DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

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DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby drsmurto » Friday Jan 25, 2013 10:19 pm

I posted something similar on my local Adelaide brewing forum and wanted to do the same here. It required a bit of a rewrite as I wanted to add a bit more about the origins of this recipe as it began here. When i joined this forum some 6 years ago i was hunting online for a JSGA recipe as i had discovered it for the first time at a pub. A few months after i joined it all started.

I feel a sense of obligation to this forum, it was instrumental in my growth as a brewer. I asked so many stupid questions and was constantly helped by others without being berated, something other forums could learn a lot from. As a result i try to pop my head in here and help out where i can. The obligation is not guilt, it is simply repaying the patience and knowledge that was shown to me.

Anyhoo, group hug and move on.

To save people wading through 40+ pages of discussion on AHB I thought i would distil my thoughts on this beer and its evolution from kit beer to the variation i tend to brew at the moment. WARNING - long post follows.

The golden ale started out life as a JSGA clone on this very forum and was initially posted by a brewer called Pale_Ale back in Feb 2007. It didn't contain wheat or crystal and used the kit yeast.

Pale_Ale’s original recipe;
1 can Coopers Sparkling Ale
1.5 kg Coopers Light Malt Extract
15g Amarillo @ 30 minutes
15g Amarillo @ 15 minutes
15g Amarillo @ 2 minutes
Topped up to 20L (not 23L).

Over time on this forum, it evolved and I took it under my wing, slowly tweaking it brew by brew and turned it into the kit recipe you now see listed on AHB and other places.

The final kit version I made;
1 can Coopers Lager
1 can Coopers Wheat Malt
250g crystal (caramalt, caramunich, carabohemian, light/medium english crystal)
20g Amarillo @ 15 and 0 (sometimes listed as 15g @ 10, 5 and dry hop, i prefer the former)
US-05
Topped up to 20L (not 23L).

This can be converted to full extract by replacing the hopped kit with the same quantity of unhopped extract (1.7kg liquid extract) and adding a bittering hop at 60 min to 30 IBU total.

The 1st AG version which was brewed on the 8th of September, 2007 (and no, not my 1st AG, it was my 4th ).

55% Pils
20% Munich I
20% Wheat
5% Caramunich II
(All Weyermann malt)
Amarillo @ 60 to 31 IBU
0.75g/L @ 10, 5 and dry hop
US05
Mash - 66C for 90 mins, 78C mashout.

The first major variation was several months later when i replaced the Pils with JW Trad Ale and caramunich with JW caramalt. I also had by now gotten over the tendency of new brewers to dry hop everything so the late hop schedule had become 1g/L at 20 and 0. This version was the one entered in ANAWBS in 2008 and scored 46/50 winning its category (english bitter) and beer of show. As an english bitter it exploited a loophole in the guidelines which allowed american hops. I had entered it as an APA in SABSOSA earlier that year and it scored 31.75/50 in the APA category with comments of lacking hop flavour and aroma and more of an english pale ale than american. I took that information on board and the loophole in ANAWBS and entered it as an english bitter and the rest is history. To be fair, the golden ale is not that different to an english summer ale where the beers tend to be lighter in colour and higher in hop flavour and aroma.

Award winning version

55% JW trad ale
20% Weyermann Munich I
20% Weyermann Wheat
5% Caramalt
Amarillo @ 60 to 31 IBU
1g/L @ 20 and 0
US05
Mash - 66C for 90 mins, 78C mashout.

Over the years i have used this recipe to try out new grains, hops and yeast using the ideology that by changing 1 variable at a time, you get a better understanding of the contribution of each new ingredient. Different base malts, crystal malts, hops, yeast and even water chemistry have been used. I kept the % of grain the same, the g/L of late additions the same so whilst it has changed over time to not resemble the original in many ways the ideology behind the recipe remains the same; balance. Easy drinking, balanced beer with plenty of hop flavour and aroma but also with a great malt backbone that carries through. In reality, the philosophy is english in style but using more aromatic hops (american, australian, NZ).

I used this recipe for a homegrown hop series a few years ago to compare the flavour and aroma of my homegrown hops and used the results of that to decide whether to keep or dig up hops. As a consequence of that series i now only have Victoria and Chinook in the garden. Not that the other hops were bad, they weren't, it was just a matter of space vs how much homegrown hops i wanted.

So to my current and favourite variation.

55% Ale (normally TF FM MO or GP)
20% Vienna (german)
20% Rye
5% Carabohemian
Magnum @ 60 to 30 IBU
Victoria 1.5g/L @ 20 and 0
WY1272 American Ale II
Water chemistry - CaSO4 and CaCl2 added to achieve ~ Ca 90 ppm with the SO4:Cl ratio at ~1:1 starting from rainwater so no Na, Mg or CO3.
Mash - 67C for 90 mins, 78C mashout.

Carabohemian is easily my favourite spec malt. It has 90% of the flavour of caraaroma minus the burnt toffee notes and ~ half the EBC.

Rye is an amazing grain and ever since trying my first beer with it in it I have been hooked. At this % it does increase the mouthfeel a bit making it seem more full bodied and the spicy, earthy characters comes through.

Vienna over Munich was something i stumbled upon when i ran out of munich once. Munich adds a bready/toasty character whilst Vienna is more smooth honey like whilst still adding plenty of malt backbone. I found it allowed the rye to shine through a bit better than munich.

MO and GP - This beer is balanced between malt and hops so it needs a good malt backbone and over the years I have come to the conclusion that Australian malt can't provide that. It's not malted with that in mind; no commercial beer brewed on a large scale has a real malt backbone (IMHO). English beers have that character in spades and hence their malt is malted with that in mind. The same philosophy applies to Vienna and Munich malts which are available in Australian versions but I find them lacking. I prefer quality over cost saving.

The yeast choice is quite simple. US05 is clean, easy to use and reliable but adds nothing to the beer. WY1272 adds an extra dimension with ester production. I also find it clears better.

Homegrown Victoria hops are amazing. The first time i tasted a beer that used this hop (a homebrew from the now head brewer @ MVBeer) it screamed Loquats (citrus, mango, peach). Goes beautifully with rye and I get enough from my plants to brew a number of batches each year.

So there you have it, my take on the golden ale.
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby Mattrox » Saturday Jan 26, 2013 6:52 am

That is a good read. And very educational.
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby warra48 » Saturday Jan 26, 2013 7:21 am

Great post.
Much appreciated.
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby bullfrog » Saturday Jan 26, 2013 10:11 am

Makes me want to go out and buy some rye and some Victoria.

Great post.
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby big dave » Saturday Jan 26, 2013 1:43 pm

Good on yer Doc. Most of us here have had a dip at it. Or two. Or four.... Has become the benchmark.
Currently drinking: BIAB DrS GA, BIAB Californian lager, doppelbock of sorts
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby earle » Saturday Jan 26, 2013 2:58 pm

Yep, cheers Doc. Now that I've gone AG will have to have a go at brewing the golden ale in its latest form.

According to Beersmith it's one of the most widely brewed recipes in Australia.
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby warra48 » Saturday Jan 26, 2013 7:57 pm

I'm not a fan of Amarillo, bit I've brewed this with Cascade, and it worked just fine.
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby wrighty » Sunday Jan 27, 2013 10:51 am

Great read Doc .

Love the way you explain the method of learning this recipie ,using it as a canvas to understand what each
ingredient added to the finished product. Keen to have a crack at the latest version .
Im not an alchoholic i dont go to the meetings !
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby drsmurto » Sunday Jan 27, 2013 3:45 pm

Unfortunately for those wanting to brew the 'latest' version, Victoria is not a commercially available hop. You have to grow it yourself. I'm yet to find a hop similar to it.

But, using that grist and yeast with other new hops (galaxy, riwaka, motueka, citra) works well.
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby earle » Monday Jan 28, 2013 7:27 am

drsmurto wrote:Unfortunately for those wanting to brew the 'latest' version, Victoria is not a commercially available hop. You have to grow it yourself. I'm yet to find a hop similar to it.

But, using that grist and yeast with other new hops (galaxy, riwaka, motueka, citra) works well.

I wasn't aware of that but I do have a friend in town here who put in a Victoria rhizome a little while back.
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby waggastew » Tuesday Jan 29, 2013 5:37 pm

Awesome post Dr S! Nice to read the background on this famous recipe. It was one of my first brews that had steeped grain.

I was only telling my Dad about this beer last night as my next planned brew is a rye version of this recipe with Moteuka and Kohatu NZ hops. I will call it Gelden Aylaebreu!
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby Oliver » Wednesday Jan 30, 2013 8:29 pm

Thanks for this history of DSGA, Doc. It's nice to know that your now-famous beer had its genesis at little old Oliver and Geoff's Hombrewandbeer.com.

While it seems that Victoria is not available to homebrewers, at least through Grain and Grape or Craft Brewer, it appears to be available commercially from Hop Products Australia, which says "Victoria has been grown commercially by Hop Products Australia in all its production areas since the early 1990s".

With any luck, your enthusiasm about Victoria may lead to it being carried by homebrew stores!

I'd be interested to know what commercial beers it's used in. Any ideas anyone?

Cheers,

Oliver
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Re: DrSmurto's Golden Ale - History, evolution and musings

Postby emnpaul » Thursday Jan 31, 2013 8:05 pm

I realise I'm late in jumping on the band wagon but thanks Dr. Smurto none the less. It's an enlightening post and much appreciated.
2000 light beers from home.
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