Bitter Recipe

[OldHooky]

Have a look and see if you'd make any changes.

Brewer: 4 Mile Road Email: juanhughjazz@yahoo.com
Beer: Madgarific Style: English Strong (Extra Special) Bitter
Type: All grain Size: 10 gallons
Color: 9 HCU (~7 SRM)
Bitterness: 85 IBU
OG: 1.052 FG: 1.010
Alcohol: 5.4% v/v (4.3% w/w)
Grain: 15 lb. British pale
1 lb. British crystal 50-60L
1 lb. Flaked corn
Mash: 70% efficiency
Boil: minutes SG 1.047 11 gallons
1 lb. 8 oz. Cane sugar
Hops: 2 oz. Fuggles (4.75% AA, 60 min.)
2 oz. Kent Goldings (5% AA, 60 min.)
2 oz. Chinook (12% AA, 60 min.)
2 oz. Fuggles (4.75% AA, 15 min.)

[denver brewhoo]

Old Hooky- I've made 17 or 18 batches since i started and a grat deal of them have been pale ales, ESBs and IPA's....I'm sort of closing in on what I'm looking for but haven't gotten there yet.

I've been adding in some light munich, for that mellow melanoidin taste, and some biscuit or victory for that sort of bready flavor...plus instead of some of the crystal 60, a little special roast--not Special B, special roast--for sort of a toasty taste. The munich is probably not "to style", but I think the rest is at least not too far off. So I might substitute 2-3 pounds of light munich for a similar amount of the maris otter or british pale, add maybe a half pound of biscuit and a quarter pound of special roast in lieu of the crystal...

What yeast are you using? My best batch was with the White labs 013, but there's a fellow here, Chris 1kenobi, who really prefers dry yeast on these and I'm gonna try his recommendation--the Windsor--next time around.

Only adjunct I've used so far in an ESB is flaked maize, though i used both treacle and an unrefined cane sugar..."Sugar in the Raw", a turbinado sugar, in a strong ale that I haven't tasted yet...but I believe invert sugars are frequently used by British brewers in these beers and I'm gonna try the golden light syrup that comes in a tin sort of like the treacle tin, next time around...But one pound eight oz of cane sugar seems like a hefty amount, I might be inclined to kick up the grain bill a little and use less adjunct.

Does seem like a lot of bittering hops to me, obviously that's a matter of taste. I've liked what's resulted when I bittered with some combination of Progress and Challenger, say 2 oz of one and one of the other, but these have been around 4.5-5.5 AA as I recall...you've got 6 full oz. of 60 minute hops, and 2 of those are 12.0 chinooks. On the other hand, I like a 1 minute addition for aroma and I don't see one here. My next batch is gonna be maybe half Fuggles or EKG at 15-20, and half my new favorite for these beers, Willamette....maybe a half ounce of each at 20 mins, with an ounce of each at the end.

PS I'll be drinking one of your namesakes in about a month, in Hook Norton its own self....can't freaking wait.

[Fast_Eddy]

I've done very similar things with the grains as "denver brewhoo" describes above and the beers have turned out very, very good.

My latest pale/ESB/bitter experiment was using Columbus for the bittering hop. I can say without a doubt that Columbus gave me the most distinct, crisp bitterness of any hop I've ever used. I highly recommend trying it at least once.

[Caffinehog]

A bit of columbus, used exclusively as a flavoring hop, some malt extract, and a bit of water, all fermented with dry english ale yeast tastes uncannily like grapefruit juice.

Frankly, I'd leave the corn out. And with that many hops, this could turn out closer to an IPA than an ESB.

But who really cares about beer styles? It's all about making delicious beer. If you aren't entering in a competition, nothing else matters.

[OldHooky]

Originally posted by denver brewhoo


PS I'll be drinking one of your namesakes in about a month, in Hook Norton its own self....can't freaking wait.

I envy you. But if you are going to Hook Norton, there is a pub near there that was my favorite. There's a series of villages name the Tews just southeast of HN. Middle tew has a pub called "The Faulkland Arms" The pubs been there for about 500 years and hasn't changed much. They used to serve a brew called "Old Roger" out of a cask that sat on the floor behind the bar. They just put your pint glass on the floor and open up the valve. Nectar

This is my final formulation for the bitter recipe:

15 lbs Maris otter 10 gallons
1lb 60L OG 1.049
1 lb flaked maize FG 1.010
1.5 lb white sugar
1.8 oz chocolate malt

2oz fuggles @90
2 oz fuggles @60
1oz goldins @15
irish moss

5 gallons is fermented with White Labs London Ale (courage bitter clone)
5 gallons is fermented with White Labs Irish Ale(Old speckled hen clone)
Both were propagated from bottles of previous batches

Drink a pint of Old Hooky for me. There was a pub called "The Trigger Pond" that served a good pint of Old Hooky. I can't remember the name of the village. It should be in that area. It's been 14 years since I left England.