Beer Recipes for Malt Extract and All Grain Brewing

Moving on from Kit Brewing.
 
 
In the mid 1970s when homebrewing was just starting to take off as a hobby, a Southampton based enthusiast named Dave Line produced what has become one of the definitive texts on brewing when he wrote "The Big Book of Brewing". Spurred on by the bland standardisation that was creeping into the commercial brewing industry and the frightening spread of "keg" beers and disappointed at the quality of many of the beer kits available at the time, Dave almost singlehandedly reintroduced the notion that private individuals could brew quality beer at home using (more or less) readily available ingredients and equipment.
 
He has probably taught more people how to mash* their grist and sparge their wort* than all the commercial brewers operating in the UK in the last 40 years, and his follow up book, "Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy" (1978) took the process further by providing recipes and brewing instructions to allow home brewers to replicate, as far as practically possible, the style and flavours of well known, commercially brewed beers. Dave sadly passed away in 1979 at the age of just 37, but his legacy lives on in his wonderful, and still accurate, books, which apart from improvements in equipment design and availability of ingredients, have needed little updating since first published.
 
With over 100 recipes covering all styles, a homebrewer can easily produce favourites such as:
 
  • Adnams Southwold  
  • Carlsberg Special Brew
  • Courage Directors
  • Fullers London Pride
  • Greene King Abbot Ale
  • Marstons Pedigree
  • Newcastle Brown Ale
  • Ruddles County
  • Theakston Old Peculier
Whilst Dave's original recipes are still covered by copyright laws and so can't be published here, I have a copy of the book (2002 revision) that can be consulted in the shop if you wish to check on ingredients and brewing methods.
 
For those not wishing to brew from first principles using all grain, full mash brewing procedures, it is still possible to create "Clone Beers" using malt extract, hops and crushed grains, especially if you convert Dave's recipes using a brewing calculator such as the one provided by Peter Laycock (www.petespintpot.co.uk) which is available FREE in several spreadsheet formats from www.yobrew.co.uk. (October 2024 Edit - These links appear to no longer work, but there are several alternative recipe generators available on line if you carry out a google search. My current prefered one is "Brewfather", but several others are avialable)

If you have not brewed this way before, please see the "Brewing With Malt Extract" section of our site to see the process in pictures, where I have used the recipe that produces a "Courage Directors" style ale and indicated at which point the various grains and hops should be added.

The recipes that follow are those created by Peter, based on various formulations he has tried over the years, that attempt to match the style and flavour characteristics of the named brew. They will not make an EXACT copy  of the beer as it is currently produced (as brewers tend to change their ingredients depending upon price and availablilty) but they will all make very tasty beers that you may find more interesting than those available to you if you only brew from single and two can beer kits. My thanks go out to Peter and Stephen (yobrew) for their permission to reproduce them here.

All of the recipes that follow are designed to be made up to 23ltr and are designed (unless otherwise specified) to have the Main Hops boiled for 90 minutes and the Late Hops added for the last 15 minutes. Some people prefer to boil the Main Boil Hops for 60 minutes rather than 90 in order to reduce evaporation losses, but this will usually result in a reduced hop oil absoption and lower bitterness, so you may find that you need to increase the quantity of Main Hops by 10-15% to compensate for the reduced boil time.

Adnams Southwold style beer with an OG of 1037, EBU 35, EBC 36, approx 4.1% ABV
Light Malt Extract - 2150gms
Crystal Malt - 125gms
Roasted Barley - 50gms
Sugar - 425gms

Main Boil Hops:
Fuggles Hops (3.9% AA) - 25gms
Goldings Hops (5.3% AA) - 25gms

Late Boil Hops:
Fuggles Hops (3.9% AA) - 15gms

It is also recommended that you dry hop the beer with a further 10gms of Fuggles. This can either be during the cooling phase if you have an immersion chiller, during primary fermentation or in the keg (provided they are contained in a muslin bag).

Fullers London Pride style beer with an OG of 1042, EBU 33, EBC 20, approx 4.1% ABV

Light Malt Extract - 2700gms
Crystal Malt - 290gms
Brown Sugar - 250gms

Main Boil Hops:
Target Hops (9.6% AA) - 15gms
Challenger Hops (7.6% AA) - 15gms

Late Boil Hops:
Northdown Hops (7.6% AA) - 8gms


Ruddles County style beer with an OG of 1049, EBU 45, EBC 32, approx 5.4% ABV

Light Malt Extract - 3100gms
Crystal Malt - 145gms
Black Malt - 40gms
Sugar - 335gms

Main Boil Hops:
Challenger Hops (7.7% AA) - 33gms
Northdown Hops (8% AA) - 33gms

Late Boil Hops:
Goldings Hops (5.3% AA) - 14gms

Theakston Old Peculier style beer, with an OG of 1058, EBU 29, EBC 95, approx 6.3% ABV

Medium Malt Extract - 2950gms
Torrefied Wheat - 285gms
Crystal Malt - 560gms
Black Malt - 130gms
Sugar - 570gms

Main Boil Hops:
Challenger Hops (7.7% AA) - 22gms
Fuggles Hops (4.5% AA) - 38gms
 
If you have a particular beer that you would like to try and copy, let me know and I'll see if I have a recipe for it.
 
A more recent book on the subject, much updated to reflect both current beers and the improved techniques and equipment available to the homebrewer, is Graham Wheeler's superb "Brew Your Own British Real Ale". Apart from being very readable and easy to follow, it lists not only the ingredients for "All Grain" versions of the beers, but also, in many cases, the ingredients needed to brew these "Clone Beers" using malt extract. A full explanation of the technique of malt extract brewing is also provided.


Grain Brewing Recipes:

This selection of recipes is based upon brewing 23ltr batches with Grain and assumes a 90 minute mash at 65°C, followed by a 90 minute boil with the "Main Boil Hops" added at the beginning of the boil and the "Late Boil Hops" added 15 minutes before the end of the boil, together with Irish Moss or Protofloc. You can reduce the boil time to 60 minutes if required, but you may need to adjust the "Main Boil Hops" level to compensate for the shorter boil time.

Courage Directorsstyle beer, with an OG of 1047, EBU 35, EBC 32, approx 4.8% ABV
 
Pale Malt - 4150gms
Crystal Malt - 380gms
Black Malt - 25gms
Brewing Sugar - 200gms (added at the start of the boil)
 
Main Boil Hops:
Target Hops (11.6% AA) - 18gms
Styrian Goldings (4.6% AA) - 17gms
 
Late Boil Hops:
Styrian Goldings (4.6% AA) - 8gms
Hallertauer Hersbrucker (5.2% AA) - 7gms

Dry Hops:
Styrian Goldings (4.6% AA) - 5gms
Hallertauer Hersbrucker (5.2% AA) - 5gms
 
These are usually added to the cask, preferably in a muslin hop bag to increase the flavour and aroma. If you are bottling, you can add them to the primary fermenter once the main fermentation has slowed down.
Abbot Alestyle beer, with an OG of 1049, EBU 28, EBC 14, approx 4.9% ABV
 
Pale Malt - 4750gms
Amber Malt - 250gms
Crystal Malt - 35gms
 
Main Boil Hops:
First Gold Hops (8.3% AA) - 15gms
Challenger (7.6% AA) - 15gms
 
Late Boil Hops:
Fuggles (3.9% AA) - 10gms
First Gold Hops (8.3% AA) - 7gms
Challenger (7.6% AA) - 7gms

Timothy Taylor Landlordstyle beer, with an OG of 1042, EBU 31, EBC 20, approx 4.1% ABV
 
Pale Malt - 4250gms
Black Malt - 30gms
 
Main Boil Hops:
Goldings Hops (5.9% AA) - 30gms
Styrian Goldings (2.5% AA) - 30gms
 
Late Boil Hops:
Styrian Goldings (2.5% AA) - 20gms

This beer normally has a higher bitterness than the one produced by this recipe - I reduced it slightly to suit my own personal tastes.
 
 
*Mashing is the process of converting the complex sugars held in the porridge like mixture of malted grains and warm water (the grist) into ones that can be used in fermentation. Sparging is spraying this "porridge" with warm water to extract the sugars into a sweet liquid (the wort) that can be boiled with hops prior to being fermented with yeast.