Notes towards a cock ale

[TimT]

Yeah you read me right! It's a very old style, check out as an example the recipe in Digby. Essentially a combination of chicken and ale!

Anyway, this year as a result of both our own and my mother-in-law's expanding chicken flocks, it seems very likely that I'll have one or several roosters to deal with at some point.

So I'm planning to get some old-school brewing done and make a cock ale.

I've done plenty of herbal brews before, a number of traditional wines, but a cock ale seems a step up again. It's using meat in the brew, after all!

Here are my thoughts: the recipes you'll find - there are many many examples; it was a very popular drink in pre-modern times - almost all include not only 'ale' but the addition of a sweet wine (sack). Digby's recipe also includes raisins, dates, nutmeg and mace.

So it's a very rich drink: sweetness and tartness from the wine, raisins and dates; spiciness from the nutmeg and mace and (possibly) hops; maltiness and graininess from the ale itself; and saltiness and savouriness from the cock.

I'm thinking a modern cock ale would be a high alcohol brew; a malt base that would accommodate these rich flavours; and with complex spicing to complement the chicken taste. Think complexity!

So:

Grain bill
A traditional English drink - something like a pale or brown ale or a porter recipe? Not anything that would carry too much grainy bitterness like a stout, but nothing too mild either - I just don't think a low alcohol light brew would have enough character for this drink.

Yeast
I'm tempted to say a complex yeast, like a saison yeast, since the esters they seem to throw up seem to me to go well with savoury flavours. However, the addition of chicken to the ale would be good for virtually any yeast - plenty of nitrogen and nutrient to work with. And cock ales seem to be more about the added spices - wine, dates, nutmeg - rather than yeast complexity. So maybe a straightforward pale ale yeast?

Hops
Again, I'm not sure if these matter much. The Digby recipe seems to imply that you just use any old ale you have, which could be anything from a high-hopped pale ale to an old-style herbal gruit you have lying around the house. Hops do bring a spicy complexity, but so do, well... spices. Cock ale could probably do with some ageing which would probably mean that flavour and aroma from hops would tend to be lost. So maybe just bittering?

What do you reckon? Has anyone done this? Any changes you'd make to my suggestions?

 

[manticle]

The only brewer I know who's done it is ross so might be worth a pm. There are various threads around though.

 

[TimT]

Thanks, I'll send him a PM. It's a style often mentioned but not so often tried.

Aside from the Digby recipe I have an 18th century recipe for 'Cock Water', very similar in many ways. It mentions the use of a still, sack, AND backsweetens after distillation. So it's definitely on the 'rich and sweet' side.

 

[manticle]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/76059-bacchus-at-scbw/

No idea if it's the same as yours but the inspiration for the bacchus chicken beer is outlined here.

If it were me, I'd either brew the recipe exactly or take a fairly standard beer and add the chook as suggested. Don't add too many variables or you'll get no useful information about the whys and wherefores.

 

[TimT]

I can definitely see your reasoning, it's just that chicken is such an unexpected addition in modern brewing!

Beer and Brewer had a sort-of recipe recently - white wine used in the boil, a bit of salt to bring out the flavours, and dates.

Do you make much chicken stock? I did, sort of, last year. Probably about 8 litres, from a largish rooster (sorry, don't know the weight). Would much flavour remain in a 22 L ale?

 

[manticle]

I make various stocks, including chook semi regularly. I guess one advantage would be the reduction of fat content in the final brew if using stock. The bacchus and inspiration brew sound more like fortified ale though and I can imagine it being served close to still (and in winter - current melbourne weather screams apa/saison/pilsner/hefe to me).

My hypothesising don't mean much though - get in touch with the bloke who has done it. He's usually very helpful and while I've not tried that beer, I've had other bacchus beers and they are usually very successful at showcasing a spec ingredient in a well brewed beer.

 

[Mardoo]

Followed. I'm interested in the way meat was used as nutrition in brewing some meads. Also a friend asked me to make him a meat beer. I figured beef stock could really add something to a stout h34r:

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I always thought that putting a cock in your ale was a bit risque.....

 

[Bribie G]

At Craftbrewer when I was in there a few years ago collecting some sacks, I was at the front counter talking to Ross and was surprised to see his cock laying on the counter near that handpump that resided in the old shed. He was brewing a batch that was no doubt one of the Cock ales I tried at the Scratch Bar on handpump.

The cock struck me as surprisingly small for such a large batch of beer, but was obviously up for the job, and it was wrapped in clingwrap - I believe his mrs had brought it in for him as he obviously had left it at home.

It was well cooked as well with the flesh falling off it and it appeared to be skinned, presumably to avoid putting too much fat in the brew that would kill head. Obviously knew what he was doing and didn't dick around with this brew, the idea being not to insert too much fat and save the head for later on.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Good to see he had the job in hand.

Did he let you touch his cock or at least let you help him put his cock in the fermenter ?

 

[Bribie G]

No, I didn't touch it for hygiene and sanitation purposes but, as always when I see a well prepared cock my mouth did water a bit as I hadn't had any meat for a while.

 

[manticle]

Sounds a bit like 'bum' doesn't it?

 

[GalBrew]

So you are going to brew a 'cock sack' ale?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

The cock is supposed to go in a sack


You can also add crabs if you like. Adds a different flavor, more salty than cock

 

[Bribie G]

I think this thread should be merged with "Smoking Meat".

 

[Pogierob]

a quick google and wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cock_ale
It calls for ten gallons of ale, and a large cock, the older the better.

I know with boiler chooks the flavour is quite intense and not really to my liking, so I'd keep clear of them if I was you.

Since you are going for an experimental experience, I might suggest you go for a smaller cock, or perhaps a younger one, that way you would only need 5 gallons of ale, so that you don't end up with an overpowering taste, unless of course you are after a large quantity of ale and a big old cock. :unsure:

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Since you are going for an experimental experience, I might suggest you go for a smaller cock, or perhaps a younger one, that way you would only need 5 gallons of ale, so that you don't end up with an overpowering taste, unless of course you are after a large quantity of ale and a big old cock. :unsure:

That would make for one hell of a swap meet

 

[wynnum1]

The recipe i have in a book for one . gallon cock ale soak cooked chicken pieces and crushed bones in half a bottle of strong white wine overnight then all added to fermenting wort Attenuation takes up to a week longer.

 

[TimT]

Thanks Wynnum! How the chook is added to the booze is one of the bits of the process that doesn't seem to be mentioned much in the old recipes.

 

[Bribie G]

I have a feeling that Ross soaked the chook in some strong wine (port maybe?). We await his comments.