Shippo's!

[earthwormgaz]

As a proud Nottinghamian and Forest fan too young to have been around to enjoy (maybe) Shipstone's ales, I'm wondering if anyone on here has any thoughts about what their brews were like?

I've heard they weren't so great in the later days of the brewery, but was that always so, or did they get caught up in the shift to overly commercial cheap **** beer?

If they were once nice, can anyone recommend me a Shipstone's recipe to home brew some? After all the talk about overly hopped fizzy Brew Dog, and my Dad asking me to brew something simple and traditional next time (after strawberry stout and spiced Yuletide ale), I thought what better than recreating an old local brew? :thumb:

 

[evanvine]

Back in those days you didn't pick your brewery, you picked your pub!
Shippo's as with Kimbreley and Home Ales, ranged from rank to nectar.
Pedigree and Bass were king!

 

[earthwormgaz]

Back in those days you didn't pick your brewery, you picked your pub!
Shippo's as with Kimbreley and Home Ales, ranged from rank to nectar.
Pedigree and Bass were king!

Yeah, Home Ales was another Nottingham one ...

I still think Bass is a half decent pint in the pub down the road, although that's Derby isn't it?

 

[evanvine]

I believe that Bass is now brewed by Marsdens, but could have that wrapped round my neck!

 

[akka lakka]

hi we used to call it shitto"s but we still drank it and remember it,i liked it more than home ales but not as much as kimberley,but now my home brew is best thanks to forums like this one,i am having a home brew at this very moment, merry christmas all :

 

[Bribie]

On a Cycling holiday from Newcastle to Holland in 1975 I distinctly remember getting hammered on Home Ales one Night and Shipstones the next ( referred to by the locals as Slopstones :) ) I much preferred the Home Ales, served from those beautiful brass and glass electric pumps on the bar. So terribly sad that the area has been stripped of those homely beers - Darley's of Thorne, etc.

I get the impression that the remaining Batemans is very much a survivor of the style. I'd look at Graham Wheeler's Real Ale book as a starting point for a simple bitter of the style, and put in a shedload of late Goldings Flowers at 10 minutes for that lovely lingering finish.

Just going out to the car for my violin :whistle:

 

[shocker]

I dont know about shippos but the can of Bass I have says brewed and distributed by Inbev of Luton . What a sad , sad thing to happen to a fine , fine ale . No idea where draught is made , or even if it still is .

I remember drinking shipstones many years ago in nottingham , maybe at the union rowing club (?) and have no bad memories of it , so thats got to be a plus . I will have a look around for recipes !

:thumb:

EDIT : these people have made a version of it recently....

http://www.castlerockbrewery.co.uk/site/?p=4541

...so maybe they will share some info , if you ask nicely !

 

[shocker]

This doesnt give the recipe - I cant find it at all - but does give lots of very interesting info on whats happened to our old beers and how ....

http://www.nottinghamcamra.org/ND/103%20April11.pdf

....scroll down to the "UP FRONT" section

 

[VSat]

Not had shipstone's, but I am a Forest fan living in Portsmouth. Let me just say that pompey fans wouldn't have wished Cotterill on anyone except Southampton - that's how highly he was(n't) rated! :evil:

But the Irvings brewery in Portsmouth produces excellent beers (ex Gales brewer who left when Fullers took over). :)

 

[earthwormgaz]

I emailed Castle Rock for a recipe! Let's see how kind they're feeling ...

 

[earthwormgaz]

I got back the ingrediants for Spyke Goldings ale from Castle Rock, but they say it wasn't really a Shipstone's clone. They did tell me that the Belvoir brewery do a Red Star ale which is Shippo's inspired, as the head brewer there is ex-Shipstone's, they didn't reply to my email though.

Anyway, Castle Rock said ...

In terms of the Spyke Goldings beer the malt grist comprised , by weight, of 95% pale malt, 4% amber malt and 1% chocolate malt. It was hopped with a blend of WGV and Goldings hops to achieve approximately 28 bitterness units. More generically if you are wanting to brew a traditional bitter you want to be aiming for between 5-10% of coloured malts in the grist and looking for between 20-30 units of bitterness. Given that many of the characteristics of a beer are determined by the yeast used it is never easy to replicate a particular brewery's beer without using the original yeast strain.

So, should I try that? I'd be happy to just brew a general Nottingham/East Midlands style bitter if I can't manage a Shipstone's/Home Ales clone.

 

[shocker]

Sounds like a good idea ....theres plenty of nottingham style yeasts for you to try