Wye Valley Hereford Pale Ale (HPA) Clone Recipe

[terrym]

Also, HPA is extremely pale, I don't think there is any Crystal in it.

+1 on that.
HPA must be one of the lightest pale Ales I have ever drunk.
https://www.wyevalleybrewery.co.uk/our-beers/hpa/Yesterday I cobbled together a 10 litre trial partial mash version of this beer based on your recipe in post #20 above and from what I had in my store, and the wort colour was similar.
If its a success I'll post my recipe.

 

[Sandimas]

It'll be interesting to compare notes on the various versions of this that we have tried, to see if we can crack it.

Wye Valley is my local brewery, I've been there a few times inc a brewery tour and all the pubs round here have their beers, although it's usually Butty Bach, HPA can be hard to find. In fact. I had my first post-lockdown pint of Butty last night in the local, boy did it taste good.

 

[Petrolhead]

Just a quick heads up, I mentioned crystal but only in reference to a mistake.

Nice interesting thread this one.

 

[Sandimas]

Just bottled mine: looks about right, tastes about right so fingers crossed. Came out a little bit stronger than the original at 4.3%.

If anything, it looks a little bit too golden. I wonder if the brewery use extra-pale Maris Otter? It came out more straw-like last time I did it, but I have changed grain supplier so that could be the reason.

23L
OG 1044 / FG 1011
IBU 35
Colour 5.3 EBC
Yeast MJ M36 Liberty Bell

Grain Bill
----------------
4.100 kg Maris Otter Malt (90.25%)
0.443 kg Wheat Malt (9.75%)

Hop Bill
----------------
27.0 g Target Leaf (10.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.2 g/L)
24.0 g Styrian Golding Leaf (2.5% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)
24.0 g Styrian Golding Leaf (2.5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1 g/L)

 

[Petrolhead]

Beautifully clear for a just bottled brew.

Recipe very similar to others in the thread so interesting to see the result. No dry hopping I see.

 

[Sandimas]

No dry hopping I see.

Yes that was deliberate.

I seem to get foaming bottles much more when I dry hop to when I steep, so I'm trying it without this time. I've gone off dry hopping for that reason, plus I've done a few recipes now with a steep vs dry hop and haven't been able to tell the difference, and I notice few commercial breweries I've been looking into seem to do it either (note that I'm a fan of British ales, not American IPAs - I can see why you'd want to do it with IPAs).

 

[Petrolhead]

Looking forward to hearing how you got on. Mine is just conditioning now.

 

[Sandimas]

First sample - a bit darker than I was expecting, the real thing is almost straw-like, and I put the bottle in the fridge for a few hours as the house is hot and it's developed a bit of chill haze. But taste-wise I am very happy with this, I don't have the original for an A/B comparison but it's certainly hitting the mark as a summery British pale ale.

Think I know what has happened to the colour. If you look back earlier in this thread, I brewed it previously 12L AG - I now supplement my brews with 1kg DME to get a greater volume 18L from the same equipment (BIAB on the hob), the DME must have darkened it a little. If you do it with just grain it'll be fine.

 

[Sambill]

Update. After the interrupted mash, called into work, I got home 8 hours later and boiled up the now cold wort. Threw in the 60 minute hop addition and had a boil over. I really am more competent than this normally, I blame being knackered! So anyhow, estimated the hop loss and added another 15g.

It's fermented out to 1.008, I think the OG was 1.047 and I diluted it down to 1.043, but I'll have to check. Post ferment it tasted more bitter than I would have liked so perhaps over compensated slightly. Colour is perfect. I'm doing a 2 day dry hop at 14 degrees to avoid any further bittering. Also need it to be ready for Friday! Will post a pic and review once it's carbed up in the keg.

 

[jeg3]

Throwing in my Two Penn'orth here.

My fifth HPA style beer is currently fermenting, and it is my go to beer, call it my house brew at the moment. I have tweaked the recipe based on what I have in stock, and for the last few the hop additions have been Target for bittering and EKG for aroma.

Here is my experience:

The first clone used yeast cultivated from a bottle of Butty Bach - the yeast is fantastic as a top cropper, but I found it was fairly neutral. Don't get me wrong, seeing the souffle-like krausen on the beer was a thing of beauty, but after a few brews the faff of cropping and storing yeast made the process unenjoyable .

My clones too have been darker than HPA, so they must use extra pale MO.

Clone 2 was an exact copy of the first and tasted slightly different, but still excellent.

Clone 3 I swapped the Target for Magnum. I used a new cultivation from Butty Bach and it attenuated higher so went down to 1.006. It still made a good beer but was a bit drier, was 4.4%. It was probably a bit more like Holden's Golden Glow or Bathams which was a result in my book as these three are probably my favourite beers.

Beer 4 (I've stopped calling it a clone) I replaced the 430g of wheat with 250g of torrified wheat based on what I had in stock and by this time I had ditched using liquid yeasts and used MJ M36 liberty bell instead. This beer was awesome. I find the M36 imparts a slightly sour flavour to my beers making them very comparable with Bathams or Golden Glow and just to my taste. I also dispense from a king keg and find that this beer conditions very quickly and is drinkable within a week. It spent 14 days in the FV at 19degC.

The fifth variant (in FV now) has dropped the wheat and is just 4.4kg of Maris Otter with Target and EKG using M36 yeast. It's been in a week and is first tasting following a gravity reading after 7 days was very similar to no. 4.

I have experimented with water treatment as well, my water is very hard (230-240) and previously I have treated the mash with 12ml CRS and 2.4g gypsum then 27ml CRS for the sparge with 5.2g gypsum and 3.3g epsom going into the boil.

For no.4 I left the water treatment out and I don't think it compromised the beer.

Anyway in summary - I've brewed 4 very quaffable beers based on HPA and will continue doing so. The thing about homebrew is if you want a carbon copy of HPA - forget it without serious money and time investment, but a carbon copy is not required, just a beer that is the same style and is to your taste.

Happy Brewing!

 

[Sandimas]

I've got some paler grains so ready to have a crack at this again in the next few days.

Just wondering what IBUs you went for @jeg3 @Sambill ? I did 35 IBU last time, wondering if I should push it up a bit towards 40? Unfortunately all my locals are shut so no chance of trying the real thing at the moment..

 

[jeg3]

I go for 30 ibu every time. 35 is ok for my taste, as long as the extra is from late additions. 40 is pushing it for me in a beer of this strength

 

[Sandimas]

Cheers thanks, the boil is on now: I had the mash on before 7am, plumped for 37 IBU in the end so we'll see what it turns out like. Late additions will be my home-grown Styrians picked and vaccuum packed in Sept, so should have plenty of flavour/aroma. Will report back on how this turns out in Jan.

 

[Paul Bennett]

I'm new to brewing. My 1st batch is still in the fermentation stage. This thread has captured my attention being a Wye Valley fan and particularly an HPA lover.
I have ordered 25kg oh extra pale MO malt and some hops (prior to finding this thread). I may well be attempting an H.P.A. clone of my own. Just need a few extra ingredients.
Shopping maybe difficult in tier 5 though

 

[RichK]

Had a "real" pint of HPA the other day (eating out...) It's now on my list of beers to have a go at brewing myself :)

 

[jeg3]

I'm new to brewing. My 1st batch is still in the fermentation stage. This thread has captured my attention being a Wye Valley fan and particularly an HPA lover.
I have ordered 25kg oh extra pale MO malt and some hops (prior to finding this thread). I may well be attempting an H.P.A. clone of my own. Just need a few extra ingredients.
Shopping maybe difficult in tier 5 though

Online should be OK as long as you are patient. I'm out of MO, so will be looking for a 25kg sack this month. I've got loads of other malts in various smaller quantities uncrushed so should be OK.

 

[Sandimas]

Here's the latest one, just bottled: a lot paler thanks to the extra-pale MO. I put 10L of it into a Dark Farm mini-keg so once that has settled I'll draw off a pint to sample.

I continue to be impressed with the MJ Liberty Bell yeast, getting a consistent 77% attenuation resulting in a 1.010 FG.

 

[Sandimas]

And here it is, upping the IBU to 37 has worked and given it a nice bit of "bight". Can't compare to the original as all the pubs are shut but this feels like the closest yet. Scroll up for the recipe, same as last time just increasing the bitterness to 37 IBU, paler grain, no dry hop just a post-boil steep. 4th attempt I think and this one is a winner.

 

[RichardM]

Had a "real" pint of HPA the other day (eating out...) It's now on my list of beers to have a go at brewing myself :)

What's "eating out", I have a vague memory of things called pubs and restaurants where you could get food and drink but they all seem to be closed now.

 

[Sambill]

I've got some paler grains so ready to have a crack at this again in the next few days.

Just wondering what IBUs you went for @jeg3 @Sambill ? I did 35 IBU last time, wondering if I should push it up a bit towards 40? Unfortunately all my locals are shut so no chance of trying the real thing at the moment..

Hi, off the top of my head I think I was around the 35 mark, the last batch I made was pretty damned good too, disappeared far too quickly! Next time my computers open I'll check for sure.