Ok, we’ve settled on an Old Ale for this recipe. Lets spitball some grain bills on here. We are shooting for a 5 gallon recipe with an assumed efficiency for 70%. We will leave any water profiling until after we have a grain and hop bill. Please include a mash schedule as well.
We are likely going to brew some test batches of this and maybe even do a video of the brew and backstory of the process. We will also like to have some of you all brew and send us some samples
Have at it!
Do you guys have an upper limit on OG that you would want to release as a kit?
No upper limit, but we should make sure it will not require any crazy fermentation steps, multiple yeast additions, ect.
That was kind of my concern. I’ve gotten away with fermenting wort up to 1.105 with a simple starter (with the right yeast) and good oxygenation. But it’s also a little tricky to hit 70% efficiency when you get up there, so it might be best to keep it to 1.085 - 1.090 at most.
So probably best to keep away from the invert sugars and what not. I’ve really been grooving on all base-malt and long boils to darken the wort with beers like this. But a nice flavorful base like Maris Otter with some limited English crystal malts might be nice. So maybe like 16# MO and 8oz each English med and dark crystal? Mash temp right down the middle at 153F?
Just tossing it out there as a starting point.
I like your thinking here with the simple English crystal and mash temps. How about something a little different, say 8lbs MO and 8 lbs Golden Promise?
Bittering with challenger hops to about 40-50 IBU. Maybe a small late addition at 15 mins of 1/2oz.
For yeast I’m thinking wyeast 1318.
I had 1028/WLP013 in the back of my mind, but I could dig 1318! I like the Golden Promise idea, too, or maybe something like Optic. Maybe skip the maris otter at that point and really highlight the one malt.
Thoughts on using peated malt for this? Possibly a small amount like 3-4%?
Rad
Rad, what are your thoughts behind it? I’ll admit that it wouldn’t be my first choice, but it might add an interesting tone to it. Kind of blurring the lines between a Scottish and old ale.
I’m wondering if we should put together a base recipe, and those among us that want to brew it and add a unique twist on it, let’s go ahead and do that, and maybe plan on some kind of trade once the project is finished? Maybe an old ale with peat smoked malt would be awesome, and I would totally miss out on it because it’s not something I would typically do!
Just another nice added touch of flavor to the mix. I must admit that I am not a huge fan of scotch, prefer a nice whiskey myself, but have found through playing that it can add a nice background complementary flavor for certain styles. If you keep the percentage low enough it shouldn’t be dominant, but more in the background.
I do have to admit I am slightly biased in that Hair of the Dog’s Adam from the Wood was my first exposure to the style. That was the beer that got me interested in old ales to begin with. 
I know they use a bit of peated malt with some munich, chocolate, and black patent so I’m just playing with ideas. I was just curious what the overall opinion was for the option. I am perfectly ok if no one else thinks it fits the bill we’re going for, I can always tweak mine slightly come brewday.
I was also thinking Marris Otter with a bit of crystal but I admit the Golden Promise idea could work out nicely.
I am more than likely going to be oaking this in some way shape or form as well. 
Rad
edit also, in terms of OG, I just brewed up NB’s Wootstout kit last month and it’s OG target is 1.109. I didn’t have time for a starter when I got around to brewing this (poor planning on my part, life gets in the way with 4 kids 
) so I just used 2 packs of US-05 and mine finished out at 1.020. All that being said, a higher OG kit in that range shouldn’t be unreasonable for anyone interested in it, but in terms of mass appeal for NB, we may want to target a bit lower.
Looks like we’ll have to start working this out on beersmith and submit to the forum for discussion.
Rad atfurst I admit that I was against it. But, now thinking about it a VERY little smoke in the background wouldn’t be too bad.
I agree that there should probably be an oak option.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t saying it was a bad idea by any means, just wanted to see where your head was on it.
I have 3 kids under 10 myself, so I know how it goes as far as making stuff work. Dry yeast us awesome, and s-04 or us-05 would probably be great as a backup here!
My first experience with an old ale was bell’s third coast, and it’s absolutely phenomenal. Wouldn’t mind at all pushing this to 10%, with corresponding hop bill. I had vinous/oaky/sherry on the brain here, but I’m good with a touch of smoky.
Great ideas here guys - keep 'em coming!
I am not familiar with old ale, so went a lookin’. Well it appears to have a very broad range of ABV, and it all seems to be a style that has a malty backbone with little to no perceivable hop presence. Aged a long time and even mixed with young ales to give more of a fruity back ground to it. Will we keep the grain bill simple and allow the brewer to adjust the ABV to ones liking then? I believe the yeast will almost be a constant from the english herd. I do like Loopies idea of challenger for a hop… maybe get a hint of spicy-ness into the party. Above all the possibility of exchange of brews? Sneezles61
I’m down.
Anyone interested in toasting your own malt for this? 1# of the Maris otter or golden promise. Toast it in the oven at 350 for an hour, stirring occasionally. Boom! Home-made brown malt!
So looking at yeast, Notty looks like a good subject, also I like the neo-brit too. They appear to enhance the malt and could flocc well, and at the top end of fermenting bring some esters to the party to make the malt appear a bit more crisp… Sneezles61
I’m the King of Rahr 2-row, so like the idea of trying a different base. Golden Promise sounds good to me. Maybe a lump of crystal… I’m assuming we plan on boiling the crap out of a bit of first running for color, right? Would it be crazy to do a late addition of Lyle’s golden syrup? I’m in a Blighty state of mind, apparently.
So as a BIAB(asket) I would need to pull off a half gallon to caramelize a bit in a separate pot and re-add? May be a good experiment. I’ve already got MO fer my base… Sneezles61
I was planning on a super long boil, like 3 or 4 hours, for the whole batch. Same idea though! In fact, GP/challenger would make one helluva SMaSH with the right boil, whether it’s first runnings or the whole thing. Not sure if there is any lyle’s golden syrup available here - I’d have to special order it.
I’ve been using Fawcett crystal in my English-style beers. Really liking them.
My system is volume challenged enough, I don’t think I could handle that long a boil. I could probably boil a gallon of my wort separately, though.
Golden Syrup is available here. My wife bought some once. Maybe Cost Plus imports, if I remember right? It’s basically an invert sugar, if I’m not mistaken. I’m not sure what it would do (never tried it before). Part of me says it would just ferment out and dry things up like table sugar, but Summit used imported invert sugar in one of their beers I enjoyed.
