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**Netflyer** · 11-17-2009, 02:50 AM

Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: Weast 1968
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.0
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: 1.013
IBU: 34.4
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 12.8
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 21
Tasting Notes: The kind of beer songs are written about...

This is my favorite extract beer and very easy to make. Pubs could be designed around this beer it is so clean and refreshing and easy to drink. For an ESB it is on the lighter side. The Victory Malt steeped gives a nice biscuit flavor. Go with the lower carbonation and the Wyeast 1968 and be patient (who am I kidding I start sampling this out of the primary) wait the 21 days - you will be glad you did.

The Beer Smith Brewsheet... for a 5 gallon brewpot.

Teagues Pt. ESB #1

Taste Rating (50 possible points):

35.0
Brew Type:

Extract

Style:

Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale) Brewer: Netflyer

Batch Size: 5.00 gal

Boil Volume: 3.77 gal Boil Time: 60 min

Brewing Steps

Check Time Step

Clean and prepare equipment.

-- Measure ingredients, crush grains.

--
Prepare Water (5.87 gal total)
Amount Item Type
5.00 gal Teagues Pt. Well Water 650ft Water
--
Steep Specialty Grains
Amount Item Type
1.00 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain

Note: I steep at 155-165. Usually I add my grain to 168F water and after striking it settles

where it should at 155. I cover for 30 min, remove the grain bag and proceed...

-- Add water to achieve boil volume of 3.77 gal

-- Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.073 SG with all grains/extracts
added
Boil for 60 min
Boil Ingredients
Boil Amount Item Type
60 min 7.50 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract
60 min 0.80 oz Brewer's Gold [9.70 %] (60 min) Hops
14 min 1.00 oz First Gold [7.50 %] (14 min) Hops
15 min 1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
5 min 1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (5
min) Hops
-- Cool wort to fermentation temperature
-- Add 2.10 gal water (as needed) to achieve volume of 5.00 gal
-- Siphon wort to primary fermenter and aerate wort.
--
Add Ingredients to Fermenter
Amount Item Type
1 Pkgs London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) Yeast-Ale
Measure Original Gravity: ________ (Estimate: 1.053 SG)
Measure Batch Volume: ________ (Estimate: 5.00 gal)
21 days Ferment in primary for 21 days at 70.0 F
Measure Final Gravity: ________ (Estimate: 1.016 SG)
-- Bottle beer at 72.0 F with 2.9 oz of corn sugar.
4.0 Weeks Age for 4.0 Weeks at 70.0 F

togabear · 12-06-2009, 08:07 PM

Gonna try this next. Have you ever kegged it?

**Netflyer** · 12-07-2009, 02:17 PM

Never Kegged it but I do carbonate with about 80 grams of corn sugar gives about 2 volumes to 5 gallons which is a tad high for an ESB but some would consider it really low in general. There are threads about English bitters and carbonation on here and the consensus is that 1.4-2.0 volumes is pretty common with perhaps a tad more in a bottled version of most popular English brews. I've had Fuller's out of the bottle here in the states and out of the tap in England and the tap version is just a bit (but noticible) less carb'd. Bottom line shoot for a carb that will give you a short head but you still always have a slight cloud on top of the brew the whole glass down

BTW that victory malt I use is American, I believe it is from Breiss

http://www.annapolishomebrew.com/shopGamerican.asp Item #18104 about 1/2 way down the page...
www.rebelbrewer.com might have it too (I didn't check) and chances are he is less expensive (place rocks).

Let me know how it turns out.

togabear · 12-07-2009, 04:12 PM

Thanks for the information! I have got the same victory malt already so that's perfect. I'll tell you how this goes when I brew it, but I have to drink some kegs empty first. I'll probably do this in about a month.

damdaman · 12-30-2009, 03:18 AM

Hey, thanks for the recipe. I brewed this on 12/19 and had a pretty active fermentation, which has died off now (been 10 days now). I only used 7lbs of extract, and I'm concerned I didn't top off the water in the fermenter enough, as I used 2 gallons of water in the boil and then added 2 more to the fermenter (for some reason assuming that the extract and other ingredients made up the difference!).

Anyway I ended up with a slightly higher OG, at 1.062. Definitely could be explained if I didn't add enough water at top-off.

I took a reading today and the SG was 1.021, significantly higher than I had hoped for, especially since I started with a higher OG than expected. I know it's possible there's still fermentation going on and it will continue to drop but the high SG makes me a little worried.

I pitched at 70 degrees with 1 swollen smack-pack of Wyeast 1968.

Any thoughts? Should I just let it sit another 10 days as prescribed and see if the SG continues to drop?

The sample I tasted after taking the reading was delicious btw.

**Netflyer** · 12-30-2009, 11:55 PM

I always leave this for 21 days and have never taken an intermediate gravity so I'm really not sure of the progress after 10 days. 1968 has high flocculation but at 70 degrees I'd expect it to krausen fast but continue to condition the brew for many days thereafter. So, I guess my answer is yes, it probably will continue to drop. That said, you were 10 gravity points higher than the recipe which will change the hops profile too. You will end up with a higher ABV, maltier brew but I'm sure it will still be good. A word of caution, when you carbonate - if you bottle with sugar, consider the fact that the 1968 is faily thick and will combine with about .5 gal of your 4 gallons. So figure your carbonation based on about 3.5 to 3.7 gallons. Means if I used 2.9 for 5 gallons you would use about 2 grams. That may seem like a small amount but trust me...

Good luck with it, and let me know how it finishes... Let it condition in the bottle at least 2 wks but 3 is better. Esp. with a gravity over 1.06...

damdaman · 01-03-2010, 09:19 PM

Update: took a reading today SG = 1.019, so it's still dropping, albeit slowly. This is encouraging! I plan to bottle next weekend, so this should be ready to drink about the end of the month.

**Netflyer** · 01-03-2010, 10:22 PM

Well, even BeerSmith thought this brew should finish at 1.016 my last batch finished at 1.013 but I've brewed this several times and it does finish between 1.013 and 1.017 ... if you were 10 pts higher to start you may not get down to 1.017 .. You know the deal, as long as you get 3 days of the same gravity she is probably done... I go 21 days and never worry about whether it is done or not, it's done!

Good luck and keep me up to date!

damdaman · 01-31-2010, 06:31 PM

Just wanted to give you an update, this has been bottled about 3 weeks now, and I served it at a party last night, and it was a hit. One friend in particular couldn't get enough of it, sent her home with a couple bottles.

It's very smooth and easy to drink, I like it!

**Netflyer** · 02-01-2010, 04:34 AM

Glad you like it! Thanks for the kind words