyl.

I haven't tasted the St Austell beer you're cloning so I'm not sure if the ester profile will match what you're shooting for.

In regards to the Crystal malt, after listening to the CYBI Fullers podcasts the brewer referred to 'standard' Crystal malt as 150ebc Crystal, not sure if this holds true for all English brewers as a standard term but it could be a good lead.

Anyway it looks like a good recipe, making me thirsty!


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## Weizguy (2/10/14)

I'm glad you identified the diacetyl. I was about to reply and ask if it's more of a butterscotch character than toffee.

A little diacetyl is good in this style of ale (to my taste anyway), but too much will overpower the other desired characters (including stone fruit and late/dry hopping - if used).

Ringwood ale yeast may be good for this beer too.


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## TheWiggman (27/10/14)

I posted elsewhere I had dramas with a stuck sparge for my latest brew with this and as a result had a low sacc. rest temp and some efficiency issues. Ambient temps were in the low teens to start with so the initial work by the yeast was slow. It warmed up later to 22°C though so diacetyl should be well taken care of.

OG 1.046, FG was 1.007 so will probably be a little dry.

Bottled yesterday and my pommie mate had a pretty cheesy grin on his face when he took a whiff and taste of it. I taxed 2 bottles and will give them a crack in a fortnight with the pocket nitro. I ended up adding 40g of dextrose to 20l in a bulk prime so this will be carbed low and served at Orange room temperature to maximise authenticity.
Has a slight redness about it too, he reckons the colour is spot on. Fingers crossed.


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## TheWiggman (7/11/14)

First sample today. Pocket nitroed. Behold the glory -






I sent a text to my mate and he promptly poured a glass. His response -

"You've nailed it. This is magic."

It still tastes a little young to me and even at 1.3 vols CO2, was a bit too carbonated. Never had a UK beer before but oh man... the smell. :icon_drool2: Intoxicating aroma, those Fuggles hops and malty background were just beautiful. A different beer for sure, heavy caramel flavour (though different to the last batch, not diacetyl) an much more body than I'd expect from something finishing at 1.007. 005 yeast tastes like a winner.
If I can get the FG right next time with a decent mash schedule / no stuck sparges, I think based on ol' mate's response you will hit the mark with this recipe.


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