Fuggle duck: my house bitter

[strange-steve]

Sorry another question, the composition of the Ashbeck water shows a Bicarbonate value, is this the same as Carbonate (Co3)

No it's not the same, unless the pH is higher than 8.3 then carbonate should be ~0. If you meant alkalinity as calcium carbonate (CaCO3) then the conversion is bicarbonate * 0.82.

 

[Saisonator]

Can I ask anybody who does ’no chill’, how would you alter this recipes hop schedule, to work for this method?

 

[Alfie Noakes]

After a lot of attempts to get this right I think I've finally settled on my house bitter. It's amber in colour, low in ABV, medium bodied and nicely balanced between the First Gold & Fuggle hops and the malts. Perfect for quaffing on Friday night after work.

Drink young to get the most of the tangy orange-marmalade flavours of the first gold hops or leave to mature a few more weeks for a more even balance with the malts and earthy fuggle flavours.

I tried mashing high with this one (69C) to try to get a full body and it does seem to have worked. I ended up with OG/FG of 1.046/1.013 for an ABV of 4.3% and the residual sweetness is in balance with the hop flavour and bitterness. I do like a dry beer though, so maybe 67C next time.

Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l
Bottling Volume: 21.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.046 SG
Estimated Color: 21.5 EBC
Estimated IBU: 37.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 87.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU      
30.34 l               Ashbeck (bitter)                         Water         1        -          
4.14 g                Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent   2        -          
3.11 g                Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins)        Water Agent   3        -          
3.11 g                Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 mins)      Water Agent   4        -          

3.02 kg               Crisp Clear Choice Ale Malt (5.5 EBC)    Grain         5        71.5 %    
0.84 kg               Munich Malt (20.0 EBC)                   Grain         6        20.0 %    
0.17 kg               Barley, Flaked (Thomas Fawcett) (3.9 EBC Grain         7        4.0 %      
0.17 kg               Crystal Medium - 240 EBC (Crisp) (236.4  Grain         8        4.0 %      
0.03 kg               Chocolate Wheat Malt (1200.0 EBC)        Grain         9        0.7 %  (optional: colouring)

10.00 g               Magnum [11.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min         Hop           10       12.4 IBUs  
11.00 g               First Gold [9.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min      Hop           11       5.5 IBUs  
11.00 g               Fuggle [5.80 %] - Boil 15.0 min          Hop           12       3.2 IBUs  
16.00 g               First Gold [9.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min      Hop           13       5.9 IBUs  
16.00 g               Fuggle [5.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min          Hop           14       3.4 IBUs  
23.00 g               First Gold [9.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min       Hop           16       4.6 IBUs  
23.00 g               Fuggle [5.80 %] - Boil 5.0 min           Hop           17       2.7 IBUs  
1.0 pkg               Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728) [124.21 Yeast         18       -          

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 4.22 kg
----------------------------
Name              Description                             Step Temperat Step Time  
Mash In           Add 25.34 l of water at 72.1 C          69.0 C        60 min

Here's a photograph of a pint from the keg.

View attachment 13696

Just made a brew just slightly bastardised from this but similar in the key aspects (I subbed some Carared and Caramunich 2 in for your crystal/chocolate as that's what I had lying around). It's delicious, REALLY enjoying the marmalade-ness from the first gold. Thanks a lot for sharing this!!

 

[foxbat]

Just made a brew just slightly bastardised from this but similar in the key aspects (I subbed some Carared and Caramunich 2 in for your crystal/chocolate as that's what I had lying around). It's delicious, REALLY enjoying the marmalade-ness from the first gold. Thanks a lot for sharing this!!

You're welcome. I'm really glad you like it.

 

[chrisb8]

Hi @foxbat I've been meaning to make this for a long time - do you still use the same recipe or have you tweaked it? (Or given up on it?)

 

[foxbat]

Hi, fundamentally the same each time for me using whichever base malt I've got (Maris Otter works well).

A clean yeast like Wyeast 1728 or WLP007 is key I think to letting the hop flavours come through and blend with the fairly rich and sweet crystal 240.

The chocolate wheat isn't important. I just used that for colour really.

 

[chrisb8]

Hi, fundamentally the same each time for me using whichever base malt I've got (Maris Otter works well).

A clean yeast like Wyeast 1728 or WLP007 is key I think to letting the hop flavours come through and blend with the fairly rich and sweet crystal 240.

The chocolate wheat isn't important. I just used that for colour really.

Thanks for the tips, I will look forward to trying this

 

[Dartmoor Rider]

I've been eying this one up for a while. After a fairly successful Mainline bitter brew a few months ago, Fuggle Duck was BIAB'ed yesterday.

Made a couple of minor tweaks based on the grains I have. Maris Otter base malt, subbed black malt for chocolate (for colour?), and Carapils for the flaked barley (head retention and mouthfeel?)

My first AG brew (of 27) with a liquid yeast.....CML 'Brexit'. Will be interesting to see how that turns out. Other than that as per Foxbat's recipe. My efficiency is improving.....came in slightly high on the OG so topped up an extra 1.5L for 1046. 3 extra pints! FV airlock was chugging away nicely after 12 hours, sat at 19 degrees in a temperature controlled water bath.

Will report back with updates!

 

[Kush1960]

Thanks for this recipe Foxbat. I've brewed it twice now. The first time was shared by guests at a 70th Birthday Party... Loved by all.
I had to brew it again to savour for myself... Delicious stuff!

 

[Baldylocks Brewery]

Thanks for this recipe Foxbat. I've brewed it twice now. The first time was shared by guests at a 70th Birthday Party... Loved by all.
I had to brew it again to savour for myself... Delicious stuff!

I’ve also brewed it twice, cracking pint, cheers Foxbat

 

[moto748]

Just read this old thread with interest. Could have sworn I made this before...

<digs out old recipe books>

Ah, here we go, 5/4/21. I was just a beginner back then! I remember it didn't turn out well, my notes say I had to add 110g of brewing sugar to get the OG to a decent level, suggesting a drastic lack of efficiency. Nowadays I manage much better than that, so I think in view of the universal praise, this deserves another attempt. It's going on the short-list! Just need to order the First Gold and the yeast.

 

[moto748]

It's going to be interesting to compare this to my Flakey bitter, which is of my own devising, and pre-dates this, but likewise uses flaked barley (albeit in a rather more basic recipe), and I like the clean grainy flavour that it gives. First Gold and yeast are on the way, so the comparison should be on in a few weeks' time.

 

[moto748]

Got my old notes out and reviewed them this morning. Not surprising that I found myself down on OG first time around; I can't match foxbat's impressive efficiency! So I'm upping the base malt to a value that should give a more realistic efficiency. I plan to leave the hops alone, though. I've got a 1728, albeit it's near its sell-by date (50% off!), hope it'll be OK.