English Special bitter (Working Title: Davies Drool)

Ok so as my first jump into the all-grain world, I have been working on a recipe for an English Bitter and was hoping for some guidance and feedback. This is where i stand so far....THANK YOU.

5 Gallon Batch
60 min boil
OG: 1.047
FG: 1.010

8.0# Marris Otter
0.8# English Dark Crystal (70-80L)
0.8# Bairds Carastan (30-40L)
(0.1# English Chocolate (375-450L) - questionable)

1.5oz EKG @ 60m
0.5oz EKG @ 10m
0.5oz EKG @ 00m

Yeast: Wyest - 1469 (West Yorkshire)

20% caramel grains is a lot for a bitter. you have to dry this stuff out so that much unfermentable is going to go against you. i would pick one or the other with the carastan or C80. i would also add dextrose or another type of simple sugar to help get it dry. this is to style as well.

i didn't like EKG when i used them. too spicey. i use fuggles now and am much happier. american fuggles preferred actually. ymmv

Thanks for the input, definitely something to think about. I am shooting for something in the direction of a John Smith's, not a clone necessarily. You are correct, it is a drier beer, and this recipe would have a lot of sugars.

Perhaps ...

9.0# MO
1.0# Carastan
0.1# Eng Chocolate - for color.

As far as hops go, I am still trying to learn more about he different styles, long way to go yet with so many different ones out there (plan for a SMaSH next). But I am trying to keep this "all english," if possible (I know Fuggles is English). Probably going to stay with the EKG this time around, and if I can get a good grain bill, start playing with the hops.

New grain bill looks good. Small amount if simple sugar with an attenuation English strain and you're on.

I've been preaching the 80/10/10% mantra on HBT for years. 80% Pale Malt, 10% Crystal, 10% sugar. It's pretty bog-standard for UK Real Ale breweries, and it works. Look at the comments in Pride of Raubsville in my recipe drop-down at left. If you use, say, 8 lbs pale malt, a pound of Carastan and a pound of Demerara sugar, you'll be right in the money.

The reasons for that proportion are many, but here's the nutshell - Bitter needs to have body, but must also finish dry. So a solid whack of Crystal malt for body, and some sugar to dry out the finish. If you're doing it properly - not overcarbonated, no more than 2 volumes - you don't have the carbonic acid to dry out the finish, so you need that sugar (as well as a nice whack of hops bitterness).

I adore EKG as a finishing hops in Bitter of all types. I prefer a less-awesome bittering hops, because I don't want to waste EKG in applications where it won't add flavor/aroma. I like to keep a supply of neutral high-alpha bittering-only hops in my freezer; I prefer Target.

Cheers!

Bob

I have a best bitter right now that is out of Jamil's BCS, except I use the West Yorkshire yeast. In fact, it is my house yeast for all things bitter, brown, porter or mild. I might add, I make a lot of beers in the same OG range you have but have never gotten it below 1.012, but I have never added straight sugar to dry it out. I don't mind missing standard guidelines and ending with a british beer that might be a bit too sweet. When I want a dry beer, I have other types in mind.

Anyway, my best bitter came out fine, but it is a bit plain and too balanced. Folks like it as a drinker, but I say meh. Next time I'll try to get it maltier or dry hop for some excitement.

The sugar is added in the boil or in the primary?

Bob, I will be bottling, not kegging, how does this affect your equation?

You can add your sugar at flameout. The change in ABV is pretty negligible with bottling, the bottling sugar is usually not considered part of the recipe/calculations. Sounds like the guys have you set for grainbill. Definitely experiment with the hops yourself. I personally get the dirt thing with fuggles, but I love EKG in English styles.

Sugar at flameout. Bottling is immaterial to the equation, as the equation is pre-ferment. It's the grist.

Cheers!

Bob

Thats what I thought you meant. Ok great.

UPDATE:

Bottled this last weekend, hit numbers pretty much spot on, FG -.001. Poured crystal clear from the secondary into graduated cylinder. Great color, good taste, just waiting on he bottle condition for a couple more weeks. Thanks for all the help, if this comes out as good as I think it will, I have some plans for this as a base recipe.

I know this is an old thread I'm dragging up here. But I made this a few months ago, tastes great super clear, but it seems to be super dark also and while not really a concern I am trying to figure out why it is almost black. I suspect the sugar which as a version of brown sugar is coated in molasses and that is what caused it to become so dark.

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