Feedback on my ESB recipe

Hi folks,

Did my first all grain Saturday gone, it went really well and is fermenting away. My desire to brew has increased ten fold and I want to keep some continuity so I going to take a crack at my first ESB. How do you think this looks? (converted to US units for sanity)

7lbs British Marris Otter (83%)
1.1lbs Crystal 55L (12%)
0.4lbs Crystal 75L (5%)
10z Black Patent (1%)

1.6oz Challenger leaf 5.1 AA @60 min
1oz Challenger leaf 5.1 AA @30 min
0.70oz East Kent Goldings 6.2 AA @ 20 min
0.70oz East Kent Goldings 6.2 AA @ 5 min
0.70oz East Kent Goldings 6.2 AA @ 1 min

Wyeast # 1318 London Ale III

OG: 1.050
FG: 1.013
IBU: 41.3
15 SRM

Is that supposed to be 1oz patent, or 10oz patent? I highly recommend the former.

Otherwise, looks like a tasty beer! Mash long and low- I like 151 for an ESB with a lot of crystal.

That's supposed to be 1oz! Caps on the O sorry for the confusion!

How long do you think I should mash this for? 90 mins?

Nice. I'd cut my crystal down to about 10% and up the MO. Is the crystal high because the 1318 attenuates drier?

No specific reason regarding the Crystal being at 12%, I haven't been developing my recipes for so long and figured this wasn't a high amount to use. I was looking at either using 1318 or 1335

your crystal is at 17%. That is too high IMO. A rule of thumb for me in making a great ESB is 5%-10% crystal and the rest MO, a good English yeast, and goldings all over.

I'm a fan of the MO and 15% crystal, with a long low mash as I mentioned to keep attenuation up. It's personal preference, really, as there are commercial examples of both.

Edit: For what it's worth, two beers tied for first in the special bitter (not ESB) catagory in this year's HBT contest. One was 5% crystal 20, the other was 10% crystal 120 and 5% carapils.

Dwarven, you mentioned earlier about the long low mash, you said you like to mash at 151 for an ESB. I make that 66*C, that's only about a degree lower than the normal 67*C, excuse my ignorance, but will that make a big difference? Also how long do you think the rest should be? thanks

At 17% I think the crystal is a tad high. My suggestion is to drop the darker crystal and replace that with an equal portion of pale malt. With 12& medium crystal and that touch of roasted the color will still be deep copper-amber, think Fuller's ESB. Also with all that crystal malt you can afford to mash lower, try 65C. Simplifying the hop schedule and reducing the IBUs a little would also be in order IMO. Try two additions, one at the start and one at 20 minutes shooting for an IBU number of about 37. Keep the knockout addition or dryhop for additional aroma.

A degree Celsius can make a couple points of gravity difference in the finished beer. I do most of my beers at 154 (so 68C?) and check for conversion with iodine at 30 minutes or so. I mash ESBs and saisons at 151 for at least the full 60 minutes, but I did my last ESB for 90 and I think I'll continue that.

I do like the caramel maltiness in an ESB, especially with a fruitier yeast like that London Ale III or the #1275 Thames Valley. You're pushing the limits at 17%, but I've gone as high as 20% and as low as 7%. Both were darn tasty beers, and it's completely personal preference. If you don't know your preference, I'd probably take the other's advice and go middle of the road at around 8-10%.

is the ESB meant to finish dry, hence the recommendation for low mash temp?

I mash low so I can fit more crystal in and still be sure to finish under 1.014. IIRC, ESB style guidelines say 1.010 to either 1.014 or 1.016. I don't think I could tell the difference between two beers two points of gravity apart, but it seems like a good goal to set and the beers I've done that way have been tasty.

+1 on that being too much crystal. I'd cut it in half.

That's interesting to know dwaren, thanks for the info. Yeah, in regards the crystal I think I am going to go with a 10% mix of medium & dark crystal. 17% does seem a little high, and seen as though it's my first time attempting the style it might be safer to keep it low and I can always bump it up in future if needs be. Cheers for the input guys