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**forstmeister** · 01-21-2013, 01:40 AM

Here is the ESB I brewed today. It is a bit of a tweak on one I did last year that was absolutely amazing.

10# Maris Otter
12oz Crystal 60 (Thomas Faucett & Sons)
1 oz Fuggles 60 min
1 oz Fuggles 30 min
1 oz Fuggles 15 min

OG was 1.060, 35 IBU's, 9 SRM color

Pitched Safale S-04 which I rehydrated...

The MO is what makes a good ESB. The first time I brewed this I used Fuggles and EKG, but I didn't have any EKG on hand today.

**ajf** · 01-21-2013, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lhommedieu

I increased the Crystal just because I wanted a slightly darker color. If I decreased the Crystal, would you recommend merely increasing the MO or the addition of another special grain? Trying to keep things simple here - and happy to learn as I go.

lol - I knew that it was "extra" but just conflated it with English pale ale.

I wish you hadn't asked that, because it is something I tried some while ago, but had very little success.

If you decrease the crystal and increase the MO to compensate, you will get a lighter color - obviously.

My LHBS has a fairly limited selection of malts, and the only dark crystal they stocked was Muntons dark crystal (~150L). I tried a small addition of that in addition to my normal light crystal (~55L) addition. It was a disaster, and tasted like a cross between a dry stout and a bitter, with the emphasis on stout.

I tried using very small amounts of chocolate malt or roasted barley. Same results, the dark malts added some very unneeded flavors.

I did get some reasonable results using Briess 120L crystal, but even then it didn't taste as good as without the Briess.

Gordon Strong has said in Brewing Better Beer, that adding dark malts at the start of the sparge, rather than at the start of the mash (which I have always done) eliminates the astringent flavors caused by the roasted grains.
He may well be right, but I haven't tried it.

-a.

lhommedieu · 01-21-2013, 03:05 AM

Second Round:

7 lbs, 11.8 oz. Maris Otter Pale Malt
8 oz. Caramel/Crystal Malt 60L
4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt 120L
8 oz. Flaked Wheat
0.40 oz. Target (11%) 90 minutes
1.0 oz. Goldings, East Kent (5%) 15 minutes
1.0 oz Goldings, East Kent (5%) 5 minutes
1 tsp. Irish Moss 10 minutes
1 package Whitbread Ale yeast (Wyeast Labs #1099) - added to starter.

Est. OG: 1.048; Est. FG: 1.013; Est. ABV: 4.6%, SRM: 10.3; 33.7 IBU's

Single Infusion Mash for 90 minutes at 152 degrees; Fly sparge at 168 degrees for @ 1 hour.
Primary Fermentation for @ 10 days at 67 degrees; rack to Korny Keg and continue for 4 weeks at 65 degrees.

This is similar to Palmer's example of an ESB in "How to Brew." Changes include extending the boil to 90 minutes, adding 4 oz of Caramel/Crystal 120L for color and the addition of Irish Moss for fining at the end of the boil. I reduced the amount of Flaked Wheat to keep the Est. OG down and the subsequent Est. ABV came out at 4.6.

A propos your comment above, I was tempted to add a very small amount of Black (Patent) Malt to bump up the color to 13 SRM; I've been drinking Fuller's London Pride recently and love the copper color. I am not sure it is worth the risk, though...

lhommedieu · 01-21-2013, 03:33 PM

Sorry - I forgot that I'd also added 8 oz. of Flaked Wheat (edited, above).

My hbsg said that one of the best ESB's brewed locally for a contest added saccharine towards the end of the boil, and there is a thread on Northernbrewer.com that suggests that adding sugar to ESB's in not uncommon.

Newbie logic being what it is, I thought I might add some brown sugar to bump the color, but thankfully read the thread on this forum that says that brown sugar can add a weird taste to some styles.

So, if the difference between the SRM that I have and the one that I (arbitrarily, idiosyncratically) want is only 2.7 SRM, and I can't seem to get what I want without increasing the OG or effecting the taste, I may just want to stand pat and go ahead and brew...

**Glynn** · 01-21-2013, 03:56 PM

if you don't have "designing great beers" or "brewing classic styles" I suggest you go get them. There's a lot of great info there

lhommedieu · 01-21-2013, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glynn

if you don't have "designing great beers" or "brewing classic styles" I suggest you go get them. There's a lot of great info there

lol - DGB on request from my library system; BCS on my Amazon wish list...

I'd be losing weight if I wasn't drinking beer...

**ajf** · 01-21-2013, 11:33 PM

I like your second round recipe much more than the first one. It's very similar to one I brewed about 3 weeks ago.

Good luck.

-a.

lhommedieu · 01-23-2013, 12:00 AM

"Just one more question..."

I saw your post re. bitter water profile from a couple of years ago. I was wondering if we have a similar water profile? We probably do, hence my followup question, below.

From:
http://65.36.213.246/dwqr2012/wellFiles/Distribution%20Area%2010.pdf

Calcium low: 9.7 high: 32.7 average: 19.3
Magnesium low: 1.23 high: 7.52 average: 3.87
Sodium low: 6.0 high: 15.5 average: 9.8
Sulfate low: ND high: 33.8 average: 5.8
Chloride low: 8.3 high: 45.1 average: 18.5
Hardness, total: low: 30.9 high: 112.7 average: 64.0

I think that alkalinity is rather low at @ 35; I did a conversion for bicarbonate on the Bru'n Water site last night, but that data is on my other computer at home, and I won't be back until Thursday. However, if my recollection serves me it was also low at @45. It is worth noting that Bru'n says my water report is slightly out of balance, which makes sense given the range for some of the mineral values - however, it's still within tolerance to make some choices.

You wrote:

"I use what is recommended by Terry Foster in "Pale Ale"

For ordinary, special, or extra special, he recommands:
Ca 50 - 100
SO4 100 - 200
Cl 20
I shoot for Ca 75, SO4 150, CL 20 and am very satisfied with the results.
However, my water report says the Ca varies between 8 and 40 ppm, SO4 varies between 5 and 33 PPM, and Cl varies between 5 and 35 PPM, so I never really know what I'm getting, but I base my water treatments on the average and don't notice any batch to batch differences."

So my newbie-to-all-grain question is whether, for my first batch, I just add gypsum and calcium choride as recommended in the brewing-water-chemistry-primer thread to bring my water up to what Terry Foster recommends, above?

FWIW, my hbsd recommended about a tsp. each of gypsum and un-iodized table salt as he considers our water "soft."

Sorry to stalk you, lol - but the above information re. Terry Foster was useful. No rush to reply - and don't feel that you have to.

**gpack** · 01-23-2013, 02:05 PM

Hope I can assist with some water chem...

Gypsum adds just short of 150ppm of Sulfate/gram/gallon. 5 grams in 5 gallons = 147 ppm addition of sulfate.
Table Salt (un-iodized) adds 104ppm Sodium/gram/gallon. 5 grams in 5 gallons = 104 ppm addition of sodium.

Here are comparisons for two English water supplies (Fullers evidently uses London Municipal). I would think BOT favors the ESB (hops), but Fullers is a benchmark and alas it is a very fine beer, and they've been at it for a while.

Name: Burton On Trent, UK
PH: 8.00
Ions:
Calcium: 295.00
Magnesium: 45.00
Sodium: 55.00
Sulfate: 725.00
Chloride: 25.00
Bicarbonate: 300.00
Additions:

Name: London, England
PH: 8.00
Ions:
Calcium: 52.00
Magnesium: 16.00
Sodium: 99.00
Sulfate: 77.00
Chloride: 60.00
Bicarbonate: 156.00

For the ionic additions to water with measurements: http://www.homebrew.com/mike_brew_corner/mike_03270101.shtml

**ajf** · 01-23-2013, 03:42 PM

I think our water profiles are very similar. (I'm in area 18)
I also work from the average figures, and it works for me.
I use about 1g gypsum per gallon and a very small amount of CaCl2. I certainly wouldn't add a tsp of table salt as that would push the chloride and sodium levels very high.

Good luck,

-a.