My latest score

[warra48]

Had to overnight in Sydney last Friday on a trip back from Canberra.
Called in to Dans at Hornsby on Saturday morning.
Here is a teaser of what I brought home.

[corks]

wish my local durphys had the ESB...

[Clean Brewer]

My Dan Murphys stocks all 3, I just wonder how long they will keep stocking the nice beers as there doesn't seem to be a big market for it up here, I could be wrong though as I dont work there.

[drsmurto]

My local (when i am at work) sells all them plus TTL, Ruddles and many more fine drops.

[James L]

I cant say i'm a huge fan of the Tradition. But depending on the circumstances, i could probably smash a few down...

come to think of it, they have Hobgoblin Ale on tap at the moon and sixpence.. and i just so happen to be going there tomorrow night.. Might have to smash one of those down.. along with a pint of HB wheat, and a Pint on the Bellhaven Twisted Thistle IPA... its just a pity i have to go to work on friday...

[drsmurto]

I LOVE Hobgoblin!

Let me know what you think, Warra and James.

Its on my list of brews to do and with a dark mild going down this weekend with 1187 yeast it makes sense to dump a hobgoblin onto the cake....

[warra48]

OK, I've just consumed one of my Hobgoblins.
I had never had one before, but I'm very impressed with it. Beautiful beer.
It has a lovely deep brown red colour, and it leaves a good lacing in the glass as it goes down.
The aroma is complex, and is not overtly hoppy, but rather it smells malty overlaid with toffee/caramel/raisin aromas.
The palate is almost chewy, and has a beautiful malty quality. The maltiness is kept in check by subtle but definite soft hops.
The lable says it is brewed with chocolate and crystal malts, Fuggles, and Styrian Goldings.
I imagine it may be Golden Promise, rather than Maris Otter they use for their base malt, to allow the specialty malts and hops to shine through. I would also think they use more than one type of crystal, probably a light crystal, and a darker one which gives the toffee etc aromas and flavours.
Doc, if you have a recipe for this, I would love to have it. I imagine the only way to replicate this is to brew it AG, as I doubt you would get the complexity with a can.

[drsmurto]

No worries Warra, this is the one i have in beersmith. I have been playing around with it so many times. Still in 2 minds as to the black malt. I think if i used 100g of choc it might influence the flavour so i have 50g each of choc and black, mainly for colour. The malty/toffee/caramel is coming from the pale and english crystal. I dont have any MO or GP so i tend to give JW trad a bit of help in english ales with my favourite malt - Munich.

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Hobgoblin
Brewer: DrSmurto
Asst Brewer:
Style: Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 20.00 L
Boil Size: 28.39 L
Estimated OG: 1.060 SG
Estimated Color: 38.1 EBC
Estimated IBU: 32.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.25 kg Pale Malt, Traditional Ale (Joe White) (5.Grain 77.98 %
0.75 kg Munich I (Weyermann) (14.0 EBC) Grain 13.76 %
0.35 kg Crystal, Medium (Bairds) (170.0 EBC) Grain 6.42 %
0.05 kg Black Malt (Bairds) (1300.2 EBC) Grain 0.92 %
0.05 kg Chocolate Malt (Bairds) (750.6 EBC) Grain 0.92 %
40.00 gm Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 21.4 IBU
15.00 gm Fuggles [4.40 %] (25 min) Hops 5.5 IBU
15.00 gm Styrian Goldings [4.70 %] (25 min) Hops 5.8 IBU
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
15.00 gm Styrian Goldings [4.70 %] (20 min) (Aroma Hops -
15.00 gm Fuggles [4.40 %] (20 min) (Aroma Hops -
1 Pkgs Ringwood Ale (Wyeast Labs #1187) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 5.45 kg
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 14.00 L of water at 76.1 C 67.0 C
10 min Mash Out Add 12.00 L of water at 93.1 C 78.0 C

[warra48]

I reckon you would get pretty close with that recipe.
I've been looking at some UK sites for recipes, and they all seem to specify Maris Otter, rather than Golden Promise.
My stock of Maris Otter is depleted, but I do have an untapped 25 kg sack of Golden Promise, so that's what I'll use. The other malts look good. The Black Malt does seem to be a constituent, from what I can tell, as well as the chocolate and crystal.
If you check out the brewery website, they have some pretty cool screensavers!

http://www.wychwood.co.uk/gallery2008.htm#screensavers