Stoddard’s ESB

[threecb]

more prosaic and less poetic than steveh, student, et. al, but here goes:

(from a trade with and brewed by Stodbrew)

Serving Type: Growler, dispensed into standard shaker pint.

Poured with a pillowy tan head that settled down to a perfect 1/4" that left nice lace down the pint.

Deep amber in color with hints of ruby redness in the light - a beautiful, picture perfect beer. Nose of apples and summer fruit, subtle roasty malt with a hint of perfumey hops. Nice body, solid mouth feel. Slightly sweet up front, with the fruitiness coming through, followed by a bit of citrus, herbs and flowers (what hops are used?), finishing with a roasty dryness that was ever-so-slightly phenolic on the sides of the tongue.

My overall impressions were that this was a great beer -- one that went well with early evening on the patio!

Thanks, Stodbrew. Keep up the good work!

[Tweek]

Aye, for such a lazy bastard he sure does make great beer!

[threecb]

Originally posted by Tweek
Aye, for such a lazy bastard he sure does make great beer!

Patience does have it's rewards -- and Bock for the weekend!

[steveh]

Stod, can youse give us some insight to the recipe of this (obviously wonderful) brew?

Oh, and how tha' heck did a growler survive (brew as much as bottle) a shipment from Cali to Joisey? Eek - I'd'a been worried.

S.

[threecb]

The growlers were still chilled when they were unpacked, even sitting on my porch for a couple of hours in 80°+ temps! They were packed nicely in an old yeast shipping package, lined with styrofoam, insulated with newpaper and such, shipped next day fedex.

What a guy!

[hopjack13]

Originally posted by threecb
what hops are used?

i asked him the same thing, fuggle and cascade .
great brew! im not really one for esb's but i could drink stods on a regular basis!
you da man stodsteve!

[threecb]

Originally posted by hopjack13
...fuggle and cascade .

well at least that helps back up my tasting notes a bit, and helps me feel a little more confident in my palate/identification of flavors!

you da man stodsteve!

AMEN To that! can't wait to try the bock. Just saw on the Stoddard's site that it's a Helles/Spring Bock. Nice!

[Stodbrew]

Threecb--

I'm glad the beer got to you in good conditon, and I'm very glad to hear that you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind words. And that includes Tweek and Hopjack, too.

As far as insight into the recipe, I'll give you a brief history. It was first brewed by Bob Stoddard in 1993 as a seasonal holiday beer, but proved so popular, he decided to leave it on year-round. When I started brewing here in 2000, I started to tweek the recipe a bit, as I have done with all of the recipes here that I have not come up with. I think it's finally close to where I want it. I'm pretty sure it was brewed to be somewhat close to Fuller's ESB, but I haven't had one of those in a while so I'm not sure how they compare.

Here's the recipe, in amounts that I use in the brewery. I'd break it down, but, damn that pesky math. :D

For 20 Bbls.

880 lbs. of 2-row
55 lbs. of 70/80 crystal
110 lbs. of 30/37 crystal
50 lbs. of 15 crystal
50 lbs. of wheat
10 lbs. of Chocolate

Bittering hops: Centennial 9.1% AA 1950 grams
10 mins. to end of boil: Fuggle 1200 grams
End of boil: Cascade 1000 grams
Fuggle 1000 grams.

Target OG: 13.3* Plato
Final OG: 3.0* Plato

The yeast I use is some kind of proprietary strain I inherited when I started here and I'm not sure what it is, exactly. It definitely accents the malt. So I'm sure wyeast 1968, or the equivalent White Labs strain would work well.

Once again, thanks for the kind words, guys!

Cheers!

Steve

[studentofbeer]

thanks for posting that. i find it pretty cool to see what a "real" recipe that would be used in a microbrew looks like. that's a @#!%load of grains and hops. For those of us challenged in metric I converted the 1950 grams of bittering hops to ounces, which turns out to be 68.8 ounces. The whole brew uses 11.25 pounds of hops and 1155 pounds of grain. I dont know why Im so facinated by this, but it's kinda interesting. the beer sounds yummy!

[brewmonkey]

Damn!

Your recipe is ALMOST the same as my Amber with the exception of the chocolate which I don't use and your fuggle addition is a cascade addition for me and my OG is 14.5P.

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by Stodbrew
Threecb--

I'm glad the beer got to you in good conditon, and I'm very glad to hear that you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind words. And that includes Tweek and Hopjack, too.

As far as insight into the recipe, I'll give you a brief history. It was first brewed by Bob Stoddard in 1993 as a seasonal holiday beer, but proved so popular, he decided to leave it on year-round. When I started brewing here in 2000, I started to tweek the recipe a bit, as I have done with all of the recipes here that I have not come up with. I think it's finally close to where I want it. I'm pretty sure it was brewed to be somewhat close to Fuller's ESB, but I haven't had one of those in a while so I'm not sure how they compare.

Here's the recipe, in amounts that I use in the brewery. I'd break it down, but, damn that pesky math. :D

For 20 Bbls.

880 lbs. of 2-row
55 lbs. of 70/80 crystal
110 lbs. of 30/37 crystal
50 lbs. of 15 crystal
50 lbs. of wheat
10 lbs. of Chocolate

Bittering hops: Centennial 9.1% AA 1950 grams
10 mins. to end of boil: Fuggle 1200 grams
End of boil: Cascade 1000 grams
Fuggle 1000 grams.

Target OG: 13.3* Plato
Final OG: 3.0* Plato

The yeast I use is some kind of proprietary strain I inherited when I started here and I'm not sure what it is, exactly. It definitely accents the malt. So I'm sure wyeast 1968, or the equivalent White Labs strain would work well.

Once again, thanks for the kind words, guys!

Cheers!

Steve

I'll convert this to five gallons when I get home - if no one beats me to it. Stod - what is your ferm temp?

[Stodbrew]

Originally posted by Fast_Eddy
I'll convert this to five gallons when I get home - if no one beats me to it. Stod - what is your ferm temp?


Fermentation temp. is 68*.

I've been toying with the idea of dry hopping it with East Kent Goldings. I'll have to order some when I order hops next time.

Brewmonkey-

I'd love to be able to do a side by side comparison between the two beers.

[Tweek]

Originally posted by Stodbrew


Brewmonkey-

I'd love to be able to do a side by side comparison between the two beers.


me too! you guys should get on that! :D

[Fast_Eddy]

I posted the 5 gallon conversion in the recipes section.

[Budman]

I just saw this thread and I must say the the Stoddards ESB is definitely my favorite micro brew in the Bay Area. It really goes down easy and is a very enjoyable session brew. Keep it up Stodbrew!

[JohnBarleycorn]

Hey Stodbrew.....as long as your posting recipes....how about that tasty Kolsch?