[majorvices]

I have a smack pack of WYEAST9097 Old Ale Blend and LOTS of sacks of Maris Otter laying around that I need to use. Never brewed an old ale before. I have a lot of crystal in the recipe because of the Brett strain in the yeast blend. Also bumped up the hops quite a bit, maybe too much? Take a look see and see what ya'll think.

Ol' Crusty
Old Ale
6 gallons
OG 1.080
IBU ~90

15 lbs Maris Otter (Thomas Faucett)
2lbs Crystal 80L

2 oz Challenger (8aa) @ 60
2 oz EKG (5.5 aa) @ 30 min
2 oz EKG *5.5 aa) @ 5 min

[budweiser]

That looks good to me. Pretty typical of the Old Ale recipes I have seen. Please let us know how that yeast goes.

[The Adequate Brewer]

Your recipe looks good to me.  Perhaps too bitter, but I assume it is going to sit for quite awhile so the bitterness will drop with time.
I used the Wyeast Old Ale blend about the middle of June in my first Old Ale batch.  As of now the beer is very funky.  It has lots of cherry pie aroma as well as layers of musty aromas that I expect from Brett.  The Brett character really came through more than I expected and quicker too.  I pitched too warm (75 F) and I suspect that might have something to do with it.  It's a good rich beer, just really funky.

Here's what I brewed:

11 lb Marris Otter
12 oz Crystal 80
4 oz Black Patent
3 lb Muntons Extra Light DME
12 oz Black Treacle

1.5 oz Target (10.4% AA)

OG: 1.083
FG: 1.016
IBU: 40
ABV: 9%

Hope this helps.

Jason
aka The Adequate Brewer

[bluesman]

Looks great. Can you send me a bottle when its aged and ready. I'll give you the bluesman's beer rating. 

[The Professor]

Looks great.  I like the relative simplicity of it  (the better beers I've tasted proved to have very simple grainbills).  Your hop rate seems a bit high though probably only for my tastes (for this type of beer) ...although as previously pointed out some of the bitterness will smooth out with the aging time that this beer will definitely want.

I'll be doing another batch of my own Old Ale next week (I make it 2 or 3 times a year, each batch designed for a full year of aging).

[majorvices]

Yeah, I wasn't sure about the IBUs being that high and I don't generally care for EKG in excess but I thought it would age significantly in a couple years which was my goal. It is quite possible I will tone it down before I actually brew it. Thanks for all the feedback!

[deepsouth]

i even like the ibu's.  i'd drink it.   then again i just brewed an amber with an OG of 1.074 and 161 ibu.......

[majorvices]

I hear ya, I'm not scared of them IBUs. Not'all. 

[captainsteve]

I used homebrew58's recipe from youtube but added some malted rye for color and to dry it out a tad. Came out good but next time I'll use more malt to boost my O.G. and not use DME.

[redbeerman]

I think it may be too bitter. JMO  Most English beers I've had except for IPAs are really pretty well balanced.

[bluesman]

Agreed Jim. But if he intends on letting it age a year or so the bitterness should diminish somewhat.

[redbeerman]

Agreed Jim. But if he intends on letting it age a year or so the bitterness should diminish somewhat.

Maybe Ron, but I have a BW that's a year and a half old that's still quite bitter and it was only 70 IBUs and the Brett may thin the old ale out over time.  The only way to find out is do it!

[bluesman]

Agreed Jim. But if he intends on letting it age a year or so the bitterness should diminish somewhat.

Maybe Ron, but I have a BW that's a year and a half old that's still quite bitter and it was only 70 IBUs and the Brett may thin the old ale out over time.  The only way to find out is do it!

True, that recipe looks pretty darn sound. 

[majorvices]

I think it may be too bitter. JMO  Most English beers I've had except for IPAs are really pretty well balanced.

I agree and when I brew English Ales I usually aim for balance. But I am going to brew it as is, I believe. I intentionally went with higher IBUs. Might chicken out at boil time though. 

[bluesman]

You can't knock it until you try it. Again with a decent amount of aging it will be very good IMHO.