old speckled hen recipe

[AussieJosh]

Hey paul

 

 

 

i was at the Fox and Firkin tonight and i had a few pints onf the old speckled hen! what do you think would be a good recipe to make this?

 

Cheers!

[PB2]

Good question! I've only tried it once, out of a clear glass bottle, and the sample was severely light struck :roll: I tipped it away after just one mouthful - just could not get around the disgusting stench.

 

 

 

Will do some homework and get back to you. :)

[AussieJosh]

Thanks Paul! I look foward to it! :)

[Muddy Waters]

I had a speckled hen once but the doctor gave me some cream and it cleared it right up.

[PB2]

I hope you used the whole tube of cream else the condition may flare up.

 

Still on the job with this, every bottlo has had old stock or can't make out the date code at all. Looking to pull a 6 pack out of a carton, minimising light strike damage.

[AussieJosh]

Thanks Paul!

If your ever in the area its on Tap at the Fox and firken, Top of north east road just before you hit the foot hills. Nice little english style pub it is! no pokies and shit like that! good meals to! but i think meals may only be on the weekend?

[PB2]

got a 6pack of bottles today(355ml, they look a lot bigger than that), still can't make out the inkjetted code on 'em??

[MatthewW1]

OK you really should not drink traditional English Bitter out of a bottle why they put it in a bottle is beyond me always pour from tap into an imperial pint glass and enjoy the taste sensation.

[AussieJosh]

LoL MatthewW1..

 

PB2 thats the guy who got the bottles....His name is Paul and he works for Coopers! He is there homebrew guy! He knows more about beer then all of us put together!

 

Good advice though for new beer drinkers!

 

Welcome to the forums mate! :)

[PB2]

Okay, I'm handing in my homework.

Still couldn't find any readable markings on the bottles but the 4 I tasted showed no signs of oxidation or light strike. However, 2 of the 4 gushed.

I got subtle floral/fruity and toffee aromas with a thinnish mouthfeel and a lingering medicinal bitterness.

Colour - 36EBC, SG - 1010 (that's not thin, yet it tasted thin??), Bitterness in the mid 30's.

I think this beer would present a lot better on nitrogen (can with a widget or on tap) as this will help to soften the medicinal bitterness.

 

To make something like it:

English Bitter Beer kit,

1kg Light Dry Malt,

250g Sugar,

10g of EKG hops for 10mins

10g of EKG dry hopped

Made to 23 litres.

Ferment at 18C if using the yeast with the kit or go for an English Ale yeast.

 

[AussieJosh]

I have only ever had it from tap!

Cheers for your homework Paul!

I might make this one for the winter!

[c52442]

im going to give this recipe a go.

had old hen a while back and cant buy it anywhere i live

[Daddy MacK]

Hi Guys

I know this is a really old thread now but I wondered how the above turned out........if anyone can cast their mind back? Perhaps it was so good its been made numerous times since?

I've been asked to put a few brews on for a "British Pub" night at friends and this was one of the requested as well as a Newcastle Brown and Fullers London Pride, and a Cider for Snakebite's!

Cheers DM

[Beefy1525229962]

Hi Guys

I know this is a really old thread now but I wondered how the above turned out........if anyone can cast their mind back? Perhaps it was so good its been made numerous times since?

 

I just Googled for "Old Speckled Hen clone extract". You invariably get recipes containing pale malt extract, medium crystal, a little bit of sugar, a neutral bittering hop, and East Kent Goldings late in the boil. Some recipes include a tiny touch of darker grains like black or chocolate malt.

 

So PB2's kits'n'bits recipe is entirely to style. If it were me I would make it pretty much exactly as he said... maybe dark brown sugar instead of white sugar... maybe 15g roasted malt or 60g chocolate malt... maybe 100-125g medium crystal... maybe add *all* of the above. None of those recipes will necessarily produce a perfect clone, but they will all be pretty damn tasty.

[ChristinaS1]

I suspect a lot of the flavour is due to the yeast they use, which is probably proprietary. I see some homebrewers going for Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley, as it hails from the same area.

 

If you have never used liquid yeast, consider trying it, using the Shaken Not Stirred starter method. Also, the ABV was originally 5.2%, while the cask version is 4.5%. If you do use liquid yeast, collect some slurry and use it for a few more batches, which will bring the cost down.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[Jaydub]

While I haven't made PB2's recipe above I will certainly be bookmarking it for making. I find the English Bitters kit to be my favourite pre hopped kit out of all the ones I've tried.

 

I personally think you can't go past either one of the suggested recipes on the English Bitter kit recipe page. The Hop Gobbler and ESB . The ESB is super easy and I think I added some left over EKG late but can't find my notes at the moment.

[ChristinaS1]

You may find this interesting:

 

Apparently Moreland's uses two yeasts.

 

"When the factory celebrated its half-century, the brewery made a celebration ale -- Old Speckled Hen. Because it was created for a 50th birthday, it was made to an original gravity of 1050. This figure is a measure of the density of malt sugars in the brew, but the last two numbers give a clue to the final alcohol. A beer of 1050 will usually have about 5 per cent; Old Speckled Hen actually has 5.2 per cent. The head brewer, Bill Mellor, says he simply aimed to create a beer of that gravity, with an appropriately full colour and flavour but with the dryness and easy drinkability that is Morland's house style.

 

It is my view that this characteristic dryness owes a great deal to Morland's two-strain yeast, which the brewery has used for an extraordinarily long time. These strains have been at Morland's since 1896 and are believed to have come from Charrington's now-defunct brewery in Mile End, east London.

 

Yeast produces different flavours according to the density of sugars with which it is required to work. At this gravity it creates a beer with a complexity of gently pear-like fruitiness and dryish, nutty maltiness. The hop bitterness in the finish is relatively restrained. The brewery workers were reputed to like Old Speckled Hen so much that they decanted off a little to drink, unfiltered and unpasteurised, as 'real ale.'"

 

http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000104.html

 

Given what it says about the hop bitterness being restrained, you might want to move PB2's 10 minute boil, to 4 minutes, or 2 minutes. The English Bitter kit is quite bitter already.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[Beefy1525229962]

Given what it says about the hop bitterness being restrained' date=' you might want to move PB2's 10 minute boil, to 4 minutes, or 2 minutes. The English Bitter kit is quite bitter already.[/quote']

 

According to Beersmith, even if you account for IBU's obtained during steeping then half an ounce of EKG in a 6 litre 10 minute boil is about 1.8 IBU. Dropping that to 2-4 minutes still gives an indistinguishably lower 1.4 IBU...... but would definitely provides less of the flavour that a 10 minute boil is supposed to provide.

 

The Hop Gobbler.....

 

Never considered the name...... a recipe for Hobgoblin, I assume?

[Jaydub]

Tour assumption is correct

[ChristinaS1]

Given what it says about the hop bitterness being restrained' date=' you might want to move PB2's 10 minute boil, to 4 minutes, or 2 minutes. The English Bitter kit is quite bitter already.[/quote']

 

According to Beersmith, even if you account for IBU's obtained during steeping then half an ounce of EKG in a 6 litre 10 minute boil is about 1.8 IBU. Dropping that to 2-4 minutes still gives an indistinguishably lower 1.4 IBU...... but would definitely provides less of the flavour that a 10 minute boil is supposed to provide.

 

My bad. I never use EKG and so forgot how low their IBUs are.

 

A 4 minute or 2 minute addition will give you more aroma than IBUs.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[Waylon]

This batch is on tap atm vary much like old speckled hen but with dry hopped styrian goldings

 

Marris Otter: 88%

Crystal 60: 12%

Northern Brewer Pellet 5.6 Boil 60 min 17 IBU

Fuggles Pellet 4.5 Boil 30 min 4.52 IBU

East Kent Goldings Pellet 5 Boil 30 min 5.03 IBU

Fuggles Pellet 4.5 Boil 10 min 2.13 IBU

East Kent Goldings Pellet 5 Boil 10 min 2.37 IBU

 

I cubed this batch so I didn't actually do the ten min boil it was a flame out...I later dry hopped with lots od styrian goldings

 

[Fancy a Cheeky Pint?]

Here is the Kits and Bits recipe from my book: (Brewing Crafts by Mike Rodgers-Wilson)

 

This is one I have often wanted to make but have never got around to it. I will one day soon.

 

Beermakers Bitter

1.2kg Dried Light Malt

200g Crystal Grain

500g Cane Sugar (this is a must)

20g Goldings Bittering Hops

1/4 bottle of Iso hop extract

Safale S04 yeast

 

21 litres

OG: 1061

FG: 1014

Alc 7%

Use 3/4 normal amount of priming sugar at bottling stage

Must be left for at least 2 months in bottles before diving in!

[Daddy MacK]

Evening All,

Thank you all for your time and effort on this thread. I really didn't know if anyone would get back to me after the thread sitting dormant for nearly 7 years!

I have only been dabbling for a couple of months but really loving my new hobby and as such have 3 FV's already, and have 240 bottles in my collection( well that's what remains anyway!)

Subsequently i will stick with simple recipes until I learn more, but some great information provided in the notes so thanks heaps.

Regards and Best wishes to You all

Happy Australia Day for tomorrow!

[Jorf]

On 2/23/2010 at 2:55 AM, PB2 said:

Okay, I'm handing in my homework.

Still couldn't find any readable markings on the bottles but the 4 I tasted showed no signs of oxidation or light strike. However, 2 of the 4 gushed.

I got subtle floral/fruity and toffee aromas with a thinnish mouthfeel and a lingering medicinal bitterness.

Colour - 36EBC, SG - 1010 (that's not thin, yet it tasted thin??), Bitterness in the mid 30's.

I think this beer would present a lot better on nitrogen (can with a widget or on tap) as this will help to soften the medicinal bitterness.

 

To make something like it:

English Bitter Beer kit,

1kg Light Dry Malt,

250g Sugar,

10g of EKG hops for 10mins

10g of EKG dry hopped

Made to 23 litres.

Ferment at 18C if using the yeast with the kit or go for an English Ale yeast.

 

Thanks PB2 this recipe. I gave it a crack but used brown sugar and 500g of light dry malt and 500g of dark malt. After 2weeks in the bottle the result is pretty much spot on. Still a bit green but a few more weeks conditioning will fix that. It even had the creamy texture on the palette like the original. 

Thanks again PB2