My wife came up with an idea for a party to celebrate William Shakespeare's Birthday we're calling "Ballads, Bards and Maiden's Fair". I've started a quick Mead recipe I found but I need to make an ale in the style that would have been done in the Tudor times in England. I did some cruised the net a bit and found that during the Tudor times in England there was a big difference in Beer and Ale. The difference being that Beers had hops or some other bittering (Ale Cost or Rue) in them while Ales were sweet and unhopped. I found a recipe for a Tudor Ale to use as a starting point:
5 Gallon Batch Size (scaled for 70% efficiency)
O.G: 1.046
F.G: 1.012
BUs: 15
MASH INGREDIENTS
7.25 lbs. Crisp Maltings Floor Malted Organic Pale Malt
1.2 lbs Simpson’s Crystal Medium
0.5 oz Simpson’s Black
MASH SCHEDULE: SINGLE INFUSION
Sacch’ Rest: 154° F for 45 minutes
Mashout: 172° F for 5 minutes
BOIL ADDITIONS & TIMES
60-minute boil
0.5 oz East Kent Goldings (55 min)
2.5 oz Honey (50 min)
0.1 oz Fresh Sage, chopped (5 min)
YEAST
Wyeast 1028 London Ale
Fermentation Temp: 68° F
FERMENTATION SCHEDULE:
One week primary fermentation
“Dry-hop” with 0.5 oz dried sage for one week.
Into the Keg to condition for 2 weeks
I found this on the Northern Brewer website from a thing Summit Brewing did. In the Tudor period this would have been done over a wood fire and so would have taken on some of the smoke from that. So here are my questions:
1. I can't find the Crisp Maltings Floor Malted Organic Pale Malt here locally but I can find Crisp Pale 2 Row and Crisp Maris Otter which it says has been used for English style brews for a long time. Which do you think would be better?
2. For the Crystal I can get M&F Crystal Lv 60-75 will it serve for the Simpson's Crystal Medium and then Crisp Black Patent for the Simpson's Black?
3. To add that smoked flavor to it I'm thinking about using maybe 2 oz Peated Malt which is British. Do you think that will be enough / too much and do I need to adjust the other grains any to add it to the grain bill?
4. This will be my first AG brew and the Mash Schedule calls for a Single Infusion, Sacch' Rest at 154 dF for 45 Minutes. Am I thinking correct that I'll Mash in at 154 dF and let it sit for 45 minutes maintaining that temp? Also, how many gallons should I Mash in with and then how many gallons for the Sparg? Don't have time to rebrew so I don't want to F' this one up
5. Can't get Wyeast locally but I can get White Labs so I'll probably switch to WLP013 London Ale Yeast.
BTW, I never got your new address and I have a couple sauces with your name on them...
Thanks