Which Old Speckled Hen

[GeorgieV]

Hi All,

I'm planning Old Speckled Hen for my next brew. I found 2 recipes here in this forum and 1 in a book. They are similar but still with some differences. I would appreciate your opinion on which one should I go for. Two of them include wheat malt in a very different proportions and the third none at all. Only one has roasted barley in - I know it brings some red-ish colour and some roasted aroma but I'm not sure about its effect at 0.26% of the grain bill. Also the IBU seems to vary a bit from 32 to 47. Am I right to think that IBU 47 may come too high for this style?

Here are the recipes:

RECIPE 1

Original Gravity (OG): 1.050 (°P): 12.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.010 (°P): 2.6
Alcohol (ABV): 5.29 %
Colour (SRM): 10.7 (EBC): 21.1
Bitterness (IBU): 32.3 (Average)

81.2% Pale Malt Crisp
7.06% Crystal 80
7.06% Wheat Malt
4.41% Cane Sugar
0.26% Roasted Barley

1.4 g/L Challenger (6.1% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
0.7 g/L East Kent Golding (4.7% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
0.7 g/L Fuggles (4.7% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
1.4 g/L East Kent Golding (4.7% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)

0.1 g/L Protofloc half @ 10 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion at 67°C for 90 Minutes. Boil for 60 Minutes

Fermented at 20°C with Safale US-05
==================================================================

RECIPE 2

Recipe Specifications

--------------------------
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Boil Size: 30.29 L
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 10.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 47.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Amount Item Type % or IBU

0.45 kg Lyle's Golden Syrup (0.0 SRM) Extract 8.3 %
4.35 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 80.0 %
0.54 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 9.9 %

45.00 gm Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 42.1 IBU
15.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 4.1 IBU
10.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 1.1 IBU

0.10 kg Dememera Sugar (2.0 SRM) Sugar 1.8 %

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 4.89 kg
----------------------------
Mash In Add 12.76 L of water at 76.9 C 68.0 C 90 min

=======================================================
RECIPE 3

Brewer’s Specs
Style: ENGLISH PALE ALE
Original Gravity: 1.052-1.053
Final Gravity: 1.010-1.012
IBU: 35
SRM: 12
ABV: 5.2%
Yield: 5 GALLONS (18.9 L)

8 lb. (3.6 kg) British 2-row pale malt (89%)
4 oz. (113 g) British wheat malt (2.7%)
12 oz. (340g) British crystal malt (55°L) (8.3%)

Mash for 90 minutes.

Hop Additions

60 minutes 1 oz. (28g) Challenger@ 7.7%AA (7.7 HBU) reduce by 27% for all-grain recipe
15 minutes 1/2 oz. (14g) EKG
15 minutes 1/2 oz. (14g) Challenger
1 minute 1 oz. (28g) EKG

Any thoughts are much appreciated.

 

[The Baron]

I would go with the one that suits your preference in beer style i.e IBU's to suit your taste that means if the ibu is higher than you like either drop the hops additions/times to nearer what you like, regards the wheat some ales have wheat added to aid head retention and not really for any other reason so 200g is usually around the mark up or down a little to get that. Now regards doing a clone these 3 recipes are obviously different so either do some more research or somebody on hear may chime up who has done a beer that is very close or just make a beer to suit your taste by adapting the best of all 3 recipes, yes it will not be a exact clone but it ensure you brew a beer that you will like and is of a similar style.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

My recipe is for 21 litres
4500g Maris otter
500g wheat malt
300g Crystal 55L
30g Black malt
30g challenger @ 60m
20g EKG @ 30m
15g EKG @ 10m

 

[GeorgieV]

@Cheshire Cat, thanks for the recipe.
@the baron, I'm not after a perfect clone, so I'll follow your advice and adapt a recipe from these four.
So far I'm more or less clear on the hops - I have some Northern Brewer and EKG, so it will be NB for bittering and EKG for late additions.
I still have some time to think about the malts as I'm not going to brew before the weekend.