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.