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As I don't have access to lower brewing temperatures, for me it's ale brewing time. I'm trying to put down a few brews which can take advantage of a few months "resting time" and be ready for a drink this winter.

The recipe detailed elsewhere, I've turned my hand to attempt a copy of "the hen", or thereabouts

Muntons Traditional Bitter 1.8kg
DDME 1kg
Brown Sugar 500g
Steeped Crystal 200g
Goldings for bittering 30g

OG 1064 for about 7.9%

I rehydrated and pitched 2 sachets of Muntons yeast this afternoon and it's going of like a frog in a sock already.

Wish me luck!

the Old speckled Hen is 4.5% and lighter than a newcaslte brown ale...

I drank plenty of these when living in the UK and its a nice drop but the average english style ale (brown) isnt a belgian strength.

Your recipe sounds like a nice strong ale but wont be much like the old speckled hen.....

Tried my first longie of this tonight. Great dark bitter with a slightly caramel finish due to the brown sugar. I'm not sure how bitter the kit is but with the extra goldings it's just great. A slight alcohol taste but not too obvious. The alcoholic effect is FAR more obvious ... already half cut after one big one of this and two stubbies of JSP.

It'll be a cracker at 6 months

Hiya,

How long did you boil the hops for?

Did you find it too dark with the amount of DDME?
I like my dark ales but I've I was wondering how you thought 500g DDME and 500g LDME might go?

Thanks.

Catchya
Ozc

Ozcah,

About a 40 minute boil of all the ingrdients except the kit can, approx 5 litres. Kit stirred in and disolved after flameout, topped up to about 18litres and usual brew after that Can't imagine why subbing in a bit of LDME would make much difference.

Try it and let us know how it turns out.

I don't know for sure myself, but I recall hearing people say that LDME tastes 'maltier' than DDME.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm keen to give this one a go.

catchya
Osc

I am thinking with this OG, you are looking for the Hen's Tooth?

At the time I was looking for a good strong ale to be cellared for several months and enjoyed during the cold weather months.

It's well above the original's alc % of 5.3 or 5.6% or however much the original is, hence my claim of a "sorta" clone. I was also looking at a "dogbolter" type recipe at the time and went with something in between.

That said, at just over two months in the bottle, it's a fantastic beer. One of my best alltime efforts and only likely to improve further.

Highly recommended ...