Sunday 16 November 2008

The BJCP, AK and me

Did I mention my book will include recipes? I must have. Unless my brain has rotted more than I feared, I'm pretty sure I did tell you.

Kristen England will write the recipes for the book. Yes, that's the Kristen England who often comments here and is a BJCP official. The recipes are an important part of the book and I would have struggled to compile them myself. No. I wouldn't have struggled. I would have buggered it up.

You have read that correctly. I am writing my book in collaboration with someone from the BJCP.

Here's a preview of one of the recipes. A beer that's dear to my heart: AK. Not one that will excite beer extremists, but what the hell. There's more to beer than extremism.



Fullers 1910 AK
OG 1.045
FG1.009
23bu
~27EBC

*5gals*
3.25lb Maris Otter
3.25lb American 2-row
0.5lb Flaked maize
0.67lb pale treacle (golden syrup)
0.50lb #2 invert sugar
0.25oz C150 caramel coloring

Mash: 151F x 1.5hours


Conventional Non-gyle

Boil: 2 hours
Hops:
0.75oz EKG 4.5% 120min
0.5oz EKG 4.5% 30min


Traditional gyle:

Gyle 1:

Boil 1.75 hr
2.9gal pre-boil
2.34gal final
pre boil OG – 1.060
post boil OG – 1.074

Hops:

1.75hr – 0.5oz EKG 4.5%
30min - .33oz EKG 4.5%

Additions:

- all sugar
- 10g gypsum
- 2g Epsom salt
- 5g irish moss


Gyle 2:

Boil 2hr
~3.3gal pre-boil
2.66gal final
preboil OG – 1.015
post boil OG – 1.019

Hops:
2hr – 0.25oz EKG 4.5%
30min - .17oz (~5g) EKG 4.5%

Additions:

- 11g gypsum
- 2g Epsom salts
- 5g irish moss

Chill and blend both gyles.


Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 - Fullers

Ferment:
Chill to 60F
Ferment at 68F
Rack into clean fermenter after 3 days


Extract Modifications:

Replace pale malt with 3lb of pale LME and 1.5# of amber DME.

Replace maize with 0.33lb of corn sugar.

OR replace both the pale malt and maize with 5.25# LME.

21 comments:

Zak Avery said...

This book is going to be great. I'm going to start homebrewing.

Oblivious said...

I am realy looking foward to release of this book

Just one thing the American 2-row is not available over on this is if the pond, an Pale maris otter substitute instead?

Stonch said...

I am absolutely dreading the release of this book, almost as much as I'm fearing your arrival on Wednesday at my pub, when you'll be treated to a fresh cask of something very dark and very strong.

Ron Pattinson said...

Jeffret, erm . . . I'm arriving Tuesday.

Zythophile said...

May I be the first appallingly picky barsteward to complain that this can't be an authentic recipe because Maris Otter wasn't developed until the 1950s ;-)>

Ron Pattinson said...

Zythophile, you may.

Is Spratt Archer barley still available?

Stonch said...

Ok. Well Tuesday then. Fine.

Something you might like on the menu: slow roasted pork belly with tomato, chilli and mixed bean cassoulet

Ron Pattinson said...

Mmmm . . . pork belly.

Whorst said...

Glad to see you've found peace with a BJCP representative Ron. Just goes to show that all things are possible with Christ. Just ask Bell, I healed his leg injuries he sustained while running.

Stonch said...

Wurst, you didn't do a very good job... it still feels dodgy and I don't think I'll be running before the New Year.

Any chance you could do some witch doctor voodoo shit next time you brew to heal me completely?

Stonch said...

the pork belly has loads of crackling on it by the way

Anonymous said...

No disrespect intended to either of you, but... imperial measurements???

Anonymous said...

Ron, I had a feeling that Kristen was the homebrewer who was helping you out with recipes, and what a great choice. I never thought that you had a problem with the BJCP so much as you had a problem with homebrewers who refuse to evolve (ie, who refuse to read anything that counters what they think regardless of quoted sources, etc.). Clearly, Kristen isn't one of those. Bravo, great choice. Looking forward to the book. If only I could find your bottles of Porter and Stout in this neck of the woods.

Whorst said...

Bell, you need to look closely at your own relationship with JC, and not criticize my efforts. A little more prayer, and a lot less drinking with your mates.

Kristen England said...

Zythophile, Maris otter was not around then. You are very correct. However single source malt is very hard to come buy in craft brewing resources, let alone the home brewing ones. What I want to do is ensure that the recipes are as close as they can be for as many people as possible.

The quality of US 2-row is all very good. However its not as good nor as complex as English and continental pale varieties. Any pale malt will actually do but a non-complex 2-row is best. What you want is the fermentablility.

A part of the book will offer suggested substitutions for the ingredients. This will not only allow people to try and get as close as possible but allow them to make substitutions based on what they have available.

Additionally, if there is space available I would like to include craft brewer size batches as well. That way we can target both markets and hopefully a lot of the smaller craft brewers will start brewing these beers.

Jim Johanssen said...

Ron - Kristen - Thanks for the high detail in the recipes, it's nice to see some detail on the water and fermintaion.

Cheers
Jim

Anonymous said...

Bill in Oregon,

I scored a bottle of SSS at the Beaumont Market in Portland last week, and at the time they had a (very) few other selections from De Molen/Mr. Pattinson.

Anonymous said...

Jesus Ron, I've been reading this blog diligently for months only to find out now that your book is to be a home brewing one.

Cancel my order.

Zythophile said...

Kristen, I was teasing ...

Is Spratt Archer barley still available?

Dunno, Ron, but if you want the right gear you could use Sturmey-Archer ... (insert groans for awful pun here). Actually, Maris Otter is a descendant of Plumage Archer, so is probably about as authentic as you're going to get today, Plumage and Archer (and Spratt, originally "sprot") being old "land race" varities of barley.

Kristen England said...

Zyth - The lineage is my point exactly for using MO.

Fatman - Whats wrong with having a history book with home brew and craft examples? We can piddle all we want about what they were like but actually making them and tasting a bit of history is the fun part.

Anonymous said...

Takes up space Kristen. Simple as that. I'm interested in the historical stuff Ron has to say and am prepared to pay for it. I'm uninterested in homebrew versions of the recipes so I don't want to pay for them. No disrespect to your expertise but I want history, not homebrew.