Fruity Bitter Recipe

[Adam Howard]

G'day guys and girls,

I'm about to attempt my first AG brew to crank out 13 or so longnecks for my best mate's 21st.

After having Stone and Wood Draught and not only loving it but observing quite a few similarities between it and LC's Special Bitter I want to have a crack.

LC's Special Bitter used Pale Ale, Crystal and Belgian Aromatic grains with EKG used exclusively.

I figure to get something close to Stone and Wood's Draught I'd need to use a similar grain bill with EKG for bittering, then include some Galaxy additions mid-boil to get that amazing passionfruit flavour without the aroma being too sledgehammerish.

I'll be doing a 12L batch as I can do a BIAB in my Big W pot.

2.5kg Pale Ale malt
100g Crystal
100g Dingemans Aromatic

20g EKG @ 60mins
10g Galaxy @ 30mins
5g Galaxy @ 5mins

Probably use a London Ale yeast.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, even if I'm WAY off track.

Cheers! :icon_cheers:

 

[bradsbrew]

I'd dump the galaxy and use first gold at 30 and styrian goldings at 10 also use the 1882 Thames Valley 2 for a fruity english yeast.

Cheers Brad

 

[Muggus]

You might want to increase the amount of Galaxy at the 5 min mark to maybe 10g. S&W Draught does have quite a pungent hop nose, so the more Galaxy late in the boil the better! I'd also be tempted to bump your 30min addition back to 20-15 min, impart a bit more flavour.
Sounds good either way.

 

[Adam Howard]

I'd dump the galaxy and use first gold at 30 and styrian goldings at 10 also use the 1882 Thames Valley 2 for a fruity english yeast.

Cheers Brad

I think I need to keep the Galaxy due to it being in Stone and Wood Draught which is really the beer I'm aiming to replicate.

You might want to increase the amount of Galaxy at the 5 min mark to maybe 10g. S&W Draught does have quite a pungent hop nose, so the more Galaxy late in the boil the better! I'd also be tempted to bump your 30min addition back to 20-15 min, impart a bit more flavour.
Sounds good either way.

Points taken!

I'm a bit at a loss in terms of generating a definitive AG recipe due to being on a Mac and not being able to use Beersmith. I have QBrew but it's a bit of a pain to use.

 

[Bizier]

If I recall correctly, Brad Rodgers told me US05 at 15 degrees C all the way though.

I also *very dubiously* recall that the entire hop bill is an early charge of Galaxy and that is it. Obviously this would indicate that it is a hop that carries through from early boil like Chinook has a tendancy to. I remember drinking it and thinking that it all made sense. I have only used Galaxy a couple of times when it came out.

 

[Scruffy]

Unless you're mashing low (>64C), 100g crystal and 100g aromatic might finish too cloyingly sweet, maybe a bit syrupy... I'd probably aim for a good pale malt and hop as you prefer and US05 if you must; but the single pale malt and say 1882 (or 1968) would probably nudge the malt profile in the right direction...

Good luck with it!

 

[Adam Howard]

I also *very dubiously* recall that the entire hop bill is an early charge of Galaxy and that is it. Obviously this would indicate that it is a hop that carries through from early boil like Chinook has a tendancy to. I remember drinking it and thinking that it all made sense. I have only used Galaxy a couple of times when it came out.

Perhaps a 20g addition at around 45mins would be adequate! 13.4%AA for 45mins ends up at an IBU of 45 with a 10L boil if I use 20g.

Unless you're mashing low (>64C), 100g crystal and 100g aromatic might finish too cloyingly sweet, maybe a bit syrupy... I'd probably aim for a good pale malt and hop as you prefer and US05 if you must; but the single pale malt and say 1882 (or 1968) would probably nudge the malt profile in the right direction...

Good luck with it!

I found that both LC's Special Bitter and S&W Draught have this real walnutty/tart finish after all the hop flavour is said and done. I'm wondering if this would be due to the aromatic grain? Starting to get some good ideas going. I think it'll be a middle of the range mash temp to keep it dry without verging on thin, perhaps 65-66?

Ooooh! This is getting interesting.

 

[Bizier]

I found that both LC's Special Bitter and S&W Draught have this real walnutty/tart finish after all the hop flavour is said and done.

Perhaps try 1272 USII or one of the aforementioned strains?

If I remember correctly, S&W Draught tasted like it utilised a pretty simple grist, maybe deceptively so. Pretty dry too. I'd aim for a low FG.

Even if you are not cloning it, you should get a beer you will be able to drink by the keg.

 

[MHB]

If you're looking for "Fruity" the hops that come to mind are Challenger and Cluster, both throw buckets of fruit especially at around 5-15 minutes from the end of the boil.

Love Galaxy and EKG, haven't tried them in combo bit sounds like it would work.

MHB

 

[Nick JD]

I'd be looking at a slightly higher fermentation temperature to force some esters out of the London Ale to go with the Galaxy (which I find can be very grassy without esters to support it). YMMV.

 

[sandjeep457]

I'll be doing a 12L batch as I can do a BIAB in my Big W pot.

2.5kg Pale Ale malt
100g Crystal
100g Dingemans Aromatic

20g EKG @ 60mins
10g Galaxy @ 30mins
5g Galaxy @ 5mins

Probably use a London Ale yeast.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, even if I'm WAY off track.

Cheers! :icon_cheers:

Adam, Did you get around to brewing this? Did you make any changes ?