If you have brewed a few batches already and want to try Old Ale Beer, this is a straightforward, all-grain route to it. The backbone is Pale Malt, with Golding 5.5% doing most of the work in the boil.
Recipe at a Glance
Recipe at a Glance
| Style | Old Ale Beer |
| Batch Size | 5 gallons (19L) |
| Boil Time | 60-90 minutes |
| Original Gravity | 1.060-1.075 |
| Final Gravity | 1.015-1.022 |
| ABV | 6.0-8.5% |
| IBU | 30-45 |
| SRM | 18-30 (dark amber to brown) |
| Difficulty | Intermediate to Advanced |
Brew Day, Step by Step
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1
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Mash · ~60 min Mash the grain bill, led by Pale Malt, at a steady temperature to build the fermentable sugars this style needs. Sparge slowly so you do not lose efficiency. |
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2
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Boil · ~60-90 min Bring the wort to a boil and work through the hop schedule, starting with Golding 5.5%. This is also where you will add any fining agent for a clearer finished beer. |
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3
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Ferment · 20C (68F) Pitch Wyeast 1028 London Ale once the wort has cooled to fermentation temperature and hold it steady. Primary fermentation is the most active week, do not rush it. |
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4
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Condition · 11 weeks at 12C (54F) Rack to secondary (or leave in primary if your recipe calls for it) and let the beer round out at a cool, steady temperature. This step does more for the final flavor than people expect. |
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5
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Package · 1 day, then wait Bottle or keg once gravity has held steady for a few days in a row. Give it time to carbonate and, for bigger styles, additional time to mellow before your first taste. |
That’s the shape of brew day and the weeks after it. For the exact grain bill, hop schedule, and full step-by-step instructions with amounts, use the recipe card below.
What You Will Need
Sourcing your own ingredients locally is always fine, but if you want to skip a homebrew store trip, here is what’s in stock in our shop right now:
- Base and specialty grain: Grains & Adjuncts (e.g. Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt – 10 LB, Crushed)
- Bittering and aroma hops: Brewing Hops (e.g. HopUnion 6I-E91H-F8YE RiteBrew – Cascade Pellet Hops – 1 oz)
- Yeast: Brewing Yeast (e.g. LalBrew Verdant IPA Brewing Yeast (2 Pack) – Make Beer at Home)
- Secondary fermenter for conditioning: Fermenters & Carboys (e.g. FastRack 5 Gallon Hedpak with Cap (Pack of 2) | BPA-free)
- Priming sugar for bottling: Priming Sugar (e.g. Brewer’s Best Carbonation Drops 9 oz)
- General kit and tools: Homebrew Equipment (e.g. PERA 4 Pack Bottling Bucket Plastic Spigot)
- Pour it right when it’s ready: a tulip glass shows off the color and holds the aroma better than a straight pint glass
Serve It Right
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A Old Ale Beer is best served in a snifter, it fits the body and carbonation of this style better than a straight pint glass. Here is one from our shop: |
Ingredients & Gear for This Batch
Grain / Adjuncts |
Hops |
Yeast |
Fermenter |
Priming Sugar |
Equipment Northern Brewer Homebrewing Starter Kit w/Equipment, Chinook IPA |
Full Recipe: Grain Bill, Hops, and Instructions
Old Ale Beer
Equipment
- 1 Large pot or mash tun
- 1 Fermenting vessel (e.g. carboy, bucket)
- 1 Airlock and bung or blow-off tube
- 1 Hydrometer and test jar
- 1 Thermometer
- 1 Auto-siphon or racking cane
- 1 Bottling bucket or kegging equipment
- 1 Bottles or kegs
- 1 Bottle capper or kegging system
- 1 Sanitizer (e.g. Star San)
- 1 Grain mill (if using whole grains)
- 1 Propane burner (if brewing outdoors)
Ingredients
For the Mash – Liquor 16.75 Litres (29½ Pints) – Mash Time 1 hr – Temperature 68°c/154 °F
- 10 lb Pale Malt Quantity 4.5kg
- 4 lb Munich Malt Quantity 1.8kg
- 10½ lb Dark crystal Malt Quantity 300g
- 3½ lb Chocolate Malt Quantity 100g
For the Boil – 27 Litres (47½ Pints) – Boil Time 1 hr – 10 mins
- 2¾ oz (Hops) Golding 5.5% When to add – At start of boil (IBU 37.3)
- 2¾ oz (Hops) Golding 5.5% When to add – For last 10 mins of boil (IBU 13.1)
- 1 tsp Protofloc Other – When to add – For last 15 mins of boil
- 1.7 lb Corn sugar Other – When to add – For last 5 mins of boil
To Ferment – 20°C (68°F) – Conditioning 11 weeks at 12°C (54°F)
- 1 Wyeast 1028 London Ale
Instructions
Mashing:
- Heat 16.75 liters of liquor to 68°C/154°F in a large pot or mash tun.
- Add the crushed pale malt, Munich malt, dark crystal malt, and chocolate malt to the liquor and stir well.
- Maintain the temperature at 68°C/154°F and let the mash rest for 1 hour.
- Drain the wort from the mash tun into the pot or a separate container, and sparge (rinse) the grains with water to extract as much sugar as possible.
Boiling:
- Add 27 liters of water to the pot with the wort and bring it to a boil.
- Once the wort starts boiling, add 2.75 oz of Golding hops and boil for 1 hour.
- After 50 minutes of boiling, add Protofloc to the pot.
- Add another 2.75 oz of Golding hops for the last 10 minutes of the boil.
- Add 1.7 lb of corn sugar for the last 5 minutes of the boil.
Fermenting:
- Cool the wort to 20°C/68°F and transfer it to a fermenting vessel.
- Add the Wyeast 1028 London Ale yeast to the fermenting vessel and stir well.
- Seal the vessel with an airlock and let the beer ferment at 20°C/68°F for about 2-3 weeks or until the fermentation slows down.
- After primary fermentation, transfer the beer to a secondary fermenting vessel and let it condition for 11 weeks at 12°C/54°F.
- Bottle or keg the beer and let it carbonate for at least 2 weeks before drinking.
Get the fermentation temperature right on Old Ale Beer and most of the rest of the process takes care of itself.
What Makes Old Ale Beer the Style It Is
Old Ale Beer sits in a well-established style family, and the version most homebrewers land on today reflects decades of small adjustments by brewers chasing balance rather than novelty.
Expect a beer that leans on pale malt and golding 5.5% once it is finished conditioning. Wyeast 1028 London Ale is the yeast strain behind that profile, so keep an eye on your fermentation temperature.
Style Characteristics at a Glance
- ABV: 6.0-8.5%
- Bitterness: 30-45 IBU
- Color: 18-30 (dark amber to brown)
- Serving temp: 50-55F (10-13C)
- Glassware: a snifter
- Food pairings: game meats, aged cheese, dried fruit
Common Questions
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes, the grain bill and hop schedule scale linearly with batch size. Just make sure your equipment, mash tun and boil kettle both, can actually handle the volume you are scaling to.
What is the biggest mistake homebrewers make with this style?
Rushing the schedule. Pulling a beer off yeast too early or skipping conditioning time is the most common way to shortchange a recipe like this one.
Can I substitute a different yeast strain?
You can, but expect the flavor profile to shift. Stick close to the same yeast family (English ale, American ale, Belgian, lager, etc.) if you want a result close to what this recipe is aiming for.
Keep Exploring
Once you have this one down, here are a few more homebrew recipes worth trying next:
Browse the full homebrew recipe collection for more styles, or if you are just getting into the hobby, start with one of our homebrewing starter kits for new brewers.
This recipe is for adults of legal drinking age. Please brew and drink responsibly, and always sanitize your equipment thoroughly to avoid infection.
