Lesser known and Misunderstood English Styles

Antony Hayes

1 Why bother?

¾ Popularity has its reasons ¾ Frequent ironed out kinks ¾ We have more control today

We don’t innovate; we look in the archives John Keeling, Brewing Director at Fullers

2 English Beer Families

Light India Pale Ale

London Mild Newcastle Brown Ale Brown Beer

Common Porter Russian Imperial Stout Porter

Dark Pale Strong Old Ale Vintage Ale Wine Mild

3 Today’s talk

Boys Bitter Golden Ale Pale Ale

Old Ale Brown Beer

Milk Stout Porter

4 Thanks to the brewers

Susan Ruud Curtis Stock Vince Rokke Tom Roan & Nancy Bowser Golden Ale Burton Ale Milk Stout Boys Bitter Old Ale

5 Milk stout; who likes milk stout? Big Brew 1999

6 My first love

7 History of sweet stout

Mild stout Mackeson patents milk Government bans use stout of “milk” on label 85% of UK’s sweet

1875 1907 1946 1970

Initially Mackeson’s OG was 1.054 (5% abv) Currently 1.045 (3% abv) in England

8 What leads to the thought, “I feel like a milk stout”?

9 Picture my Gran

10 Snowblower beer

11 Brewing Milk Stout

¾ Sweet stout – Traditional milk stout – 25g lactose per litre (0.5 oz per pint) – Pale, wheat and black . Mash at 68ºC (155ºF) – Poorly attenuating yeast

¾ Off-dry stout – Less lactose – Some crystal malt to broaden character

12 Moving into Summer

English lawnmower beer

Boys Bitter

13 What is it?

¾ OG 1.030 - 35 ¾ Straw to amber. Light head. ¾ Lightly hopped. Clean, dry and refreshing. ¾ No flavour components prominent

A low alcohol bitter

14 15 Brewing Boys Bitter

¾ Must be refreshing – but not taste “lite” ¾ Characterful pale malt – mash at 68ºC (155ºF) ¾ Touch of crystal ¾ Fuggles/ Goldings ¾ Medium attenuating yeast – clean profile

Subtlety and Balance

16 Summer at the Pub

England’s answer to continental

Golden Ale

17 What is it?

¾ OG 1.038 – 53 ¾ Straw to golden. Brilliant clarity. White head. ¾ More than malt ¾ Clean aroma and flavour ¾ Drinkability is critical

18 19 This style of beer should have a distinct pale malt character, but it should act as a more-or-less blank canvas onto which the hop character is projected.

Sean Franklin & Zak Avery

20 Single Varietal Golden Ale

21 Brewing Golden Ale

¾ Low colour pale malt ¾ Top quality hops ¾ Clean, well attenuating yeast ¾ English ingredients

22 Gone for a Burton

23 What is it?

¾ Sweeter and darker than an ¾ OG 1.070 to 1.120 ¾ Prolonged cellar treatment

24 Some history

¾ Roots are 1740 to 1820 export trade to Riga, Danzig, St Petersburg and Hamburg. ¾ Nut brown or darker, and sweet. High strength was its selling point ¾ 1824 recipe: 1.140 and 4.5 pounds of hops per barrel. Matured for 18 months. ¾ Bass red diamond had 4 strengths: – 1.110 to 1.070 – weaker versions sold as mild ¾ In London, Old and Burton were synonyms – “Bitter -and- Burton” was termed a “Mother-in-Law” ¾ Fuller’s Old Burton Extra morphed into ESB

25 What is a Burton Ale?

“Burton is a strong ale of the pale ale type, but with a proportion of highly dried or slightly roasted malt; it is consequently darker in colour with a fuller flavour than pale . Essentially a draught beer, it is usually given a prolonged cellar treatment, in the course of which those special flavours develop which are associated with maturity in beer.” The Brewers Art, 1948

The Burton which, like Sancho’s sleep, ‘wraps one round like a blanket’ Charles Knight, 1851

26 27 Brewing Burton Ale

¾ Lots of pale malt (OG 1.070 to 1.120) ¾ A touch of black malt for colour – target nut brown ¾ Plenty of English bittering hops ¾ Poorly attenuating English yeast ¾ 12 to 18 months maturation ¾ Dry hopped at racking, and stored cool for some weeks

28 What is Old Ale?

29 Old Ale?

“Brewed to an original gravity of 1040° -1044° this dark, full bodied beer combines sweetness and strength to produce an exceptionally smooth palate.”

30 Old Ale?

“This is a style beer brewed with East Anglian pale ale and Crystal malted barley and Boadicea hops, dark red brown in colour with an aroma of caramel and nutty chocolate.”

31 Old Ale

“Gales Prize Old Ale is a carefully crafted blend of brews, one aged and one fresh, giving the beer a unique flavour and character. The aged beer, brewed in 2008 and matured for over 18 months, is also seeded with a small amount of the last Prize Old Ale to be brewed at the Gales in Horndean, Hampshire.”

32 Aging and

¾ Brettanomyces was isolated by Niels Hjelte Claussen in 1903 ¾ Brettanomyces translates as “British fungus” ¾ Brett character was the signature of English stock

Aging allows Brett character to develop and for the beer’s components to meld

33 Blending

“Gales’ method of fermenting the beer in open vessels gave it some intriguing qualities, particularly a fruity tartness. By adding some of the beer brewed at Horndean to each new release we will maintain some of those characteristics, while blending aged beer and the fresher version gives the finished article a more balanced flavour, as the malty sweetness from the fresh beer kicks in.” John Keeling, Brewing Director at Fullers

Blend an aged and a fresh beer Find the ratio that works for you

34 Making sense of English strong ales

¾ India Pale Ale ¾ Burton Ale ¾ Old Ale ¾ Russian Imperial Stout ¾ Winter Warmers ¾ Vintage Ale ¾

35 References

¾ Amber, Gold & Black: The History of Britain's Great Beers, Martyn Cornell ¾ Beer: The Story of the Pint : The History Of Britain's Most Popular Drink, Martyn Cornell

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