Need English Bitter all grain help

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Bobby_M

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I'm looking to back to basics this weekend for two batches. What I mean is, I'm going for less is more. Less grain complexity, only one or two hop varieties. I need to craft the two with ingredients I have on hand.

For this topic, I want to do a simple English Ordinary Bitter.

Grains:
Unfortunately, I only have Breise 2-row as base grain but I'll deal with it.
Adjucts available are Crystal 20/40/80, Victory, Carapils, Munich, Vienna.

Hops:
Tettnanger, Hallertau, Cascade, Warrior, Fuggles. Ok, so Fuggles is really the only Brit hop I have. I see it's listed as dual purpose. Any problem using it throughout?

I'm planning to use Nottingham dry yeast because I have a ton of it.

My second batch is going to be an APA with mostly warrior hops but I'm comfortable crafting that one myself.. Thanks for any help you offer.
 
I'd definately include some Munich, maybe a pound or so. That should help give back some of the maltiness that you're missing from not having Marris Otter or another British pale malt.

I don't see a problem using Fuggles throughout as long as you have enough to get your IBUs and enough flavor. Otherwise, supplementing with a little bit of the cleanest of the other hops (actually, probably one of the German ones) just for the bittering component. You don't need a lot of IBUs with this beer, not really a lot of hop flavor (very little of the latter, IIRC), so the fuggles should be fine.

Personally, I'd split the crystal between the 40 and the 80, not too much as this beer will be pretty small. At most, a pound total of crystal malt, probably less.

If you have any Windsor, I'd use that in place of the Nottingham. Nottingham can attenuate pretty highly, given that you'll be starting at a low OG, I'd rather have something that left behind a higher percentage of the sugars. I'd mash medium-high (~154°, maybe 155°).

That's just my first instincts with this brew.
 
+1 to what Bird said.

I say base malts plus 1 lb Munich or Vienna, 1/2 lb crystal 40, 1/4 lb Victory, all Fuggles.

Definitely use a lower attenuating yeast. Windsor would be great. I really like Wyeast London ESB, too, if you are considering liquid yeast.

EDIT: Oops -- meant crystal 40, not 60.
 
Yeah, I think I'd do a half-pound of crystal and a quarter of the Victory; again, either split between the 40 and 80, or just pick one. The Victory would add a nice toasty, nutty touch that's also nice in a British ale.
 
I'm leaning towards something a little light in color so I'm avoiding crystal 80.

How's this look:

Untitled Session
8-A Standard/Ordinary Bitter

05.jpg


Size: 6 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 118.99 per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.036 (1.032 - 1.040)
|================#===============|
Terminal Gravity: 1.009 (1.007 - 1.011)
|================#===============|
Color: 5.1 (4.0 - 14.0)
|=========#======================|
Alcohol: 3.52% (3.2% - 3.8%)
|================#===============|
Bitterness: 28.46 (25.0 - 35.0)
|=============#==================|

Ingredients:
7.5 lbs 2-Row Brewers Malt
0.50 lbs Caramel Malt 20L
0.25 lbs Victory® Malt
1 oz Fuggle (4.8%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1 oz Fuggle (4.8%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
1.0 oz Fuggle (4.8%) - added during boil, boiled 5 min
0.0 ea Fermentis S-04 Safale S-04
 
Sorry about the font size. BTP has a stupid glitch in the code it spits out.

I'm actually going for a lighter bodied ordinary bitter, not an ESB which would be darker and bigger. I'm making an effort to go less is more in this one but will change my mind if enough folks tell me I'm not going complex enough to fit the style.
 
Bobby_M said:
Sorry about the font size. BTP has a stupid glitch in the code it spits out.

I'm actually going for a lighter bodied ordinary bitter, not an ESB which would be darker and bigger. I'm making an effort to go less is more in this one but will change my mind if enough folks tell me I'm not going complex enough to fit the style.

A pound or 2 of munich isn't going to affect the color much, and honestly you will need it to make up for the maltiness you'll be missing from the Breiss. Most of those English beers use MO or something like optic or halcyon, which are really crisp and malty.
 
The S-04 will be a big improvement over the Nottingham, but I can't help thinking that 0.5 lbs 20 L crystal is going to be too light. That would be much lighter than the lightest OB I've ever had.

-a.
 
Bitters usually seem to use ~60L crystal, so I might be inclined to use the 40. It won't add a ton of color, especially if only using a half-pound or so. I don't think of a bitter as being especially pale, anyway. Either way, it should make a good beer.
 
I've actually used crystal 120 and special roast in bitters. It gives it a nice flavor. Jamil suggested those in one of his radio programs.
 
I figured out why everyone is suggesting darker crystals and why I'm being so resistant. I listened to the Jamil podcast on Bitters and read the BJCP. There are ordinary ordinary bitters that are more in the 8-10 SRM range and then there are golden or summer bitters that are more pale in the 4-8 SRM range and that's actually what I'm trying to brew.
 
This beer has been done a while and I can vouch for the recipe. It's really good, somewhere between a Boddington's and a Bass, but I didn't do a side by side. Overall a nice simple recipe using a dry yeast.
[size=+2]Summer Ordinary Bitter Ale[/size]
[size=+1]8-A Standard/Ordinary Bitter[/size]

05.jpg


Size: 5.75 gal
Efficiency: 76.55%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 125.66 per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.038 (1.032 - 1.040)
|===================#============|
Terminal Gravity: 1.010 (1.007 - 1.011)
|==================#=============|
Color: 5.9 (4.0 - 14.0)
|===========#====================|
Alcohol: 3.72% (3.2% - 3.8%)
|=====================#==========|
Bitterness: 29.83 (25.0 - 35.0)
|===============#================|

[size=+1]Ingredients:[/size]
6 lbs 2-Row Brewers Malt
1 lbs Munich TYPE I
1 lbs 2-Row Caramel Malt 10L
0.25 lbs Victory® Malt
1 oz Fuggle (4.8%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1 oz Fuggle (4.8%) - added during boil, boiled 20 min
1 oz Fuggle (4.8%) - added during boil, boiled 5 min
1 ea Fermentis S-04 Safale S-04

[size=+1]Schedule:[/size]
Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:33:31 Mash In - Liquor: 2.5 gal; Strike: 167.3 °F; Target: 154.0 °F
01:33:31 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60.0 min; Final: 152.0 °F
01:40:17 Mash Out - Heat: 6.8 min; Target: 168.0 °F
02:25:17 Sparge - Mash out: 2.0 gal sparge @ 170.0 °F, 2.8 gal collected, 45.0 min; Sparge #2: 3.3 gal sparge @ 168.0 °F, 4 gal collected, 0.0 min; Total Runoff: 6.97 gal

[size=+1]Notes:[/size]
Evaporated .75 gallons more than expected and had to top up .75g to keep within gravity limits of the style. Hopefully won't blow off too much. Hit 77% effeciency. At 5 gallons, measured 1.044 OG. Added the .75g back in to dilute to 1.038 OG.

Bitter and Flavor hop additions were done in hop bags, aroma was free thrown into kettle.

Recirculated wort through CFC with march pump and used a prechiller after it got down to 100F. Recirced until ice was melted then ran into fermenter. Was about 78F. Pitched and put the carboy into a rubbermaid tub with cold water and an ice pack. I want this to churn at under 70F.

Rehydrated the S-04.

Tested SG on the night of 7/23 when I saw krausen falling. It's at 1.011 already in only 48 hours.
Tested at 7/30/07 and it's done at about 1.010.

Had a leak on the beer out disconnect and lost 4 gallons into the chest freezer.

Tasted what was left on 8/26/07. This is a really good beer. Of course it is, I only have a gallon and half left. This is one of the clearest beers I've made. It tastes pretty close to a Bass.


[size=-1]Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.0.28[/size]
 
Bobby_M said:
Had a leak on the beer out disconnect and lost 4 gallons into the chest freezer.]
I hate when that happens. I had a similar experience with my fridge last summer, and lost about three gallons all over the basement floor. :(
Savor what you saved!
 
On one hand, at least it's a cheap beer to make and not some barley wine I had aging for a year. On the other hand, it's a delicious session beer that I'm only going to get a choice few sessions out of.

By the way, chalk one more pro to using a chest freezer as the keggerator. As pissed as I was to see it wasted, I had no cleanup job in the garage.
 
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