1954 Whitbread Double Brown

In my attempt to recreate the brown ales from my youth I thought I would start by brewing a Ron Pattinson researched historic recipe, either from his blog or his guide to vintage ales. Eventually, I settled on the 1954 Whitbread Double Brown here

It looked a good start because it appeared to have a reasonable abv, and didn't just rely on brewers caramel for colour ~ I'm not sure why the latter is important to me, it just is. I will not doubt brew one that is coloured in this manner soon to compare.

The recipe, when scaled down to my 20L batch size, needs 740g of number 3 brewers invert for the batch size I'm planning. I'm going to use the dilution method to create this using golden syrup and black strap molasses. However, its brew day and my golden syrup bottle only holds 680g, not the 780g I thought it did. So a bit of jiggling with figures, and I'll be using the following as my #3 invert substitute;

Golden syrup 680g

Meridian molasses 26g

Demerara Sugar 39g.

I'm also going to use EKG instead of fuggles, because I've got loads, and have adjusted the hop additions to give the same IBU. Oh, and I'll be using Mangrove Jack's Liberty Bell yeast instead of the Whitbread yeast recommended by Ron.

So, all things considered, it will probably turn out nothing like the original! The mash is on, photo's later.

Update: Well, the good news is the first runnings are brown, even before the late sugar additions, that should darken it further.

Update 2: OG is 1049, which is down on target but some of the golden syrup refused to dissolve in the wort, so I sieved it out when pouring the sugar mixture into the boiler, as I didn't want the lumps scorching on the boiler element. That, and the fact my efficiency is pants! The sample doesn't look that brown to me. The sample tasted OK, not too bitter. Once the wort was cooled to 24 degrees, the yeast was spinkled on the top of the foam that had formed on the wort surface when transferring from the boiler, and its been placed in the brew fridge set at 22.5 degrees. Now the wait begins.....

Update 3: Fermenting away nicely. Smells lovely, which is often the case with Liberty Bell yeast, especially when it's working at the top end of it's temperature range.