Feedback on a simple English Bitter requested

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OppamaBrendan

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I have 10 kg of the "English Ale Malt" bought from Asahi malts; its supposedly like a Marris Otter and I want to use it as one. Here is a recipe I just made in Beersmith with ingredients I have on hand. Can someone take a look and give me some feedback? I am doing a BIAB, and my main goal is session beer with a bit of body and some good hop aromas.

View attachment Japanese English Bitter.xml

Ingredients
3.5 kg Marris Otter (Asahi English Ale Malt)
.15 kg Crystal 30
.15 kg Crystal 60
12 gm Northern Brewer @ 60 min
12 gm Northern Brewer @ 5 min
12 gm Perle @ 60 min
12 gm Perle @ 5 min
S-04 English Ale Yeast

BIAB 19.5L Batch size (18L bottling volume)
4 days in primary @ 19 Celcius
10 + days in secondary

I have never dry hopped but was thinking about putting a bit of the Perle in the secondary as well, worthwhile idea?
The ale malt from Asahi is finely crushed, my brew kettle is 50 Liters capacity, and I have an unheated house but will put the fermenter on a heat pad. Right now I could ferment at ambient temps of 10 to 15 degrees Celsius without the heat pad; what would a cool ale fermentation do for the flavors?

Thanks!
 
I like to throw a small amount of chocolate malt in, mostly for a little more color. I would stick with the ferm temp of about 19-20 C. Otherwise everything looks good to me
 
OppamaBrendan said:
Thanks! I do have some chocolate malt so that can be done! It looks like 50 grams will give me 10 SRM, not too dark still.
Cheers!
B

50-60 grams ought to work good. Those hops certainly aren't traditional for the style... but it'll make a good beer, for sure!
 
I think the beer you have there looks delicious as is. I actually like my bitter to be light in color- not sure if that is technially correct for the BJCP style, but it really doesn't bother me. I would mash high 68C-70C to make sure it doesn't dry out too much. A cool fermentation will be just fine. You don't want esters overpowering a light flavored beer like this.
 
I recently made a bitter that came out good. Next time I'm using a bit more victory malt to give it some toasty/biscuit notes.
 
Have to agree on the hops selection. You can make it as you have it and you may enjoy it very much. It's your beer, you will drink it. But I'm more traditional so Goldings would be my choice. Maybe it's less hoppy that way but try it sometime.
 
Thanks guys, I dont have any traditional bitters hops on hand right now. I also have Styrian Bobek and Falconers Flight 7C's which both would be off-style as well... I think. I will likely try to hit 10 SRM and take the advice to mash high.
 
Four days in the primary sounds a bit optimistic. I recommend 2 weeks (or longer if needed). Your recipe looks good.
 
OppamaBrendan said:
Thanks guys, I dont have any traditional bitters hops on hand right now. I also have Styrian Bobek and Falconers Flight 7C's which both would be off-style as well... I think. I will likely try to hit 10 SRM and take the advice to mash high.

Call it an American Bitter, all good ;)
 
I would take .75Kg of the Marris and toast it in the oven at 175c for about 40minutes.

Also, don't dry hop a bitter. The 60 minute and 5 minute additions are what you want for the right hop profile.

Mash it high and no longer than 45-50 minutes to give a strong malt backbone. :mug:
 
More time in the primary is better for me, I just was worried about leaving it while I was gone on vacation. It could end up being 3-4 weeks in primary if I do that, and I thought I should get it off the yeast cake before I go. Most of my homebrew friends here in Japan are expat British so I should probably make the distinction that it isn't to style; American Bitter sounds about right:)
 
I dont think I can toast this as it is already crushed and I don't trust the Japanese "oven" to manage temperatures that well. It is more of a microwave with an electric element for top heat than a real oven. Haven't seen anyone with a real oven here yet aside from a bakery. I switched the mash profile to full body 68-70C and will reduce time to 50 minutes, which is probably plenty with such a fine crush malt.
Cheers,
B

I would take .75Kg of the Marris and toast it in the oven at 175c for about 40minutes.

Also, don't dry hop a bitter. The 60 minute and 5 minute additions are what you want for the right hop profile.

Mash it high and no longer than 45-50 minutes to give a strong malt backbone. :mug:
 
More time in the primary is better for me, I just was worried about leaving it while I was gone on vacation. It could end up being 3-4 weeks in primary if I do that, and I thought I should get it off the yeast cake before I go. Most of my homebrew friends here in Japan are expat British so I should probably make the distinction that it isn't to style; American Bitter sounds about right:)

That long in primary is no problem. You can leave beers in primary for months without issues.
 

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