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In the Fermentor: Burton Warmer

Lasts year's Winter Warmer brought back some wonderful memories. I could have brewed it again this year and been happy.

What fun would that be?

My new Winter beer is a variation on a Burton Ale (minus messing with water salts). My original intent was to swing by the store and purchase Maris Otter to use as the base malt. Then I remembered that I still had a bunch of Golden Promise in the house, so I brewed with it instead. The Chocolate Malt provides a light roasted edge. Flaked Corn follows the tradition of using starchy adjuncts in this beer style. A classic English Aroma Hop adds some sweet floral aromas. There's a bit of molasses at work too. An Ale yeast with low attenuation rounds things out. The final product won't be too terribly strong, but will still have a little heft.

The finished beer should be perfect for sipping around the fire on a cold Winter evening.

For five gallons:

Grains:
10 lbs Simpsons Golden Promise
1 lb Briess Flaked Corn
6 oz Bairds Chocolate Malt

Hops:
1.5 oz Challenger (6.9% a.a.): 60 min
1 oz East Kent Goldings (5.6% a.a.): 15 min

Yeast:
White Labs WLP002 - English Ale

Extras:
1/2 cup Dark Unsulphured Molasses: 15 min

Total Boil Time:
90 min

Mash Schedule:
Saccharification Rest: 156F for 75 min (No Chocolate Malt)
Mashout: 168F for 15 min (All Grains)

Efficiency:
80%

Original Gravity:
1.072
Estimated Final Gravity:
1.018

IBU: 44
SRM Color: 18

Fermentation Schedule:
2 Weeks Primary
4 Weeks Secondary
2 Weeks Bottle Conditioning

Cost: $18 per case
Commercial Equivalent: Samuel Adams Winter Lager: $32
Savings: $14
Labels:

Comments

  1. JonOctober 23, 2013 at 8:10 AM

    The recipe sounds good and the thing that interested me was the molasses addition. I've never used it before and I was wondering if you could elaborate a little more. Are you going for sweetness or flavor? I was also wondering if the molasses would release any oils into the wort causing an oxidation issue. Interested to here more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. cokitchenbrewOctober 23, 2013 at 8:43 AM

    I like to occasionally use a small amount in dark English beer styles like Old Ales, Sweet Stouts and Porters. It adds a tiny bit of extra sweetness that cuts the roasted flavors from Chocolate Malt, Roasted Barley and/or Black Patent a bit. Molasses also has a slight minerally (that's a word, right?) taste from the iron in it that I find desirable in small quantities. However, I've found that going much over a cup in a 5-gallon batch can be a bit too much for my tastes. As far as the molasses causing oxidation issues, I can't say that's ever come up for me. I'd have to hunt online for that info.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JonOctober 24, 2013 at 8:44 AM

      I'm going to have to give it a try on a sweet stout. You have a good idea there about pairing it with chocolate malts, or even cocoa nibs. I've made a few chocolate oatmeal stouts and was always a little disappointed with the overpowering chocolate bitterness, so maybe this would help balance it out.

      Delete

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