C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams used to meet in the Eagle and Child pub in Oxford. They’d share a pint and conversation about their literary works, theology, or whatever other ideas tickled their fancy. Shortly after beginning this new hobby of homebrewing, I got it into my head that it would be cool to figure out what kind of ales the Inklings quaffed as they massaged their brains.
Perusing the published letters, I found some specific references in Lewis’s letters indicating his delight in drinking bitters. A conversation over at Into the Wardrobe from 2006 provided the information that at the time of the Inklings, the Eagle and Child was supplied by Morrels of Oxford. Morrels signature bitter is called Varsity.
Having found a brewer and product name, I now needed to find a recipe. In our local library, I happened upon CAMRA‘s How to Brew British Real Ales, which–you guessed it–had a recipe for Morrells Varsity Bitter. So there I was with some historical data and a recipe.
I ordered up the ingredients, including a nice British yeast, and set to making the brew. The CAMRA book was a tad bit dated and asked for some malt extract that doesn’t seem to be available. I ended up doing a rudimentary version of a partial mash to compensate, which was kind of exciting since I’d not done that before. Everything seemed to be going well throughout the boil–I nailed the OG as well as remembering all the ingredients. But trouble started in when after 48 hours, there was no visible fermentation activity. I tossed in some Nottingham dry yeast, which kicked things off. Then, to my horror, there was a late October heat spike, and the temp of the wort shot up to 75. After getting things under control, I bottled it up.
Upon bottling, I noticed a strong caramel flavor and noticeable alcohol. That should have been my tip off that something was amiss since Varsity Bitter is not a strong ale. Suffice to say that the results were very disappointing, almost undrinkable. After carbonation, that hint of caramel and the alcoholic aroma combined into a rather nasty taste experience. After giving the batch a few months to settle down, and noticing no improvement, I poured the batch down the drain.
Brewday: 10/22/2008
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.012
ABV: 4.9
Bottling day: 10/31/2008
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