Super light ordinary bitter (small beer)

I'm planning to make a light bitter for easy drinking this summer while using a few leftovers from previous recipes. Here is what I plan:

3.5 lb Pale Liquid Extract
6 oz Crystal Malt 40L
6 oz Crystal 120 L
8 oz Biscuit Malt
0.4 oz Target @ 60 min.
0.4 oz Fuggles @ 15 min.
0.5 oz East Kent Goldings @ 0 min.
Windsor Dry Yeast

OG: 1.026
FG: 1.007

21.1 IBU
9.4 SRM
2.5% ABV

What do you think?
Is it too much biscuit malt for the overall taste?
Is the IBU to Alcohol ratio ok?

I think at 1.028, that your IBU count is high. That makes your GU:BU ratio at 1. I would say start your hops at 30 minutes or so. That should lower your IBUs a touch. More hop flavor means you will perceive more bitterness even when there isn't as much.

For example I had an American wheat beer from williamsburg alewerks. They boasted a modest 9 IBUs. It was plenty bitter, I assume this is because most IBU calculators do not account for whirlpool or flameout.


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It looks tasty!
I agree on the hops being high. I'd shoot for 15-17 IBUs.

You have about 15% crystal there. That's quite a lot for this little beer. I'd recommend cutting that to 8 oz total...replace it with base malt (maybe a pinch of plain dme since it looks like you're using one can of LME?). It looks tasty. The c120 isn't to style but it'll be tasty.

Have fun! Lets us know how it turns out.

Thanks guys, that's exactly what I was looking for!

I didn't know about low-gravity bitterness range and crystal-to-grain ratio.

Using 60-70L Crystal would be more accurate but I thought that using a mix of 40L and 120L would bring the same color while adding a more complex malt flavor.

Ray Daniels' book "Designing Great Beers" (I think that's the name) is where you would get the GU:BU ratio. Of course, it's not a perfect reference, but it gets you in the ballpark.

Do some research on hop bursting if you have not already. It's a fun and great way to balance low gravity beers with a good hop bitterness.

Can't wait to hear how it turns out, so keep us posted!!


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BU:GU is a simple concept. Take your OG, 1.026, and just keep the stuff right of the decimal...26...this is the GU (gravity units) part.

Your IBU estimate is the BU (bitterness units) side of things. In your case, ~21.

BU:GU = BU divided by GU = 21 / 26 = 0.8. (we're pushing you to something closer to 0.7)

That's the literals of it. But 0.8 is just a ratio. How you use that is up to your taste buds. Brew the beer and think, "hmmm, that's a pinch too bitter. BU:GU was 0.8, maybe I should try 0.7 next time?"...

You'll learn that you personally prefer beer style X at 0.7, but maybe beer style Y at 0.9.

Using BU:GU this way is wiser than just IBUs because it's gravity independent. If you want to brew an IPA at 7% abv this week but maybe at 5.5% next week, you can't just use the same amount of hops in both beers if you want the same balance of bitterness in both beers. 1/2 oz of warrior in a 5.5% beer is going to make the beer seem more bitter than in the 7% beer. The ratio will tell what IBU to target for a given OG:
Say you like 0.4 ratio for an English Mild:
OG=1.035 >>>> 0.4 x 35= 14 IBUs

Thanks for all the infos. I'll adjust a bit and see how it goes. This one is hard to design as there is very few infos online about english bitter with this low ABV.

I adjusted the Target addition to 40 min. and the Fuggles addition to 10 min. and now have 18 IBU in Beersmith (or a 0.69 ratio).

I also adjusted the grain bill to 3.5 oz Crystal 40L, 3.5 oz Crystal 120L, 7 oz. biscuit malt and added 2 oz dry extract.

Still at 2.5% ABV but now with 7.8 SRM and 18 IBU. It should tun out better.

Did you brew this yet?


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Not yet, I should brew it sometime next week.

I'd keep the crystal malt high (15-20%) of grist as at such a low abv it's your main source of body and flavour. If it was full grain I'd replace some pale malt with a mix of Mild malt and Munich malt (yes, British brewers use it too). Hops: 60, 15, dry hop. A dry hop of even 1/3 oz would work for this.