Greg Hughes recipes

[Brewnaldo]

I see various threads all over the place about Greg Hughes recipes. He seems to be held in high esteem and all my AG brews have been from his book so far.

Thought maybe it might be an idea to have a thread where folk can discuss a GH recipe they have brewed and give it a bit of a rating to help others (like me) select what to brew.

So I have done;

Milk Stout. I liked this one but I am loathe to offer too much of a review because it stopped at 1.030 and would not move again. I bottled it regardless and it tasted ok but it just annoyed me that I had probably made a bit of a hash of it.

Mexican Cerveza. This one was pretty good, a very clean (only criticism being maybe too clean) flavour. I felt it lacked a bit in hop punch. I know the style doesnt need lots, but I did think it needed a touch more. It dropped very clear, but was hampered by some loose sediment, admittedly probably due to my process not the recipe. I would recommend this in the weather we are currently having.

Kolsch. The only one so far I have adjusted slightly. I couldnt get Spalt select hops so used Saaz instead, and due to the above review of the Cerveza I wanted some extra hop flavour and did a Saaz and Tettnang hopstand at 80 degrees. This beer started off nice, I like it. It was more towards the ale end of the spectrum IMO but it definitely changed its profile over time with the fruity flavours mellowing out slightly. I would recommend a good 4 weeks conditioning for this as the tail end of it were by far the best of the bottles.

Weissbier. This one was by far and away Mrs B's favourite. At first I felt it was a touch watery but I think I hadnt got enough of the yeast into the glass. Beautifully cloudy with that background banana aroma. I actually went and bought a bottle of Weihenstepaner a week or so ago just to run a comparison because I remembered it to have much more body and aroma than mine, but I was pleasantly surprised that I drank it and felt mine stacked up really well.

So far I would recommend all of them to be honest, but the only one I doubt I will brew again is the Milk Stout. The next stout I brew will likely be a coffee/vanilla/chocolate affair.

Further reviews to follow for Scottish 60 Shilling, Roggenbier and Heather Ale all from his book.

I personally would appreciate any further opinions on the best GH has to offer.

 

[An Ankoù]

I, too, like Gregg Hughes' recipes and the only one I've been slightly critical of is his American IPA, which I found a bit too bitter (and I like bitter) but that's easily adjusted. Interestingly, I haven't made any of the beers you've knocked up. I'll go through my records later and add a bit more.

 

[RichardM]

I, too, like Gregg Hughes' recipes and the only one I've been slightly critical of is his American IPA, which I found a bit too bitter (and I like bitter) but that's easily adjusted. Interestingly, I haven't made any of the beers you've knocked up. I'll go through my records later and add a bit more.

I brewed his American IPA recently. I really like it, but my wife, like you, says it is too bitter

 

[Clint]

Great idea!
Weissbier.. numerous times! Got one I'm sampling at the moment. I agree it's as good as the shop bought stuff!
Yorkshire bitter...done a couple of times...but only used dry yeast, gervin and s04...I think this needs the specific liquid wyeast.. Yorkshire.
Dry stout...a winner...done lots of times
Cerveza...I dry hopped with saaz.
Done a few of the single hop pales... Amarillo,cascade...good.
Black ipa...done a couple of times.. another good one.
American wheat... yep,like it.
Summer ale...a nice drink but felt it was lacking something..done twice.
Saison...I thought the malt bill was a bit over the top...but it made a passable Saison to what I've tried.
ESB... twice...subbed the t. wheat for flaked barley second time.
Cream ale...drinkable but I don't like maize in a beer...reminds me of cheap lager!
Kolsch..yes liked.
Witbier... twice...I like wheat beers!
American stout...not over keen on that but I kegged it and had issues...I also had it at around 7%...too strong really and it knocked me bandy!
Ones to do...
Tin miners ale
Oatmeal stout
Some lagers.

 

[Slid]

Flicking through:
ESB several times - solid
Single Hop Ales - again several, mainly cascade, but all sorts
Patersbier - only once, but surprisingly good
Smoked Beer - once was enough
Cornish Tin Miner - 2 or 3 times - OK
Belgian Dubbel - yeah pretty Belgian and a nice taste
Northern Brown - nostalgia?
Old Ale - again a few times, hits the spot
Brown Porter - superb
Dry Stout - excellent
American Stout - also good
Vanilla Bourbon Stout - Lasted well over a year, by which time it was drinkable without the whiskey "Whoooosh"
Witbier - another favourite - magnificent with raspberries as per the Mixed Styles recipe
Other wheats - just getting into, having recently discovered Rice Hulls

 

[MickDundee]

I’ve done (in order of my memory, not the order I brewed them)

• Belgian Pale - turned out very well, refreshing with just a hint of Belgian yeast esters
• Belgian Dubbel - not a fan, took 2 years to actually come good, it did come good in the end.
• American Wheat- one of my favourite recipes from the book, done it 3 times - once as per the recipe, once with Mandarina Bavaria instead of citra and a 3rd time with 75g of Citra instead of 50g
• Witbier - recipe has malted wheat which isn’t correct to style to I used torrified - has a bit of a nightmare with the grain crush but it turned out well and I have the Ingredients to do it again
• Northern brown - I used this as a base for a Christmas gingerbread spiced beer. Did its job
• Hefeweizen (I think he just calls it weisse) - simple recipe, made a very nice beer
• Mexican Cerveza - loved it, my first lager
• Vienna Lager - early signs are good, still conditioning
• I can’t remember if my Czech pale lager is from GH or whether I just took one of his recipes (Czech pilsner perhaps?) as inspiration alongside a BYO article about the style. Either way it’s still fermenting.
• Kolsch - Another one I’ve done several times, always good.

 

[Clint]

Ah yes...brown porter...very good.

 

[cushyno]

I've done a few of the Hughes recipes too:

• ESB - my first from the book. I messed up somewhere in sanitation, so it was never right. One to have another try at.
• Northern Brown - consistent. Needs a decent yeast. Brewed with MJ Liberty Bell it was better than with Nottingham.
• Brown Porter - I'm with @Slid , this was a good beer after 5 weeks conditioning and got better. One to do again.
• Kölsch - done twice with CML Kölsch, a consistently good recipe.
• Weissbier - great with liquid weihenstephan yeast with an underpitch. Bland with CML Krystallweizen dried. Great drank young.
• California Common - done twice, loved this one after 6 weeks conditioning. Not good to drink young.
• Dunkelweizen - malty goodness, with some complexity. I may have overcarbed as there were lots of gushers.

I'll be trying others. There's a lot of scope for getting started with each style.

 

[An Ankoù]

Wow, I see why some of you call it the Bible. Do you get time to brew from any other source?
These are the ones I've done: Belgian Wit, Bavarian Weissbier. Used MG equivalent yeasts in each case and still fermenting. Reduced the orange peel and coriander considerably in the wit.
Started with his recipe for mild ale and by the time I'd finished it was completely different with 10% caramalt and 2% each of Carafa Special # 1, 2 & 3. Ruined first batch with L'Allemand ESB, which is the most disgusting yeast I've ever encountered. Rebrewed in 9 days aga and it's now in secondary. This is the attraction of Hughes. his recipes are simple and yet inspiring. You can see where he's coming from and say "yeah I might just tweak that a bit". The following are as prescribed in the book: Pale Ale (found it a bit pale and wan); Black Lager (I'd forgotten about this one- I'll dig out a bottle from the spidery area of the garage and stick it in the fridge for tonight); Munich Dunkel (nice b eer- well worth making); Oktoberfestbier (ditto); Vienna Lager (overdid the melanoidin malt with a scaling error (doubled it ) very nice, but I don't know what it's supposed to be like)).
Fancy having a go at the Heather beer and the Raspberry wheat beer next.

 

[Michael Burnley]

I can definitely recommend the Brown Porter, I do it all the time and it always turns out excellent

 

[Sandimas]

Summer Ale - quite possibly the most boring beer I've ever brewed!
Cornish Tin Miners - excellent, a firm favourite here: brewed regularly
Witbier - excellent, a firm favourite here: brewed regularly
Amarillo single-hop - excellent
Nelson Sauvin single-hop - excellent
Belgian Dubbel - nice, not as close to a Dubbel as I was expecting
Northern Brown Ale - OK, maybe I was expecting more
Mild - better than the recipe suggests, brewed a few times
Oatmeal stout - OK, maybe I was expecting more

Last time I did the Witbier I tweaked it a bit to increase the ABV to 5.3% and give it a bit more colour, aiming to get close to one of the beers made by De Haalve Maan brewery in Bruges.

 

[cushyno]

This is a good thread. Interesting to read that many brewers have noticed similar degrees of success with the recipies.

Clear winners so far are: Brown Porter, Kolsch, Weissbier, Amarillo single hop.
Hit and miss: Belgian Dubbel, Northern Brown.

 

[Brewnaldo]

Regarding the Single Hop recipes... Are they built in an IPA style? Broadly what sort of beer am I expecting to get out of them?

 

[ChilledGecko]

Just been reading though this thread, I've just placed an order for the book

I'm currently a kit brewer but I'm making space in the shed for an AG system soon...
Plenty of time to read and plan - cheers guys!

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Black ipa x2 both good
Tin miners - bit young still but I find it too sweet at the moment
Patersbeir -nice
Abbey ale - lovely
Old ale and dunkelweizen were lovely out of the fv but must have picked up an infection.
Winter ale - Lovely one of my faves.

Done others but off the top of my head I cant remember.

 

[trueblue]

I don't have this book, one of the biggest enjoyments of this hobby is designing your own recipes, but it was well publicised in the past, and I believe by his own admission, that most of the book content he plagiarized from the likes of John Palmer, Graham Wheeler and Gordon Strong. Just wondering are the recipes his own or copies.

 

[Sandimas]

Regarding the Single Hop recipes... Are they built in an IPA style? Broadly what sort of beer am I expecting to get out of them?

Yes - kinda of. I'm not a hophead and often IPA wouldn't be my first choice of beer, but I really enjoyed the Amarillo and Nelson Sauvin brews: they felt nicely balanced rather than "lets throw a ton of hops in".

 

[Oneflewover]

Think I've only done one beer per his recipe - rye with Amarillo and bloody good it was too. I've used plenty of his recipes for inspiration / a base to work with. When I cook I never follow a recipe and will combine them or tweak to my whim. I always think I can go one better (very probably in vain!).

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

I did post this question on another thread, so sorry for the duplication, but I have just started to find the time to leaf through this book now I have gone AG and a few recipes I fancy; first up the American Pale Ale as I love Citra and like Simcoe but never brewed with it myself. I'm planning to sub out Citra as the bittering hop for Centennial, as I prefer Citra later in the boil, so that's one change, but I am also wondering is it worth dry hopping it- the recipe doesn't call for one but I was wondering whether some additional Simcoe and Citra- say 25g of each for 3 days- would be worthwhile?

Interesting that some feel it is too bitter-I don't mind bitter personally, but would those who have brewed it suggest lowering IBU's a bit?

 

[robster62]

Has anyone tried the Belgian tripel? Planning to brew this soon with citra hop additions.