Tooheys Old Dark Ale

[Bribie G]

Should turn out smooth and lethal.

On the sugar issue, there's a big section in the book "Bronzed Brews" that gives a fascinating insight.

Several issues seem to have been going on simultaneously. For starters the malts available tended to produce hazes etc if not "diluted" with sugars. The locals preferred the so called "malt/sugar" beers as they found European style all-malt lagers to be too dry and hard to drink (my six o'clock swill comment I made earlier) and ... a bit of an eye opener that I should have realised a long time ago .. with industrial and commercial equipment being far more expensive in the Colonies as opposed to the UK where most manufacturing still took place, the use of sugar enabled bigger brew lengths to be produced by smaller plant.

So there was a bit of everything going on, and I guess Australians have just got used to malt/sugar beer megaswill as being the way beer should taste.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Although Coopers where the opposite

 

[Bribie G]

I can't find the reference but I believe Sparkling Ale had 10% sugar until recent times, and according to an old brewer at the Kensington brewery they used wheat flour as well. All malt nowadays of course.

 

[TheWiggman]

There's an e-mail from a Coopers rep in one of the recipe databases stating they still use up to 5% sugar in Sparkling depending on the malt qualities but it's otherwise an AG bill and nothing like the 30%+ in the mainstream beers.
Incidentally I was talking to my grandfather a few moths ago of 78 years, who emigrated from England at age 24. He has a pretty solid interest in my home brew and beer in general, and remarked how it would have been magic if he could have made decent beer in those days because bottle shops and the like didn't exist. He was a linesman in Sydney. Beers came in 3 varieties - New, Carlton and Tooths. Pubs would typically serve one variety. Takeaway beers only ever came in longnecks and were rarely actually available, and they could only be bought at a pub. If you got word there was takeaway beer at your local then you'd gather your shillings, catch a taxi on the spot and rush down before they sold out. They'd limit 2 per customer. Pretty fascinating contrast to today's ever-shrinking bottles and growing availability.
On topic, brew went well hitting 1.043 and looks lighter than I would expect. Will be interesting to see in the glass.

 

[TheWiggman]

Nearing what I thought was the end of fermentation with 1469 and it's still letting out the odd bubble at 1.007 so drier and boozier than expected even with a 68°C mash. Fermented at 17°C to try to keep the esters down but there's still some evident to taste. I bumped it up to 19°C after it got to 1.012 and the yeast went bezerk filling the whole headspace. Thick layer of cream on top, not what I'm used to but I was warned.
That choc malt is really coming through, and I can see how you really need the proprietary malt to clone this beer properly.

 

[TheWiggman]

No pics but I had my first sample of this out of the bottle over the weekend.
Stellar.
Genuinely, honestly tastes like Old. Without a shadow of a doubt the closest clone recipe I've made and I'm still struggling to understand how it can taste like that with so much sugar in the recipe. I'm thinking I might even up the sugar for my next Aussie lager. Came in at 4.7% instead of the traditional 4.4% but is still a fine drop. I'll post a pic next to a glass of the real thing and see how it compares. For now, it'll happily tide me over on my very own tap.

Many thanks to Steve Brewman_ for the recipe.

 

[Bribie G]

Tidal Pete, RdeVjun and I did a XXX Tooheys historical old yesterday from Bronzed Brews.
Includes 1.32 kg of mixed raw and white sugaz.
1048 OG

FRIGHTENING

 

[Bridges]

Tidal Pete, RdeVjun and I did a XXX Tooheys historical old yesterday from Bronzed Brews.
Includes 1.32 kg of mixed raw and white sugaz.
1048 OG

FRIGHTENING

Cool, what yeast are you going to throw at it. (Still waiting on Melbourne 1, fingers crossed) Looking forward to hearing what it tastes like.

 

[Bribie G]

In the absence of Melbourne 1, probably MJ Burton Union, started in one fermenter then after about 36 hours, dropped into my SS Brewbucket with a blow off tube.