Lesser known and Misunderstood English Beer Styles

Lesser known and Misunderstood
English Beer Styles
Antony Hayes
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Why bother?
¾ Popularity has its reasons
¾ Frequent brewing ironed out kinks
¾ We have more control today
We don’t innovate; we look in the archives
John Keeling, Brewing Director at Fullers
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English Beer Families
Light Ale
Bitter
India Pale Ale
Pale Ale
London Brown Ale
Mild
Newcastle Brown Ale
Old Ale
Brown Beer
Common Porter
Stout Porter
Russian Imperial Stout
Porter
Dark
Pale
Mild
Strong
Old Ale
Vintage Ale
Barley Wine
Strong Ale
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Today’s talk
Boys Bitter
Golden Ale
Burton Ale
Pale Ale
Old Ale
Brown Beer
Milk Stout
Porter
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Thanks to the brewers
Susan Ruud
Curtis Stock
Vince Rokke
Tom Roan &
Nancy Bowser
Golden Ale
Burton Ale
Old Ale
Milk Stout
Boys Bitter
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Milk stout; who likes milk stout?
Big Brew 1999
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My first love
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History of sweet stout
Mild stout
1875
Mackeson
patents milk
stout
1907
Government bans use
of “milk” on label
1946
85% of UK’s
stouts sweet
1970
Initially Mackeson’s OG was 1.054 (5% abv)
Currently 1.045 (3% abv) in England
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What leads to the thought,
“I feel like a milk stout”?
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Picture my Gran
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Snowblower beer
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Brewing Milk Stout
¾ Sweet stout
– Traditional milk stout
– 25g lactose per litre (0.5 oz per pint)
– Pale, wheat and black malt. Mash at 68ºC (155ºF)
– Poorly attenuating yeast
¾ Off-dry stout
– Less lactose
– Some crystal malt to broaden character
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Moving into Summer
English lawnmower beer
Boys Bitter
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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
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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
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Summer at the Pub
England’s answer to continental lager
Golden Ale
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What is it?
¾ OG 1.038 – 53
¾ Straw to golden. Brilliant clarity. White head.
¾ More hops than malt
¾ Clean aroma and flavour
¾ Drinkability is critical
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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
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Single Varietal Golden Ale
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Brewing Golden Ale
¾ Low colour pale malt
¾ Top quality hops
¾ Clean, well attenuating yeast
¾ English ingredients
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Gone for a Burton
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What is it?
¾ Sweeter and darker than an India Pale Ale
¾ OG 1.070 to 1.120
¾ Prolonged cellar treatment
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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
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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 ales. 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
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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
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What is Old Ale?
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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.”
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Old Ale?
“This is a mild ale 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.”
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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
Brewery in Horndean, Hampshire.”
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Aging and Brettanomyces
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 beers
Aging allows Brett character to develop
and for the beer’s components to meld
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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
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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 Barley Wine
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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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