Bithead
Well-Known Member
I've been doing some lower gravity brews this summer and after picking up some Bramling Cross hops with my last hop order I decided to use them in my Ordinary Bitter. When researching using this hop I found little experience in the homebrew community although I did find a few experiences. Several posts mention very upfront and destinct, but not undesirable, flavour/aroma. I wanted to allow the Bramling to show but not in an obnoxious way and also stay within style.
I also found a brewpub, Oliver Breweries, that uses Bramling in their ESB so I emailed the brewer to find out how he uses them. His ESB has won several local awards and can be found in Michael Jackson's book, "Ultimate Beer". Steve Jones was kind enough to respond saying:
"Our regular (English style ESB) is bittered with a little cascade (start of boil), Kent Goldings (20 minutes) and Bramling Cross (40 minutes) and finished entirely with Fuggles." ..."to be honest you can't go wrong with any combination of Goldings & Bramling in your ESB to my mind (i use these two in
a couple of seasonal session bitters that I make). Personally I would split it 50:50 between the two with the Goldings as an early bittering addition and Bramling added half way through the boil and an equal split again for the finishing hop (or any dry hopping)."
I WILL be scheduling a stop at the Pratt Street Ale House on my next trip to Northern Virginia. With Steve's comments in mind I've arrived at this recipe. What do you all think?
Recipe: Bramling Bitter
Style: Standard/Ordinary Bitter
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Size: 6.28 gal
Estimated OG: 1.039 SG
Estimated Color: 8.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 33.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 89.57 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.40 %
4.0 oz Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3.20 %
1.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 0.84 %
24.0 g Centennial [5.65 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 19.0 IBUs
14.0 g Bramling Cross [4.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 7.1 IBUs
14.0 g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 Hop 7 7.5 IBUs
7.0 g Bramling Cross [4.70 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
7.0 g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 0.0 Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) [0.13 Yeast 10 -
Mash at 154 F
I also found a brewpub, Oliver Breweries, that uses Bramling in their ESB so I emailed the brewer to find out how he uses them. His ESB has won several local awards and can be found in Michael Jackson's book, "Ultimate Beer". Steve Jones was kind enough to respond saying:
"Our regular (English style ESB) is bittered with a little cascade (start of boil), Kent Goldings (20 minutes) and Bramling Cross (40 minutes) and finished entirely with Fuggles." ..."to be honest you can't go wrong with any combination of Goldings & Bramling in your ESB to my mind (i use these two in
a couple of seasonal session bitters that I make). Personally I would split it 50:50 between the two with the Goldings as an early bittering addition and Bramling added half way through the boil and an equal split again for the finishing hop (or any dry hopping)."
I WILL be scheduling a stop at the Pratt Street Ale House on my next trip to Northern Virginia. With Steve's comments in mind I've arrived at this recipe. What do you all think?
Recipe: Bramling Bitter
Style: Standard/Ordinary Bitter
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Size: 6.28 gal
Estimated OG: 1.039 SG
Estimated Color: 8.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 33.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 89.57 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.40 %
4.0 oz Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3.20 %
1.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 0.84 %
24.0 g Centennial [5.65 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 19.0 IBUs
14.0 g Bramling Cross [4.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 7.1 IBUs
14.0 g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 Hop 7 7.5 IBUs
7.0 g Bramling Cross [4.70 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
7.0 g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 0.0 Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) [0.13 Yeast 10 -
Mash at 154 F