Hogs Back T.E.A. or Summer Ale Clone?!?!?!

[Eskimo Spy]

Help! I have a colleague at work who is from the Tongham, Surrey area of England, and was quite excited about the idea that I might be able to make a clone of Hogs Back Traditional English Ale (TEA) or Summer Ale.

Does anyone have a recipe for one of these? I found one, but it was certainly lacking in detail. This would make this guy's year, as he loves these beers, so either one would be good, thanks!

Here's what's on Hogs Back website, I've emailed them to see if they can provide any directions as well.

"TEA (Traditional English Ale) (ABV 4.2%)

The brewery’s flagship ale is pale brown, with a hoppy and slightly fruity aroma supported by malt in the taste. A well crafted, bittersweet beer with a long dry finish. A classic Best Bitter."

Oh, and here's the recipe I found for TEA. Any help converting this to available ingredients is very much needed!

----------

T E A Hogs Back brewery Tongham.

25 litre (6.5 gallon) batch OG 1044 ABV 4.2%

PIPKIN PALE MALT 4303 gms (9.5 lbs.)
CRYSTAL MALT (Any ideas? 40-L? 60-L?) 349 gms (.77 lbs.)

HOPS boil time 90 minutes

FUGGLES 35 (.08 oz.) gms
GOLDINGS 33 (.07 oz.) gms

Add 10 gms Goldings last 15 minutes.

Yeast of your choice (I'm thinking a Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale)

 

[Eskimo Spy]

Come on, help a guy out! Help!

 

[Danek]

Here's my guess. I'd be surprised if you could get any Pipkin, but Maris Otter would be a good substitute, as Pipkin is derived from MO. The crystal would probably be crystal 60, or possibly crystal 120. The imperial quantities for the hops are a bit off (the metric value seems much more plausible) though I'm not sure why you'd need a 90-minute boil - 60 should be fine. The 1968 looks like a good choice of yeast - you want fruityness and sweetness to balance the bitterness, as TEA is quite bitter.

Putting it in Beer Smith, a recipe that would get you 4.2% ABV would be:

Hogsback Traditional English Ale
5.5 gallons
49 IBU
12 SRM
OG 1043; 4.2% ABV

9 lbs Maris Otter
0.75 lbs Crystal 60
1 oz Fuggles @ 60
1 oz Goldings @ 60
0.5 oz Goldings @ 10

I grew up in Surrey, and Tongham is a tiny (and picturesque) backwater. I think it's awesome that thousands of miles away in Texas, someone is trying to reproduce their beer. Good luck with it!

 

[Eskimo Spy]

My friend grew up really close to that area as well, and hopefully will be shocked and surprised with a clone of a beer he really loves. Thanks so much, this is fantastic!

 

[Fr_Marc]

Hello there! I wanted to revive this thread and ask if the T.E.A. clone was ever brewed and how it turned out. It is one of my all-time favorite ales and since travelling to England is not really an option at the moment, I consider brewing a clone myself. Any hints or advice?

Thank you and cheers!

Marc

 

[jjwestw]

Hey @Fr_Marc ,

I'm planning on making a T.E.A clone and came across this thread looking for inspiration myself. Might not get around to it for a while yet but will update you on how it compares when I do, if you're still interested that is?

Did you ever have a go yourself? What were your thoughts?

Jon

 

[madscientist451]

Never heard of it, but I did find this nugget of information:

TEA was the first beer to be brewed at Hogs Back Brewery. It was an instant hit and has remained largely unchanged, other than moving from two hops to a single variety; it is now 100% Surrey Fuggles. It is a full-bodied bitter, brewed in small batches using English malt carefully balanced with all the Fuggles hops grown locally, either in the Hogs Back hop garden adjacent to the brewery, or at Puttenham, just four miles away.

Source: New design for Hogs Back Brewery TEA | The British Guild of Beer Writers

The beer is a "Best Bitter" so I would start with the recipe in the article below except use all Fuggles hops and see what you get:

https://beerandbrewing.com/make-your-best-special-best-premium-bitter/

 

[Fr_Marc]

Hey Jon, I have not brewed my own batch of TEA yet, but did a lot of research. By chance, I came across a fellow homebrewer who had brewed up several batches of TEA clone recipes in the past in order to find out which one turns out close to the original.
Here is the recipe he passed on to me:

Fermentables:
4300g pale ale malt
350g Crystal malt

Hops:
Fuggle 25g (90 mins)
Golding 30g (90 mins)
Golding 8g (10 mins)

This is for a 23l batch.

Note that Hog‘s Back Brewery changed their recipe to all Fuggles some years ago, so you might want to do the same.

The Hog‘s Back yeast is a Hook Norton strain. This seems not to be commercial available, though. A suggested substitute is Wyeast Ringwood Ale yeast.

I am looking forward to hearing what you come up with! Please keep us updated! Good luck!

Marc

 

[jjwestw]

That's brilliant, I guess it's settled then.

It's a favourite of a friend of mine so I'll let him be the judge and I'll report back. Might even tell him it's the real thing at first.

Thanks both

 

[madscientist451]

Its been reported you can grow the yeast from bottles of the Hook Norton Double stout, (bottle conditioned) note that export versions may be pasteurized.

 

[jjwestw]

Wow that is a very cool looking brewery. It's actually not too far from me. I'm tempted to visit, you know, for "research" purposes.

 

[Fr_Marc]

Jon, if you are near Hook Norton, they should be happy to pass on a bag of yeast to you, if you ask them some days before your visit. And yes: it IS a cool looking brewery!