Ordinary Bitter Pride of Raubsville

Small update from my brew. Life got in the way, in a spectacular way, and my planned 2 weeks in the primary turned into 2 months. Then as soon as I do bottle it and put it in the basement, cold weather arrives and it gets down below 55F where I was storing it. Ugh. Of course, it can't dawn on me in time, either, so they spend 2.5 weeks down there not carbonating.

A week and a half after bringing them up to a higher temp (in the dining room, much to the girlfriend's dismay), it's showing promise, but it's still not fully carbed. Still sweeter than the sample from bottling day, and with very little carbonation. I'm hoping a few more weeks will fix this, but most of the aroma hop character has already left. Still, with a little tweaking and some better attention to bottling on time, this recipe may prove to be a winner.

Next time, though, I'm going with an even split of the crystal 120 and something lighter, like a 60 or 80, for a bit more balanced flavor. It may be that the 120 alone turns out better, but I'd like to compare. I like the fairly dry, toffee-ish flavor it imparts. Despite my concerns early on, it's really not overpowering.

Just ordered my grains for an ESB based on this ratio (8:1:1). I'm using WLP002 because I want a bit of sweetness, and haven't settled on a hop schedule yet (I've got EKG, Fuggle, Target, and Northdown in the freezer), but I'm planning to keep it pretty straight-forward. English bitters are pretty perfect, imo.

When brewing this beer, does the sugar go in the mash, or in the boil?

I'd assume - boil.

Boil it is!



Last batch of this went over pretty well. 5 gallons in three hours!

Bob

Thanks.
I've done it in the mash 4 times.
Made mighty nice beer.
Today , while looking back over my notes,
I wondered why I had decided to put in the mash.
newby decision - made good beer , so continued, I guess.

I "lifted" your hopping approach (1oz at the start/ 1oz at flameout) and have been using it for all my bitters. Great success ! Vibrant flavour and aroma that balances very well with the malt. Better than when I used smaller additions spread out over 20-30 minutes before the end of the boil.

I brewed this about a month ago. I really like it and used S-04. However it came out very dry around 1.004, makes me wounder if next time i will mash higher around 156. I mashed @ 154 this time.

The only changes i made was a used sugar in the raw.

Also i have no head at all on this beer. Is that due to the dryness, Low carb level or using the sugar in the raw? Has anyone else brewed this and had no head at all?

A higher mash may help. Is the beer too thin?

Turbinado sugar is is an excellent substitute for Demerara.

Lack of foam can come from any number of causes. Low carbonation level is one, and probably the culprit here. Have you had many - or any - beers with UK Real Ale levels of carbonation? It may be as simple as getting used to it. It may also be something in your mashing routine or the base malt chosen. It may also be serving vessels and technique. Sugar on its own in this proportion will not inhibit foam creation and retention.

Cheers,

Bob

Yes its a little thin. But dont get me wrong its a very good beer and really drinkable. I think the lack of head just just the low crab level. After reading the BJCP guidelines it is well within styles.

To answer your question, NO i have not had any real beers from the UK that is why i brewed this. I think your right, about getting used to it. After about half of a keg, i like the low carb level, its something i can drink a lot of. Thanks again for the recipe

oi.

brewed something resembling this one today as a stovetop BIAB
all the comments on this beer (not to mention the recipe itself) sound good. i'm sure it is an amazing beer.

what i made, on the other hand...

first of all, no Targets at the LHBS. subbed for nugget per their chart (at roughly half the ibu, so i roughly doubled the amount...)
forgot to get the sugar, subbed for 5 oz dark brown sugar on a shot in the dark.


missed every volume.
nailed the dough in temp. got distracted (trying to rack another beer at the same time....bad idea) and let it go *way* too hot (168ish) for who knows how long. couldn't hold a solid temperature after. then my thermometer broke, so i had to use a candy thermometer for the last 20 minutes of mash and for 30 minutes of sparge.

putthe wrong hops in at boil, swaped them out for the right ones. two boilovers, and only ended up with 4 gallons, which i topped off withsome boiled-then-cooled water to make approx 5.


we'll see what happens
in 4 weeks, i can start RDWHAHB. until then, though...... i'll just try not to worry.

When do you suggest adding the sugar to the boil?


_

Read up.

Bob said:

Sugar in the Raw is Turbinado which, in my experience, is only slightly different than Demerara. In the proportions specified, it shouldn't make a bit of difference.

If an American hops variety must be substituted, I don't think you could make a better choice.

Yeah, I do pitch the 80/10/10 a bit strongly, don't I?

Anyway, I wish you all the success in the world. Kindly let me know how it works for you, preferably in this thread.

Cheers!

Bob

Click to expand...

on the 80/10/10, what other adjuncts have you worked with/would you suggest?

In my experience, most Bitter brewers use simple sugar. Some use flaked maize, which is a good choice for experimentation, up to 20% of the total grist.

Cheers,

Bob

thank you.

and, for the record, i have a 2nd (much more successful) batch of this going right now, ready for bottling today.

i'll let you know how it is in 3 weeks.

Hurrah!

Bob- what temp do you ferment so4 at for the pride? Also what temp would you use for Windsor? Can't wait to brew this one.

Whatever temperature my basement finds itself. I don't mean to be glib, but that's it, really. This is not one on which I use my controlled fridge. I'm lucky; I have an old house with a stone basement, so the temperature down there never really gets above 65°F.

Stick with the middle of whatever temperature range is specified by the yeast you choose. You don't want to ferment too warm, nor do you want to go too cold. That's because it's really easy to take this beer out of balance; you want enough ester formation to be detectable, but not so much that ester-derived fruitiness dominates the flavor profile. Err on the side of cool.

Fermentis specify a temperature range of 15° to 24°C (59° to 75°F) for S-04. S-04 isn't as assertive an ester producer as Windsor, so it's safe to ferment in the relative upper regions of its range, like 70°F.

Danstar recommend 17° to 21°C (64° to 70°F) for Windsor. That's tricky. I prefer the low range for Windsor in this recipe, like 65°F. More than that and you get as fruity as a street market.

Cheers!

Bob

This really is a great session beer(used S-04). DON'T over carb this gem, it absolutely kills the delicate hop flavor in English beers, imo. Once again another fan favorite, kudos Bob.

Just finished sparging on todays version, the "Summit of Mt. Hood"

Thanks, guys! I'm glad you're enjoying it.



Bob

Brewed this as my second ever brew loved it. I unfortunately didn't filter my water so I got that bad water taste. It was totally my fault I thought the water tasted fine but not so much in a home brew. Will do it again soon this time with filtered water. Here is a pic from the last one I drank.

Edit: the first pic on the left got posted on accident it is the one on the right.

Lookin' good!

Bob

First no sparge brew with my batch sparge setup, first bitter ever, and first go round with Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire, and now first night it came on line, 3 pints in, this is excellent. Given my inexperience as mentioned above, it's hard for me to give any opinions against other bitters, but what I do know is that this stuff tastes great!!

Pears/Apricots nose, apricot stone fruit esters into malt flavors with hops finishing... Dry, dry, ever drinkable dryness with such low alcohol. Can't wait to see what this does in the keg as it ages and mellows out somewhat. Thanks again Bob, I can feel an obsession with English Ales coming on.
:rockin:

Glad to hear it! May your obsession be fruitful!

Bob

Hey Bob,

I'm looking forward to making this on the weekend.

A question about yeast:

Is S-04 much different than Nottingham? I've heard they are similar and I've got a few packs of Nottingham on hand so I was thinking of using that. Though I see you recommend using Windsor, so maybe Nottingham wouldn't be the best to use. What do you recommend?

Thanks!

I really can't recommend Nottingham because it attenuates too fully. This beer needs some residual body or it'll end up too thin. Also, Notty tends toward a neutral flavor profile. Some yeast esters add an essential part of the flavor profile.

This is not to say you can't use Nottingham. It's only that I strongly advise against it. You really need a relatively under-attenuating, full-flavored yeast for this beer to be its best.

You dig?

Bob

Yeah, I figured it would be something along those lines. I'm pretty sure the local shop has s04, so I think I'll give that a try. I know they have Windsor, so I'll use that as a back up.

Thanks for the reply!

Sure! Good luck.

Bob

Got a batch of this (the extract version) in two party pigs. Turned out very well. Just finishing the first pig.

I just want to bump this recipe, as it got me where I wanted to be in terms of brewing a good English bitter. I had an involuntary hiatus from brewing (had a kid, moved, job, etc.), and am now returning. An ESB based on Bob's ratio is the first beer out of the gate, probably the 5th or sixth time I've used his ratio (80% pale malt, 10% Crystal, 10% Sugar, and roughly 0.7 IBU/SG), and that's because this nails the flavor profile and character I want in a good ESB; as close as I can get to a fresh English cask ale without buying a plane ticket.

Anyway, you can tinker with different crystal malts or yeast varieties. I play it a little conservatively and keep everything English, but that's because I love a good English bitter. Stick with the basic ratio, or at least close to it, and you'll be fine.

I suppose my real point is that the ratios Bob laid out here really will serve you well. Of course there's room for creativity and doing your own thing; it's brewing, after all. But this right here is the perfect antidote to the kitchen sink/kid in a candy store methodology that is so tempting when putting together a recipe. Simple and delicious. Thanks, Bob.

I pitch KISS very strongly.

I've been brewing since 1993. In that time, much has changed. Yeast has gotten fantastically better. Ingredients have expanded. The knowledge base has increased exponentially. Equipment has improved immeasurably.

However, one thing remains constant: Brewers just get too &^%$#! complicated. They insist on adding all manner of things to a recipe, making it resemble Tolkien's description of a tree - encompassing three or four pages of dense text - instead of "Here is a tree." The overwhelming majority of the time, there is no need to be so complicated. It is needless, for simple is just as good.

Cheers!

Bob

Bob said:

Sugar in the Raw is Turbinado which, in my experience, is only slightly different than Demerara. In the proportions specified, it shouldn't make a bit of difference.

If an American hops variety must be substituted, I don't think you could make a better choice.

Yeah, I do pitch the 80/10/10 a bit strongly, don't I?

Anyway, I wish you all the success in the world. Kindly let me know how it works for you, preferably in this thread.

Cheers!

Bob

Click to expand...

Hey Bob... Been wanting to do something like this for a bit. I've had this thread bookmarked for months. Question - would it make sense to sub in flaked maize as the complete 10% adjunct instead of sugar? Do you think that would have any negative effects?

loeks said:

Hey Bob... Been wanting to do something like this for a bit. I've had this thread bookmarked for months. Question - would it make sense to sub in flaked maize as the complete 10% adjunct instead of sugar? Do you think that would have any negative effects?

Click to expand...

None I can foresee. Brewers maize is often used by British breweries in Bitter.

Cheers!

Bob

Bob said:

None I can foresee. Brewers maize is often used by British breweries in Bitter.

Cheers!

Bob

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! I have used your recipe/ratios as the basis of my first personal recipe that I have brewed twice with a lot of changes to your original super-simple recipe.

Here is what I am trying to do FWIW... I had a cask conditioned pub style ale about a year ago and I loved it. It had a bit of a corn flavor to it though. So my theory is to take your original recipe and just swap out the invert sugar for flaked maize and see how it turns out. I'll post back with results.

loeks said:

Thanks for the reply! I have used your recipe/ratios as the basis of my first personal recipe that I have brewed twice with a lot of changes to your original super-simple recipe.

Here is what I am trying to do FWIW... I had a cask conditioned pub style ale about a year ago and I loved it. It had a bit of a corn flavor to it though. So my theory is to take your original recipe and just swap out the invert sugar for flaked maize and see how it turns out. I'll post back with results.

Click to expand...

I look forward to it!

Hey Bob, I brewed this up recently and it is one very fine recipe. I love the simplicity. Too many recipies throw the kitchen sink in them.

I was in a rut with the styles I was brewing and needed something else to put in the rotation.

I will definitely try this again. What do you think about putting on nitro? I have a nitro tap and it seems like it would be pretty good.

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I've never tried it on nitro, because I've never played with nitro. I'm sure it couldn't hurt anything. Might call it "Bobbingtons" in that case.

Cheers!

Bob

Maybe for the next batch I will try half on nitro. I have some 2 1/2 gallon kegs. If I do I'll let you know how it works.