E.S.B. Recipe - Thoughts?

I just threw together a recipe for an E.S.B. Any thoughts or suggestions?

10.5 pounds Pale 2 Row
2 pounds Crystal 60L
4 oz Roasted Barley
1 oz Centennial @ 60 mins
.75 oz Centennial @ 30 mins
.5 oz Cascade @ 2 mins

Wyeast 1968 with a 1.5L starter

Thanks in advance!

that's a lot of roasted barley for an esb. might want to back it down to 2 oz. using nw hops and calling it an esb, though?

I'd cut the crystal by 50-75%, drop the roasted barley to an ounce or so, switch the 2-row to MO or Pale Ale malt (or keep the 2-row and add 4-12oz Victory), and change the hops to EKG with maybe a little Fuggles/Willamette. Or leave it as is and call it something other than an ESB.

Thanks for the input...yeah, I didn't really think about my hop choices. I just got a copy of Beersmith, and that was the first think I have put together.

Does this sound any better?

10.5 pounds Marris Otter
1.5 pounds Crystal 60L
2 oz Roasted Barley
1.5 oz Fuggles @ 60 mins
1.5 oz Fuggles @ 30 mins
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 2 mins

Wyeast 1968 with a 1.5L starter

Again, I'm extremely new at designing my own recipes. Does anyone have any tips?

Thanks in advance!

arcaniment said:

Does anyone have any tips?Thanks in advance!

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Getting beersmith is a nice start but if you don't know the right ingredients for the style it won't help you much. The first two things I reference when making a recipe are the BJCP guidelines and Ray Daniels book Designing Great Beers. Oh yeah, and homebrewtalk of course!

Coincidentally my first brew I wrote was an ESB as well. Turned out great!

Thank You!

I use
8lbs. MO
1.5lbs British Crystal 65
1lb. Munich

Lots of fuggle and EKG hops Mash at 153. I always have this on tap.

2lbs of crystal seem soooo much, 1.5 still seems too much.
I,for what it may be worth,wouldn't use more than 1lb. Past experience.

badlee said:

2lbs of crystal seem soooo much, 1.5 still seems too much.
I,for what it may be worth,wouldn't use more than 1lb. Past experience.

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I always thought so to but while talking to the head brewer of a fast growing brewery I came to a different conclusion. There ESB took world beer cup honors so I dont argue.

I'd drop crystal to 1lb and maybe move your 30min hop addition to 10min.

Might be worth looking thru the "Can you brew it" recipe threads and maybe listen to the podcast for Fullers ESB. Might give some ideas

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/can-you-brew-recipe-fullers-esb-178991/#post2072604

Podcast
http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/632

I have made the following recipe several times with great results:

11 lbs Maris Otter
12 oz Crystal 20L
12 oz Victory Malt
4 oz Honey Malt

1oz Magnum @ 60
1oz Willamette @ 10
1oz Willamette @ 1

I also build up my water for an English style ale -- Burton On Trent.

arcaniment said:

Does this sound any better?

10.5 pounds Marris Otter
1.5 pounds Crystal 60L
2 oz Roasted Barley
1.5 oz Fuggles @ 60 mins
1.5 oz Fuggles @ 30 mins
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 2 mins

Wyeast 1968 with a 1.5L starter

Again, I'm extremely new at designing my own recipes. Does anyone have any tips?

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

The roasted barley is really out of place. If you want a darker color, it's ok, but I'd probably cut the crystal malt a lot, and instead of straight 60L, use a mix of a light crystal and a dark crystal. Say, .5 pound of 10L and .25 pound of 120L. The 120L will give color, plus those great "toffee/raisin" flavors I love.