Ballarat Bitter

[Apparition]

Hello All
A very old mate of mine wants me to try make him a clone of Ballarat Bitter. i have never tried it but have found this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballarat_Bitter

Could anyone help me out with a recipe? and if you have tried it what is it like or similar to.
I have heard they don't make it anymore, it was only a 1 off for when the navy ship reunited?
Anyone?

 

[HoppingMad]

This article gives you a few pointers:

Courier Article - Ballarat Bitter

Quotes brewer Peter Manders from Foster's. You can glean a few things from what he says.

- He denies the beer is a repackaged Carlton Draught (but if you started with a clone recipe of Carlton you'd be in the ball park if you read between the lines - most CUB beers start from a pretty similar taste band meaning their base ingredients are pretty similar)
- Has an alcohol content of 4.9%
- He says there is a different 'zest' to Ballarat Bitter when compared with Carlton (could be more ale grain)
- Has a sharper finish (so boiled at a lower temperature to make it dryer?)
- More bitter (so plenty of Pride of Ringwood hops)

Taking these things on board would set you on the right path. Hard to know a good recipe though. Have seen some by googling that start with Coopers or Muntons Draught cans as a base (which is the sort of thing you'd use to replicate a Carlton Draught clone).

Good luck,

Hopper.

 

[Apparition]

This article gives you a few pointers:

Courier Article - Ballarat Bitter

Quotes brewer Peter Manders from Foster's. You can glean a few things from what he says.

- He denies the beer is a repackaged Carlton Draught (but if you started with a clone recipe of Carlton you'd be in the ball park if you read between the lines - most CUB beers start from a pretty similar taste band meaning their base ingredients are pretty similar)
- Has an alcohol content of 4.9%
- He says there is a different 'zest' to Ballarat Bitter when compared with Carlton (could be more ale grain)
- Has a sharper finish (so boiled at a lower temperature to make it dryer?)
- More bitter (so plenty of Pride of Ringwood hops)

Taking these things on board would set you on the right path. Hard to know a good recipe though. Have seen some by googling that start with Coopers or Muntons Draught cans as a base (which is the sort of thing you'd use to replicate a Carlton Draught clone).

Good luck,

Hopper.

Thanks for that. i'm not a fan of that hop or that type/style of beer but the old bloke loves it
Cheers

 

[HoppingMad]

No probs. You'll find most CUB beers use Pride of Ringwood as they developed it as a hop strain (I think it's a cross breed of a wild Tasmanian Hop and East Kent Goldings). One of the reasons why many of their beers taste so similar.

Not a fan of it in CUB and Toohey's beers but you'll find that Coopers use POR too and combined with their yeast and grain it comes up much better IMHO.

Hopper.