Harvey's Old Ale Recipe

[MartinHaworth]

Last night I had a pint of this in the Norwich Fat Cat. It blew me away. Really complex and satisfying.

So.....my google-fu is weak and I couldn't find a recipe.

Can the residents here help me? A recipe for Harvey's Old Ale.

Thanks

(they also had Sarah Hughes Ruby Mild on, and bottles of Dupont Monk's stout....it was a good night)

 

[Clint]

There doesn't seem to be much out there...I'd email the Brewery.

 

[Appleton Brews]

This is what I found on Jimsbeerkit the beer should be 4.3%
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.13 kg Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 83.33 %
0.63 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (236.4 EBC) Grain 16.67 %
60.00 gm Fuggles [4.30 %] (90 min) Hops 28.3 IBU
20.00 gm Fuggles [4.30 %] (5 min) Hops 1.8 IBU
1 Pkgs Slurry - Hopback Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile
Measured Original Gravity: 1.042 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 3.90 %
Bitterness: 30.1 IBU
Est Color: 30.8 EBC

My take would be 10% Dark Crystal not 16.67% and add 2.5% Chocolate malt and 87.5% Maris Otter to get you 4.3%.

 

[JockyBrewer]

The yeast is as important for this beer as any Belgian beer you can think of, so getting the real thing is important.

Harvey’s say their yeast is dual strain.

Sussex Ale I from Brewlabs is at least one of the strains, I’m not sure if it’s both.

Alternatively I’ve heard people have been happy with Wyeast 1187 Ringwood.

 

[MartinHaworth]

Thank you both!

@Appleton Brews the grain bill tasted more complex than just crystal, so I like your suggestions of dark + chocolate. I wondered about using a low % of Simpsons DRC.

@JockyBrewer Thanks! Another brewery using a dual strain (like our friends at Adnams). Yes, tasting it the ester profile was very complex, making be think that ferm temp would be quite high.

What struck me was that it packed such a complex flavour punch for a low ABV beer.


<as a side note, the Sarah Hughes Mild I had the same night was full of banana and spice!!!!Yummy!>

 

[MartinHaworth]

https://www.harveys.org.uk/news/60th-anniversary-harveys-yeast

are they really saying that the original Tadcaster yeast has been repitched 3000 times! Without reset to the original Tadcaster strain? It must have changed quite a lot over the years, or has it achieved some kind of stability like the Scandi yeasts?

One of the key yeast management tasks for Adnams with their dual strain is to maintain the balance, as the 'belgian' strain is the more agressive and will take over without careful microbiologist input

...

 

[YeastFace]

The new Andy Parker book includes Sunken Knave's Old Ale. It's described as a Sussex style Old Ale and I imagine is inspired by Harveys, so may be worth a look.

Grist is MO, Mild, Torrified Wheat, Medium Crystal, & DRC (sorry don't have the book or proportions but taken from here).

Edit - some more info here.

Edit 2 - Looks like the grist from TMM is 47.5% MO%, 25% Mild, 11 Med Crystal, 11% DRC, and 4.5% torrified wheat. Assume the invert sugar has been omitted for ease.

Edit 3 - Harveys seem to limit their hops to EKG, Fuggles, Progress, and Bramling Cross. You can acquire the yeast through a polypin (not sure if they do mini casks). The other part of the strain is (I think) Candida halophila, a salt tolerant strain usually found in charcuterie.

 

[MartinHaworth]

Thanks @YeastFace, I reckon someone who has the book will be along soon to advise!

Ringwood ferments upto 23. I wonder where to start? Gotta be north of 20......

 

[MashBag]

Harvey's brewery tour. Worth a watch.

 

[MashBag]

https://www.harveys.org.uk/news/60th-anniversary-harveys-yeast

are they really saying that the original Tadcaster yeast has been repitched 3000 times! Without reset to the original Tadcaster strain? It must have changed quite a lot over the years, or has it achieved some kind of stability like the Scandi yeasts?

One of the key yeast management tasks for Adnams with their dual strain is to maintain the balance, as the 'belgian' strain is the more agressive and will take over without careful microbiologist input

...

I think it's easier than that. The video covers it.

 

[Bitter_Dave]

Many years ago, approaching 20, you used to be able to go to the Harvey's
brewery with a flask and they would give you some yeast. I did it once. They gave me loads and I just chucked almost all of it all in, being a novice. It attenuated very low iirr, like 1.006 or something. It gave my rather generic basic 1.040 bitter a Harvey's type twang that was very pleasant, even if it was nowhere near as good as the original Harvey's bitter. I also used a small amount in a stronger extract beer (only a few litres) and it was surprisingly Harvey-esq. The yeast I would suggest is by far the most important aspect in trying to get close to brewing Harvey's beers, as others have said.

 

[Brewshed]

Like Bitter-Dave, I also once got some Harvey's yeast and used it on a bitter recipe I knew well. The resulting beer had a distinct Harvey's flavour, so the yeast is key to Harvey's.

As an aside, it is well worth being in Lewes on the first Saturday morning in October for dancing in the Old. A cask of Old is taken to the local church and blessed before lots of Morris Dancers gather in the brewery yard to dance in the Old. The brewery puts up about 6 casks of Old and it is given away free to anyone attending. Fortunately, I live nearby.