Coniston Bluebird.

Road Runner · Post by **Road Runner** » Sun May 21, 2006 10:24 pm

One of my favourite bitters is Coniston Bluebird. I would love to make a clone of it, but have searched and never found a recipe for it.

The bottles state that Marris Otter Pale Malt is used with Crystal Malt. I guess not much Crystal as it's a fairly light colour. Also unusual quantities of English Challenger Hops.

It also says that it is fermented slightly warm to give a soft fruitiness with a faint hint of scented Geranium.

It is a yummy beer. If anyone can help with a recipe, I would appreciate it.

tribs · Post by **tribs** » Mon May 22, 2006 2:17 am

I have a recipe for it from 'Beer Captured'. I will post it in the next few days. If I remember correctly, it is mainly Challenger hops and if I'm not mistaken it surprisingly has a little roasted barley. B)

bitter_dave · Post by **bitter_dave** » Mon May 22, 2006 7:23 am

Coniston Bluebird is bottle conditioned, so presumably you could use the yeast from the bottle for authenticity - although I don't know if they use the same yeast for bottles and cask versions.

Btw I found this http://www.nada.kth.se/~alun/Beer/Bottle-Yeasts/ on the different properties of beer yeasts from bottled beers

Road Runner · Post by **Road Runner** » Mon May 22, 2006 11:08 pm

QUOTE (bitter_dave @ May 22 2006, 06:23 AM) Coniston Bluebird is bottle conditioned, so presumably you could use the yeast from the bottle for authenticity - although I don't know if they use the same yeast for bottles and cask versions.

Btw I found this http://www.nada.kth.se/~alun/Beer/Bottle-Yeasts/ on the different properties of beer yeasts from bottled beers

I did attempt a few months ago to rescue & get a starter going from some Bluebird Bitter. But it just would not even attempt to start fermenting.

Coniston is not listed in the link you posted, so I don't know whether it is perhaps just bottling yeast or not.

Also it was only my first attempt at getting a starter going from bottle conditioned beer, so it may have been me not doing it properly as a first attempt. I used instructions for getting a starter going as per Dave Line.

I will definately try again though, either with Bluebird, or maybe a different beer.

bitter_dave · Post by **bitter_dave** » Tue May 23, 2006 5:47 am

Thinking about it I've never been aware of any sediment when I've had bluebird before. I may have a go at making a starter with HSB, to see if it can be done - I've noticed that that beer has visable yeast in the bottle in the past.

I had a really badly served pint of Harveys recently, that had huge amounts of sediment in it - I wish I had filtched my glass and used that

Road Runner · Post by **Road Runner** » Tue May 23, 2006 7:35 am

Bluebird is definately bottle conditioned acording to the label. Every bottle I've ever had always has a fine layer of sediment.

In fact, Sainsbury's are delivering me 1/2 dozen bottles tomorrow night with my groceries, so I might try & get a starter going from one or more of them again.

tribs · Post by **tribs** » Tue May 23, 2006 10:19 am

I have successfully created a starter from bottle conditioned sediment. Its a case of patience. It usually needs leaving a little while to kick into life. I think it took me over a week to build up the starter sufficiently for me to be sure I had viable yeast.

Also I recommend starting with a very small starter and then gradually stepping up. Its going to take a little while for those yeasties to wake up and when they do you want them able to multiply quickly enough to dominate any other organisms that may be present in the wort. If there is only a little wort they don't have to multiply as much and can get down to eating the sugars and kicking any contaminants asses

Thinking about it its the same as making a starter for a full batch.

Bluebird is definitely bottle conditioned. It says so on the bottle

and I have found it usually has a nice clean yeast layer on the bottom. The cask version is brewed at the Black Bull in Coniston and is excellent. The bottled version is brewed elsewhere under license (by marston or bass or someone) and is good but not quite the cask version. I doubt they use separate yeast for bottling, but the same yeast may not be used by the two breweries. Anyway here is the recipe.

20L batch @ ~73% efficiency
OG 1.043
FG 1.011
IBU 35
SRM 10
ABV 4.2%

Malts
------
3.4kg Maris Otter
200g Crystal Malt
115g Torrified Wheat
15g Roasted Barley

Hops
------
25g Challenger (7.5%AA) 60 mins
7.5g Challenger (7.5% AA) 15 mins
7.5g Goldings (4.5% AA) 15 mins
15g Challenger (7.5% AA) 2 mins

Mash
------
@ ~66C for 90 mins.

Yeast
------
London ESB Ale Yeast: Wy1968

Road Runner · Post by **Road Runner** » Tue May 23, 2006 9:16 pm

Thanks for the recipe Tribs. My mouth is watering already

I already have most of the malt, just need a bit more Challenger hops & some Torrified Wheat & I'm away. I hope to brew it in the next couple of weeks.

I did once drink a very agreable pint of Bluebird at the Black Bull a few years ago. This was before I was brewing though. When I've completed my brew, I'll have to do a Pepsi Challenge with an orriginal bottle to see which is best

johnmac · Post by **johnmac** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 11:47 am

I'm building up a starter from a bottle of Bluebird. It's taken off quickly and is very active.

Hoppopotamus · Post by **Hoppopotamus** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 12:00 am

The bottle-conditioned Bluebird is actually brewed at the Hepworth brewery in Horsham, Sussex - or at least is was when I visited the brewery approx 12 months ago. The head brewer said they had to make some adjustments the water to make it more like the water in Coniston.

bandit · Post by **bandit** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 12:09 am

Hoppopotamus wrote:The bottle-conditioned Bluebird is actually brewed at the Hepworth brewery in Horsham, Sussex - or at least is was when I visited the brewery approx 12 months ago. The head brewer said they had to make some adjustments the water to make it more like the water in Coniston.

Sounds like the John Smiths water problem when they tried to brew it in Birmingham. There were so many complaints that it finally had taste

johnmac · Post by **johnmac** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 5:40 pm

I emailed Coniston to see if they'd tell me anything about their yeast. They said

"...sadly our yeast strain is top secret,but I can tell you it comes from the Region of Halifax..."

So far I've built the starter up to 3L. It appears to be a highly floculent bottom fermenter and has quite a strong bready smell.

I hope I'm not going to all this trouble to culture S04

spearmint-wino · Post by **spearmint-wino** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 6:56 pm

Does that mean it's a strain from the old Websters brewery? To my knowledge Bluebird has been around longer than any of the micros that have opened in the area.

smp465 · Post by **smp465** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:48 pm

Is the BC version available in any of the big supermarkets?

The Mighty Badger · Post by **The Mighty Badger** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:54 pm

Booth's supermarkets often sell it; but I don't think they have any shops anywhere near you (just in the NW).

I have half an idea that I've also had some from Sainsbury's (Burnley and Preston).

Its one of my favourites so you'd think I could remember better than that...

TMB

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