Looking for something new to brew it was suggested that I try making a clone of the English Pub Ale Boddingtons and so here we are!

Because a liquid yeast is used in this recipe I had to make a starter prior to brew day. And since I had to make a starter I figured this would be a decent enough time to try overbuilding it and harvesting some extra yeast for future brews!

The first thing to do when making a starter is to boil some light dry malt extract (DME). I wanted to make a 52.8 oz / 1.5 l starter so I measured out 0.035 oz / 1 g of DME for every 0.35 oz / 10 ml of wort ending up with 5.29 oz / 150 g. I then mixed in the water and added just a little bit of extra water to account for the boil off. Finally I boiled the mixture for about 15 min, although honestly it probably could have be done with less boiling.

Once boiled I placed a lid on it and set it in an ice bath to cool.

Once cooled I transferred the wort to my sanitized flask, pitched the yeast and covered it with sanitized, tented tin foil.

Because I didn’t have a stir plate at the time I just left it on my kitchen counter and shook it by hand every time I walked by or remembered it. The next morning I woke up and noticed some settled yeast at the bottom of the flask but a quick shake brought those back into suspension.

A quick pictorial recap of the brew day:

Recipe Source: Oliver Gray (Literature & Libation)

Beer Specifications

Beer Name: Boddingtons Clone Beer Style: English Cream Ale Recipe Type: All Grain Batch Size: 5 gallons / 18.9 litres Estimated SRM: 5.3° Estimated IBU: 37 Estimated OG: 1.039 Estimated FG: 1.010 Estimated ABV: 3.7%

Grain Bill/Fermentables

AMOUNT FERMENTABLES 6.2 lbs 2-Row Malt 4 oz Crystal 40 0.5 oz Patent Black Malt

Hops

AMOUNT MIN HOPS 1 oz 60 Fuggle 0.5 oz 60 Kent Goldings 0.25 oz 15 Fuggle 0.25 oz 15 Kent Goldings 0.3 lbs 15 Invert Sugar

Yeast

# YEAST 1 British Ale Yeast (WLP013 or WYeast 1098)

Fermentation Schedule

21 days Primary 7-14 days Bottle Conditioning Optimal Fermentation Temperature:66-70°F / 18.8-21°C

Place fermenter in stable temperature, out of the light.

Directions

Mash Temperature: 151°F / 66.1°C Mash Time: 90 min Strike Water Volume: 3.5 gallons / 15.9 litres Sparge Water Volume: 2.75 gallons / 10.4 litres Boil Duration: 60 min

Credit to the recipe source for the invert sugar directions. Slightly re-written below:

You can buy pre-made invert sugar or make your own by heating 0.5 lbs / 227 g of cane sugar (not table sugar) in 6 oz / 170 ml of water. While it is heating add 1/8 teaspoon of citric acid and let it simmer for 20 minutes while stirring often. Don’t allow it to get too dark so you’ll want to simmer less than 30-40 minutes total.

Once brew day was complete and the kettle was cooling I boiled two 8.8 oz / 250 ml mason jars and lids in water for 15 min and set them aside to cool. Once they had fully cooled I re-sanitized them in StarSan (you can never be too careful) and filled them from the starter (after swirling it around a bit to make sure everything was mixed well).

My brew ended up with an original gravity (OG) of 1.044 and a final gravity (FG) of 1.005 for an estimated ABV of 5.12%.

So what do I think of the final result? Well it’s a very reserved taste with a very subtle sweetness on the after taste that actually presents as more of a smooth flavour than a sugary one. I wouldn’t say it’s quite the same as one you might order in the local pub but it’s a competent enough clone that I think I would recommend it for those who want to give it a go.