Theakston Old Peculiar - a strong mild?

[Philipek]

Hello Folks,
It's been a while since I've tarried here in Grain Brewing Q&A. Not that I think I know everything I just read others' posts and threads.

I was perusing my copy of GW's BYOBRA trying to decide between doing a mild or a bitter and what particular mild or bitter. So, I was going back and forth in the book salivating over the recipes. I noticed that the recipe for Gales Festival Mild was broadly similar to Old Peculiar and the gravity is close as is the IBUs. Is the difference between these two maturation time?

I've got OP in the primary and have been thinking about chucking it into secondary for a few weeks - to do the old ale thing, but then, it tastes good now, so I was thinking of bottling. Will I be missing out, do you think? I used S04, and this thing ferments and clears very very quickly and I've read (on here) that some have had difficulty with carbonation after having matured an S04 beer for too long.

I notice quite a few people on here have brewed Old Peculiar or Gales Festival MIld . Has anyone brewed both? What yeast do you use? How long do you mature the beer before kegging or bottling?

Thanks,

Phil

[Zapp Brannigan]

Yes, I did both last Christmas.

Both were the Wheeler recipe. Here is how they broke down:

OP: Brewed with S05, bottled and conditioned for 7 weeks

GFM: Brewed with Youngs Beer Yeast, kegged and conditioned for 4 weeks.

I didnt leave either in a secondary to be honest, I just went straight to bottle/keg once I was sure primary had finished.

Both were stunning, but of the two the OP clinched it. I wouldnt have normally left the OP so long (I have no willpower) but it was my Christmas brew so I didnt touch it until I finished work for the hols.

I'm going to do Old Pec again this xmas, again with S05 and with a similar conditioning period.

Enjoy!

ZB

[chris_reboot]

that op recipe is great!
I thought it was better than the real thing, and certainly not like a mild.
its good stuff and may end up being an Xmas brew this year.

[Kev75]

Nice call Philipek!
GW's Old Pec is my all time favourite brew so far from the book and funnily enough last Saturday brewed up the GFM as a comparison.
I too use S04 for most of my brewing and only deviate from it when I run out, forget to order enough and have to pop to my local hardware store for yeast. Tend to brew the more fuller bodied brews though as its not to everyone's taste on the lighter ales.
Never had to rack off to a secondary fermentation vessel for any of the GW recipies - just go straight to bottle or keg once primary is finished and never yet made a brew that went for the full target conditioning period without a few sneaky tasters..!
I'm ashamed to say that the OP wasn't in the keg for more than 3 weeks before it was all gone!
A fantastic drop of ale.
Its no good - I know what I'm doing this weekend!!!

[Philipek]

Yes, Old Peculiar is very very good. This beer was one of two reasons as to why I started to brew and why I went straight to all grain. You can get many British beers our here in Canada, but not that one. I remember sitting in a Wetherspoons in North London drinking Old Peculiar on cask for one pound fifty a pint. Great days. I could drink it all year round.

Thanks a lot for the responses. Just bottled this one yesterday. Some of the bottles will make it for 7 weeks conditioning, but certainly not all. If I spread out what's left of my stout and intersperse it with some TC, that'll help.

Then plan was to put it into a secondary vessel and do the old ale thing and let it mature for a month. Life got in the way, and it stayed in the primary for a month instead. Ah well. All the hydrometer samples tasted great.

It's interesting to hear that people bottle as soon as they are sure that primary fermentation is done. I think I might give this a go.

Was going to give either Directors or Bass from the same book a bash over the weekend and one of the low ABV milds either Highgate or Holden. It's good to have a selection.

[Zapp Brannigan]

It's interesting to hear that people bottle as soon as they are sure that primary fermentation is done. I think I might give this a go.

Absolutely, as long as you are using a yeast strain that packs down well in the bottle (which you are) and rack carefully from your primary into your bottling vessel so you dont stir up too much sediment, it works perfectly.

As for the 7 weeks, that was purely because I bottled it 7 weeks from the day I finished for Christmas. Normally, I would give it 3-4 weeks in the bottle before digging in.

Good lucK!

ZB

[Kev75]

Was going to give either Directors or Bass from the same book a bash over the weekend and one of the low ABV milds either Highgate or Holden. It's good to have a selection.

Its great to have a selection but... Don't waste your time, money or energy on the Bass Draught Bass - IMHO its really not worth it
Decidedly average to say the least. No doubt I'll upset the Draught Bass lovers, but honestly, I'm amased its in the book.
Maybe its my pallett but I couldn't wait to get rid of the stuff. Had to drink the filthy stuff myself as I didn't want my reputation as a home brewer in tatters by offering it to anyone...

Apologies if its anyone's favourite brew!

If you like the Old P, maybe try Batemans Festival Ale? Its still quite a high ABV but its really a nice and lighter alternative than some of the black or chocolate malt containing "winter" style ales.

[Philipek]

It's interesting to hear that people bottle as soon as they are sure that primary fermentation is done. I think I might give this a go.

Absolutely, as long as you are using a yeast strain that packs down well in the bottle (which you are) and rack carefully from your primary into your bottling vessel so you dont stir up too much sediment, it works perfectly.

As for the 7 weeks, that was purely because I bottled it 7 weeks from the day I finished for Christmas. Normally, I would give it 3-4 weeks in the bottle before digging in.

Good lucK!

ZB

Here are a few questions raised by the excellent posts I've read on here:

So what's the point of bulk aging? Under what circumstances would one practice this? Does one only go to a secondary vessel in order to let the yeast pack down? I was under the impression that even in a well conducted ferment, the yeast still give off by products that they then slowly clear up or break down after the primary fermentation. In a bigger beer like Old Peculiar (not particularly big) that would mean a longer maturing process because the yeast have given off more by products during the fermentation. Does letting it mature in the bottle have the same effect? Now, thinking about a Gales Festival. Would that be aged for the same reason, or does aging merely change the character of a beer rather than improve it?

Ever so slightly OT.

Kev75, it's interesting that you recommend not brewing Bass Draught. I was never the biggest fan of bass, but I assumed that, rather than brewing Bass, I would be brewing a simple pale malt and crystal brew fermented with S0-4. I chose the recipe because it was relatively simple, no wheat or lager malt. In fact, I was going to swap out the northdown for Challenger and E.K. Golding. So, S0-4, different hops. It's practically a different beer, isn't it?

Talking of reputation in tatters. I've choked down a lot of nasty beer for that very reason, then I get to drink hardly any of the good stuff because I'm giving it out to friends and family.

Phil

[Zapp Brannigan]

Here are a few questions raised by the excellent posts I've read on here:

So what's the point of bulk aging? Under what circumstances would one practice this? Does one only go to a secondary vessel in order to let the yeast pack down? I was under the impression that even in a well conducted ferment, the yeast still give off by products that they then slowly clear up or break down after the primary fermentation. In a bigger beer like Old Peculiar (not particularly big) that would mean a longer maturing process because the yeast have given off more by products during the fermentation. Does letting it mature in the bottle have the same effect? Now, thinking about a Gales Festival. Would that be aged for the same reason, or does aging merely change the character of a beer rather than improve it?

I'm afraid that I will have to defer to the greater knowledge of others on the action of long maturation on yeast by products. The only thing I can add is that the only time I ever bother racking to a secondary is when I am brewing something where clarity is vital, such as pale malt only summer ales. With dark beer it matters less, and I know for a fact that Wheelers OP clone does not need it, nor for that matter did my Gales Festival, though that went in a keg.

It was so good I'd better stop talking about it or it may be getting brewed again waaaaay before christmas

ZB