Summer Lightning

[Lager Lad]

The Hop Back Brewery in the south of England ( Salisbury ) has a superb real ale by the name of Summer Lightning. Would anyone have tasted this liquid of the Gods and if so have any idea how I could make something similar?

Cheers.

 

[kook]

Golden ales are very common over here. Hop Back isn't the best out there, but it's certainly a drinkable session pint.

I'd stick with all british pale malt, english goldings hops to somewhere between 35-40 IBU and a good english ale yeast. Make sure you mash a little higher in temp to get a decent mouthfeel.

I'd either lightly prime and bottle condition, or serve straight out the fermenter If you're going to keg it, make sure you use quite a low CO2 volume as you definately don't want to overcarbonate this.

 

[Sean]

Hop Back isn't the best out there,

Burn the heretic. h34r:

Summer Lightning does appear to be straight (Maris Otter) English Pale Ale Malt and East Kent Goldings hops. I don't know about the yeast - I'd go for Wyeast Thames Valley or London Ale III

 

[breaky]

HEY SEAN,

Here's a recipe from a fairly famous contributor to the english forum from a long time ago
Author wrote:
> As posted by Dr Gillian Grafton ages ago.
> Here's my version 3 of the recipe. This is the one I'm sticking to, cos I
> think it's as close as I'm going to get.
> 4635 g Pipkin malt
> Mash 1 hour at 66 C
> 35 g Challenger (7%) full boil
> 20 g Goldings (5%) full boil
> (boil time is 1 hour)
> 13 g Goldings - last 5 minutes
> 7 g Goldings - when the heat is turned off.
> Yeast: cultured from the bottom of a bottle of Summer Lightning. Ferment
> below 17 C. For 23l (5 gallons). OG 1050
> I have it on good authority that the yeast in the bottom of the bottled
> Summer Lightning is the one they use for the primary fermentation. It really
> hates being fermented at warm temps. - you get some funny off tastes in my
> experience. If you can't get the bottled stuff, then I'm sure any decent ale
> yeast will do the business, but I strongly recommend you don't use Wyeast
> London. It's a great yeast, but it didn't suit this recipe the one time I
> tried it out.
regards breaky

 

[Beer]

Just because of the title of this thread, I thought I would stick this pic up of "Summer Lightning"... Jan 2005 - Sydneys Western Suburbs

Also a simple country ale, never had a summer lightning, so not sure on what would be similar.

Beermakers Bitter
Light Dry Malt Extract 800g
Dextrose 200g
Corn Syrup (Dry) 250g
Crystal Grain 250g
Goldings 30g
Safale yeast

4 min simmer for the hops.. make to 21 ltrs

 

[Sean]

HEY SEAN,

Here's a recipe from a fairly famous contributor to the english forum from a long time ago
Author wrote:
> As posted by Dr Gillian Grafton ages ago.
> Here's my version 3 of the recipe. This is the one I'm sticking to, cos I
> think it's as close as I'm going to get.
> 4635 g Pipkin malt
> Mash 1 hour at 66 C
> 35 g Challenger (7%) full boil
> 20 g Goldings (5%) full boil
> (boil time is 1 hour)
> 13 g Goldings - last 5 minutes
> 7 g Goldings - when the heat is turned off.
> Yeast: cultured from the bottom of a bottle of Summer Lightning. Ferment
> below 17 C. For 23l (5 gallons). OG 1050
> I have it on good authority that the yeast in the bottom of the bottled
> Summer Lightning is the one they use for the primary fermentation. It really
> hates being fermented at warm temps. - you get some funny off tastes in my
> experience. If you can't get the bottled stuff, then I'm sure any decent ale
> yeast will do the business, but I strongly recommend you don't use Wyeast
> London. It's a great yeast, but it didn't suit this recipe the one time I
> tried it out.
regards breaky

[post="84573"][/post]​

Sounds plausible. I have it on good authority that Lighting is single varietial Goldings, but you wouldn't know it, and Challenger is a good goldings substitue in the copper anyway.

If can culture the yeast from the bottle, that's the way to go - I would be amazed if it's a different strain. If you have access to fresh bottles of Princetown Brewery beers that might be worth a shot as well, as I would imagine they use the same yeast, and his processes are more likely to leave a lot of viable yeast cells in the bottle.

 

[Ross]

Just made my first attempt at a golden ale:

Carbrook Summer Ale

Type: All Grain
Date: 17/09/2005
Batch Size: 26.00 L
Brewer: Ross
Boil Size: 37.72 L Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: My Equipment
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0
Taste Notes: After 2 weeks in the keg this has balanced perfectly - Lovely fruity, spicey drop...

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.20 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 100.0 %
20.00 gm Horizon [12.00%] (15 min) Hops 11.8 IBU
15.00 gm Challenger [7.00%] (80 min) Hops 11.0 IBU
20.00 gm Challenger [7.00%] (15 min) Hops 6.9 IBU
10.00 gm Horizon [12.00%] (5 min) Hops 2.4 IBU
15.00 gm Challenger [7.00%] (90 min) (Mash Hop) Hops 2.2 IBU
15.00 gm Challenger [7.00%] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU
5.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (5 min) Hops 0.8 IBU
20.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (20 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
20.00 gm Challenger [7.00%] (20 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
1 Pkgs London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Measured Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.5 %
Bitterness: 37.3 IBU Calories: 540 cal/l
Est Color: 5.1 SRM Color: Color

 

[Jye]

Just drinking the first pint of a Ross's summer ale I brewed for a new years party... BLOODY BEAUTIFUL :beerbang: :super: I think I might keep it for myself, Cheers Ross :beer: Will try and save a pint for you

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.75 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 100.0 %
15.00 gm Challenger [7.50%] (80 min) Hops 14.4 IBU
14.00 gm Horizon [12.00%] (15 min) Hops 10.1 IBU
16.00 gm Challenger [7.50%] (15 min) Hops 7.2 IBU
15.00 gm Challenger [7.50%] (90 min) (Mash Hop) Hops 2.9 IBU
15.00 gm Challenger [7.50%] (5 min) Hops 2.7 IBU
8.00 gm Horizon [12.00%] (5 min) Hops 2.3 IBU
5.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (5 min) Hops 1.0 IBU
20.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (20 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
20.00 gm Challenger [7.50%] (20 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Salt (Boil 90.0 min) Misc
21.00 gm Polyclar (Secondary 7.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale

Est Original Gravity: 1.056 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.050 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.4 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.8 %
Bitterness: 40.9 IBU Calories: 470 cal/l
Est Color: 6.2 SRM