Oh man, I was just working up an ESB recipe with Northdown and EKG (a known quantity with which to measure Northdown against), but that sounds like a really good idea for a beer....now I'm torn.
I'll put this ESB recipe out for comments:
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 80.0 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.9 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 2.2 %
1.00 oz Northdown [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 28.0 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (25 min) Hops 11.4 IBU
1.00 oz Northdown [8.50%] (10 min) Hops 10.1 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (10 min) Hops 6.0 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 3.3 IBU
1.00 oz Northdown [8.50%] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
1.00 lb Dememera Sugar (2.0 SRM) Sugar 8.9 %
oh....and WLP002
Est Original Gravity: 1.063 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.1 %
Bitterness: 58.8 IBU
Est Color: 13.1 SRM
I think this almost borders on english IPA, but whatever works. I'm torn between going all Northdown and mixing it with the softer EKG. what do you think? IF I were to go ND/Challenger instead, what might a good hop schedule look like? thanks as always for your input.
Wow, that's a LOT of hops for an ESB. If you're a hophead, sure you'll love it. But for me personally, I like a little more balance. Way way too bitter for me too. But that's a personal thing.
I can't honestly advise you on using JUST Northdown as I haven't done that myself. I've mostly used it for First Wort Hopping (for bittering with some aroma/flavor) and then as a smaller percentage with my ESB. If I were you, though, I wouldn't brew an English Barleywine with the hops the very first time you use them.
My ESB is below. It's pretty well balanced. That yeast is very assertive and comes through with a lot of fruit which mixes nicely with the hops and malt. Hops are present but don't overpower everything else. IBUs are spot on for me, something close to Sierra Nevada as far as the bitterness balance goes.
ESB X:
21.80 liters into fermenter.
4.90 kg Pale Malt (7.1 EBC) 93.33 %
0.20 kg Crystal Malt -150 (150 EBC) 3.81 %
0.15 kg Crystal Malt - 50 (50.0 EBC) 2.86 %
28.00 gm Challenger [5.80 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hop) 24.5 IBU
12.00 gm Northdown [8.00 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hop) 13.0 IBU
22.00 gm Challenger [5.80 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)
8.00 gm Northdown [8.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)
11.00 gm Challenger [5.80 %] (Dry Hop 5 days)
4.00 gm Northdown [8.00 %] (Dry Hop 5 days)
1.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
Burton Ale (White Labs #WLP023) [Starter 2000 ml] [Cultured] Yeast-Ale
Measured Original Gravity: 1.054 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Alcohol by Vol: 5.34 %
Bitterness: 37.5 IBU
Est Color: 18.0 EBC
Mashed at 153 for 60 min.
If I were to brew this again the only change I'd make is to double the dry hops and leave them in for 7 days.