Js Golden Ale - Recipe Comments

[T.D.]

I have the exact recipe here, I wrote it if memory serves, but several of the ingredients are not readily available, some you wouldnt want to use, its not brewed at sale gravity and as it remains the intellectual property of LN, youll just have to wonder. Or try this:

21 litres boiled down to 20:

1.7 kg Joe White export pilsener
0.3 kg Joe White Caramalt (light crystal, 50 EBC)
0.5 kg Joe White dark Munich (20 EBC)
0.8 kg Wheat malt

Target OE of 10.5 plato, so adjust your pale up or down to suit the efficiency of your own kit.

For a 4.5% abv brew, you'll need the ferment to stop at 2.0 plato, quite low for an all-malt beer, so use a reasonably aggressive ale strain such as White Labs WLP007 or WLP001 and mash at 66-67 degrees.

Boil long enough to get that 5% evaporation. NZ Super Alpha (12.5% alpha) up front or any other clean bittering hop to contribute 11BU. Amarillo (9.0%) last 15 minutes and again Amarillo off boil. Beer should finish at 20 BU and have a colour of 20 EBC. AE 2.0, ABV 4.5.

Randall, I'm not at all disputing anything above (afterall, I didn't write the recipe! ) but looking at the beer in the glass it is surprising to me that it is 20 EBC - I would have guessed more like 12-13. Furthermore, just looking at the recipe you posted, I can't see how that would get a beer to 20 EBC...

My last English Bitter was 18 EBC and it was quite a rich copper colour, certainly darker than JSGA. Like I say, you clearly know more about the beer than I do so I am definitely not saying you're wrong or anything! I just found that a little puzzling...

I might have to go and grab a case for research

 

[Stuster]

21 litres boiled down to 20:

Boil long enough to get that 5% evaporation.

Not too sure about your system, but I'd definitely get more than 1 litre boil off during a 60 minute boil. :blink:

Plugging that recipe into Promash gave an EBC of just under 12. Impressive T.D.

 

[T.D.]

21 litres boiled down to 20:

Boil long enough to get that 5% evaporation.

Not too sure about your system, but I'd definitely get more than 1 litre boil off during a 60 minute boil. :blink:

Plugging that recipe into Promash gave an EBC of just under 12. Impressive T.D.

:lol: What a guess!

 

[stephen]

My brother-in-law and I have become unreasonably fond of James Squire Golden Ale - it being the beer he generally brings over when sharing my homebrew - and having plenty of Amarillo sitting in my freezer have decided to try to make something similar.

Based on Googling and previous threads here, I have decided on all Aussie malts where possible, including 30% wheat malt, PoR for bittering and restrained use of Amarillo for flavour and aroma.

My proposed recipe is:

JS Golden Ale Clone
24 litres at my usual efficiency (22 into fermenter after losses)

3kg JW Export Pilsner Malt (60%)
1.5kg JW Wheat Malt (30%)
250g JW Dark Munich Malt (5%)
150g CaraPils (3%)
50g JW Crystal 145 EBC (1%)
50g Chocolate Malt (1%)

Infusion mash, 90 minutes at 66 degrees C.

Boil: 90 minutes

20g Pride of Ringwood (10%AA) pellets @ 60 minutes
10g Amarillo (8.4%AA) pellets @ 12 minutes
10g Amarillo (8.4%AA) pellets @ 2 minutes
5g Amarillo pellets after strikeout

Estimated OG = 1.046
Estimated Bitterness = 28 IBUs
Estimated Colour = 8 SRM

Yeast: Wyeast 1056

Notes on the recipe. A bit of Munich because I detect a slight toastiness in the malt character of the beer. CaraPils to give the creamy head. Chocolate malt because I want a hint of copper in the colour, and it will add a bit of burnt dryness to the finish.
cheers,
Colin

Colin

Just bottled your recipe yesterday. The only things I changed were the hops and the yeast:

16.2 gms POR @ 9.2%, 60 min
15 gms Amarillo @ 9 %, 15 min
15 gms Amarillo @ 9 %, 2 min, and
10 gms Amarillo dry hop.

Yeast - US-56.

The result was outstanding even from the fermenter! Thanks for the recipe. The other half was looking at me strange as I was drinking a glass of it at 10.30 in the morning! Can't wait for it to carbonate and mature.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Bobby]

The other half was looking at me strange as I was drinking a glass of it at 10.30 in the morning!

Haha, i think we have all been there :beer:

 

[Jazzafish]

Went on a tour recently of the JS brewery with the Hills Brewers. We were privileged to try the golden ale from the bright beer tank. Was like a different beer to the one on draught up stairs. Tasted amazing, plenty of amarillo in there.

When talking about the beer, and seeing the bags of grain, I'm pretty confident that the following is used in it:

Joe White Pilsener
Joe White Caramalt
Joe White Munich
Joe White Wheat
White Sugar

Chuck had also mentioned that the beer contains 30% Wheat.
Fermentation was also started at 15*C and naturally raised to 18*C, but the amount of yeast cells pitched escapes me.

May help with some recipes?

 

[Randall the Enamel Animal]

*Like I said, some of the igredients are not available to homebrewers including a specific Joe White crystal type malt. Caramalt is a substitution and I haven't run it through ProMash as such (not that ProMash works well for colour anyway). 20 EBC is the sale gravity spec, so feel free to substitute a different crystal or change the proportion. The spec calls for 9-10% malt with a colour of 40. A point on colour, just because ProMash says it's 18, unless you put it on the machine, you really don't know.

*Sucrose is added to get to AE down to 2.0 plato with a poorly attenuative yeast. Using all grain, you'll need something more agressive than the strain used for GA, eg wlp001/US56

*Rule of thumb for pitching rate: One million viable cells per ml for every degree of wort plato, so 10-11 million/ml in this. Recipe calls for nearly double that. Useless info if you don't have a microscope and a haemacytometer.

 

[Jim_Levet]

*Like I said, some of the igredients are not available to homebrewers including a specific Joe White crystal type malt. Caramalt is a substitution and I haven't run it through ProMash as such (not that ProMash works well for colour anyway). 20 EBC is the sale gravity spec, so feel free to substitute a different crystal or change the proportion. The spec calls for 9-10% malt with a colour of 40. A point on colour, just because ProMash says it's 18, unless you put it on the machine, you really don't know.

So can we use Wyermann caraPils instead of the Joe White Carapils?
James

 

[Randall the Enamel Animal]

*Like I said, some of the igredients are not available to homebrewers including a specific Joe White crystal type malt. Caramalt is a substitution and I haven't run it through ProMash as such (not that ProMash works well for colour anyway). 20 EBC is the sale gravity spec, so feel free to substitute a different crystal or change the proportion. The spec calls for 9-10% malt with a colour of 40. A point on colour, just because ProMash says it's 18, unless you put it on the machine, you really don't know.

So can we use Wyermann caraPils instead of the Joe White Carapils?
James

I wouldn't. Weyermann CaraPils has a colour of 4, JW CaraPils is a light crystal with a colour of 40.

 

[wessmith]

Deans right. The Weyermann product is a true Carapils - the JW product is a "special" devloped for Lion Nathan. Maltcraft specifically rejected that crystal as its stewing temp is quite high and its intended role was to add body and some colour. It is just too cloying in an all malt beer. Caramalt is the best option but use sparingly unless you are using some sugar.

Wes

 

[Screwtop]

Randall, I'm not at all disputing anything above (afterall, I didn't write the recipe! ) but looking at the beer in the glass it is surprising to me that it is 20 EBC - I would have guessed more like 12-13. Furthermore, just looking at the recipe you posted, I can't see how that would get a beer to 20 EBC...

Not if some special sugar or syrup is added to achieve the OG and to help finish it low. I would put 20 EBC around 8 SRM colour so still light and gold. Also just shorten the boil to achieve a 5% boiloff.

 

[colinw]

Colin

Just bottled your recipe yesterday. The only things I changed were the hops and the yeast:

16.2 gms POR @ 9.2%, 60 min
15 gms Amarillo @ 9 %, 15 min
15 gms Amarillo @ 9 %, 2 min, and
10 gms Amarillo dry hop.

Yeast - US-56.

The result was outstanding even from the fermenter! Thanks for the recipe. The other half was looking at me strange as I was drinking a glass of it at 10.30 in the morning! Can't wait for it to carbonate and mature.

Cheers

Steve

Thanks for the feedback! My batch produced an outstanding session ale as well, although it is distinctly more bitter than Squire's Golden Ale.

I think you did the right thing cutting back the bittering hops and going a little heavier on the Amarillo. I'm going to brew another batch soon and will follow your hopping schedule.

I will also be using US-56 from now on. I don't see any point paying for 1056 or WLP001 when I get exactly the same result from a cheap sachet of US-56.

On the topic of drinking from the fermenter, on occasion SWMBO has accused me of taking samples just so I can drink them. But the most serious case was a session with my brother-in-law last year. I gave him a small taste of the finished stout still sitting in my fermenter, after which he proceeded to raid the fridge and fill his schooner glass straight from the fermenter. He must have ended up drinking nearly a litre!

 

[stephen]

My brother-in-law and I have become unreasonably fond of James Squire Golden Ale - it being the beer he generally brings over when sharing my homebrew - and having plenty of Amarillo sitting in my freezer have decided to try to make something similar.

Based on Googling and previous threads here, I have decided on all Aussie malts where possible, including 30% wheat malt, PoR for bittering and restrained use of Amarillo for flavour and aroma.

My proposed recipe is:

JS Golden Ale Clone
24 litres at my usual efficiency (22 into fermenter after losses)

3kg JW Export Pilsner Malt (60%)
1.5kg JW Wheat Malt (30%)
250g JW Dark Munich Malt (5%)
150g CaraPils (3%)
50g JW Crystal 145 EBC (1%)
50g Chocolate Malt (1%)

Infusion mash, 90 minutes at 66 degrees C.

Boil: 90 minutes

20g Pride of Ringwood (10%AA) pellets @ 60 minutes
10g Amarillo (8.4%AA) pellets @ 12 minutes
10g Amarillo (8.4%AA) pellets @ 2 minutes
5g Amarillo pellets after strikeout

Estimated OG = 1.046
Estimated Bitterness = 28 IBUs
Estimated Colour = 8 SRM

Yeast: Wyeast 1056

Notes on the recipe. A bit of Munich because I detect a slight toastiness in the malt character of the beer. CaraPils to give the creamy head. Chocolate malt because I want a hint of copper in the colour, and it will add a bit of burnt dryness to the finish.
cheers,
Colin

Colinw

I'm sitting here having a sample of your fine recipe. The only thing I may suggest is swapping the Dark Munich for light Munich and reducing the chocolate to 30 gm. This should get the colour closer to the original.

I'm also getting a very slight cloying sweetnes, possibly from the crystal - small amount that it is. So I would also remove the crystal.

As for the hops I would double the Amarillo hops. I actually increased them by 5 gms for each addition and reckon that doubling would be pretty close to the mark.

Otherwise an excellent beer to sit down and relax with.

regards

Steve

 

[colinw]

Steve,

Thanks! I have also come to the conclusion that the crystal and dark munich in my original are a bit too much, and that it needs more Amarillo. I'll post back here with my revised recipe after I brew it - but should be fairly close to what you suggest.

An interesting quirk has emerged in my batch - the bottles exhibit very much more munich malt "nutty" flavour than the kegged beer does. Normally my bottled & kegged beers are very similar indeed, but not so in this case. I actually prefer the more toasty flavour of the bottles, even though the kegged beer is closer to real JS Golden in flavour.

cheers,
Colin

 

[devo]

I just brewed up this recipe about a week and a 1/2 ago. Got it in secondary at the moment w/ some amarillo dry hopping. Looking forward to hooking into this batch.

 

[James Squire]

Hi all,

I brewed a Golden Ale recently for my first ever AG using the 'All in one Brewery' method I have been writing about. The recipe was based on Colin's original grain bill from his first post here but with a slightly different hopping schedule. I went with:

17g POR @60
20g Amarillo @15
20g Amarillo @5
15g Amarillo dry hopped in secondary for 4 days.

The result is delicious! Very much a clone for the JS Golden Ale, the fresher draft version though. It is bewdiful! Highly recommend the recipe and once you tweak it up like you wanted to Colin make sure to put it into the recipe section.

Happy Brewing,

JS

 

[devo]

Hi all,

I brewed a Golden Ale recently for my first ever AG using the 'All in one Brewery' method I have been writing about. The recipe was based on Colin's original grain bill from his first post here but with a slightly different hopping schedule. I went with:

17g POR @60
20g Amarillo @15
20g Amarillo @5
15g Amarillo dry hopped in secondary for 4 days.

The result is delicious! Very much a clone for the JS Golden Ale, the fresher draft version though. It is bewdiful! Highly recommend the recipe and once you tweak it up like you wanted to Colin make sure to put it into the recipe section.

Happy Brewing,

JS

That is pretty much the same hop profile I used except I dry hopped w/20gms of Amarillo.

I'm really enjoying this brew.

 

[DJR]

I just brewed up a Golden Ale style recipe, using mostly JW malts and a bit of guesswork to approximate the colour and flavour of JS Golden Ale. It will probably be more malty, hoppy, and alcoholic, but JS Golden ale needs that anyway

23L, about 1045-1050 OG, 12EBC?
Grainbill:

JW Wheat 1.5kg (31%)
JW Export Pils 2.5kg (52%)
JW Dark Munich 30EBC 250g (5%)
JW Light Munich 18EBC 250g (5%)
JW Light Crystal 140EBC 100g (2%)
Weyermann Caramunich II 120EBC 100g (2%)
Weyermann Carapils 100g (2%)

Mashed @ 67C 45mins, 15mins @ 72C mashout. Batch sparge @ 75-78C

Hops:

10g PoR+ 13%AA - 60mins - 14IBU
20g Amarillo 8.5%AA - 15mins - 11IBU
28g Amarillo 8.5%AA - Flameout

Yeast: Mix of WLP036 Dusseldorf Alt and US56 (loving this blend together, so clean.)

I think this may be too light in colour, but i'm not sure that my program (Brewsta) is calculating my colour correctly, the wort looked a little darker than a 12EBC one. I guess if i subbed the Pilsner malt for a 50/50 split of Pilsner and Trad Ale, or added a bit (25g) of chocolate malt then it might be more to spec.

I'll see how i go and report back anyway, even if this is nowhere near JS GA it should still be a nice drop.

 

[colinw]

All,

As posted in the 'Back in the Saddle' thread, I've been out of the game for a few months due to other committments (work, moving house). Its interesting to check in here and see this thread is still alive.

Now that I have time for brewing, I will be brewing a slight variation on the original version some time in the next few weeks. Changes from the original will be reduction of the munich malt and crystal, slight reduction in bitterness, a little more Amarillo for flavour and aroma, and a little bit of dextrose to dry the beer out a hint. Colour is slightly paler than the first version.

While my first batch was a fine beer which was recognisably similar to JS Golden Ale, it wasn't a true clone. It was more bitter, but slightly maltier at the same time. Probably due to the munich malt used.

Heres version 2 of the recipe - very similar to the original with some minor revisions. IBUs down to 25 from 28. Less crystal, less munich, pale munich instead of dark, slightly less chocolate malt, slightly less PoR, more Amarillo, and a little bit of dextrose to dry the beer out.

JS Golden Ale Clone - version 2

24 litres at my usual efficiency (22 into fermenter after losses)

3kg JW Export Pilsner Malt (62%)
1.45kg JW Wheat Malt (30%)
160g JW Pale Munich Malt (3.3%)
50g CaraPils (1%)
100g JW Crystal 145 EBC (2.1%)
40g Chocolate Malt (0.8%)

140g dextrose in boil (about 1.8 fermentable points)

Infusion mash, 90 minutes at 66 degrees C.

Boil: 90 minutes

16g Pride of Ringwood (10%AA) pellets @ 60 minutes
10g Amarillo (8.4%AA) pellets @ 15 minutes
15g Amarillo (8.4%AA) pellets @ 2 minutes
15g Amarillo pellets after strikeout

Estimated OG = 1.046
Estimated Bitterness = 25 IBUs
Estimated Colour = 7 SRM

Yeast: Wyeast 1056, WLP001 or Safale US-56.

cheers,
Colin

View attachment 82_golden_ale_II.html

 

[DJR]

Looks like a good recipe Colin. I don't think that they use Chocolate Malt though, probably JW Dark Crystal to add colour. Chuck Hahn said there are only 4 malts in it, Randall's recipe looks quite close. Something like this for 23L @ 80% efficiency - 1045 OG/18EBC - would be in the right ballpark:

JW Caramalt 440g 10%
JW Dark Crystal 220g 5%
JW Wheat 1.2kg 30%
50/50 mix of JW Pils and JW Trad Ale 1.8kg (0.9kg each) 45% (the real recipe would call for the Tooheys Pale malt spec @ 3.5EBC)
Cane sugar 250g 9.5% added to boil (because it wouldn't be a commercial Aus recipe without some sugar)

Probably mash @ 66C to make a fairly dry beer.


Hops - this is the key, something like 1.5g/L in total hops are used, so that would be about 10g of Pride Plus leaving about another 25g to add, 10g at 15mins and 15g at flameout would put it in the right ballpark for bitterness and flavour/aroma levels.

Then again, adding more hops and maltiness to cover the "hole" is always a good idea. :beerbang:

Hmm, i'm getting brewing ideas again