Best Bitter Formulation

Hey all,

I recently acquired a party pig and since I hear they're good for cask ales, was looking to put together a best bitter to show it off.

Efficiency is 70%, boil length 60 minutes, boil size ~7.25 gallons, and setup is all grain.

Grain
• 7.5 lbs Maris Otter
• 1 lb English Crystal 60L
• 1 lb Torrified Wheat

Hops
• 0.5 oz AAU Kent Goldings, FWH
• 7 AAU Challenger, Bittering, 60 minutes
• 0.5 oz Kent Goldings, Aroma, knockout

Yeast
• 1 Vial WLP 002

Other
• Whirlfloc
• Gypsum (I have good brewing water, just a little low on sulfate)

Fermentation
• Primary 66°F until complete
• Condition 1 week in primary
• Overnight cold crash
• Rack to Party Pig/Bottle, 2.0 volumes of CO2
• Condition 1 week

The points I'm most concerned about are yeast choice and the grain bill. I've seen some more complex bitter recipes but from what I've seen the Brits are a little simpler in their bills. I'm trying to adhere to the 80/10/10 ration for the most part. What about yeast? Is there a better strain out there than 002? I like it primarily because it's so damn flocculent.

I'm trying to put my best effort, process, and ingredients into this beer so it's worthy of the appellation "Best".

Thanks!

002 should work fine, provided you pitch enough of it. One vial is more than likely insufficient for 5 gallons.

Grist looks all right, but I have to ask for why the wheat? Are you having foam problems or something? If you are, and that's why you're adding it, you're using waaaaaaay too much. 4 oz is sufficient in 5 gallons.

If you're trying the 80/10/10, stick with sugar or, if you can't bring yourself to do that, flaked maize. Don't know why you wouldn't just use sugar.

Cheers,

Bob

Bob said:

002 should work fine, provided you pitch enough of it. One vial is more than likely insufficient for 5 gallons. Grist looks all right, but I have to ask for why the wheat? Are you having foam problems or something? If you are, and that's why you're adding it, you're using waaaaaaay too much. 4 oz is sufficient in 5 gallons. If you're trying the 80/10/10, stick with sugar or, if you can't bring yourself to do that, flaked maize. Don't know why you wouldn't just use sugar. Cheers, Bob

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Bob, the man himself! Thanks for responding.

I may end up going with S-04. I also have a vial of 005 lying around that I could make a starter for (I intended to make one with that vial of 002, if I bought it.

The wheat, well I read it was also a common adjunct and it also builds body. I'm not an expert on formulation yet, which I why I asked! I've not had any problems with head on a beer yet (well, too much in a dunkelweizen).

Would a dab of wheat for head/body do and then turbinado do as a replacement? I'm not opposed to kettle sugars on principle.

I did a best bitter recipe from Jamil Zainasheff's "Brewing Classic Styles" that I really liked. It used far less crystal malt (.5 pound of 120L), but added a dab of special roast (3%) and some aromatic malt for a stronger malt flavor and aroma than an ordinary bitter. It's quite a bit different than your grainbill, so it'd be a totally different beer but I really liked it.

I'd skip the torrified wheat, just because I don't know what good it would do for this beer.

I'm not a fan of S04, unless you can keep it pretty cool (like under about 64 degrees). The esters it throws are not pleasant to me like other English strains. I'd go with the Wlp002, if you can.

Just did a similar recipe for a summer golden ale minus the crystal but with a touch of aromatic . I often use torrefied wheat mainly as its a common ingredient in many commercial UK brews. Seems to help with body but need to do a side by side i guess to get a real idea. Often used in recipes in Graham Wheelers book BYOBRA.

The torrified wheat is fine. It's a common adjunct in UK ales and at 10% I'd say about the right amount. Torrified wheat adds a nice toasty/grainy note. My preference on crystal malt here would be about 5% or about half a pound. Overall it's a straightforward and simple recipe and for a bitter, simple is usually best. Yeast choice is subjective. The 002 will do just fine, especially if you have had success with it before. Next time try another strain for comparison.

Skeptidelphian said:

Bob, the man himself! Thanks for responding.

I may end up going with S-04. I also have a vial of 005 lying around that I could make a starter for (I intended to make one with that vial of 002, if I bought it.

The wheat, well I read it was also a common adjunct and it also builds body. I'm not an expert on formulation yet, which I why I asked! I've not had any problems with head on a beer yet (well, too much in a dunkelweizen).

Would a dab of wheat for head/body do and then turbinado do as a replacement? I'm not opposed to kettle sugars on principle.

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As BigEd notes, torrefied wheat is a common-enough adjunct in Real Ale brewing, though less common in Bitter than simple sugar and maize. I don't think it builds body at all, though it can impact flavor.

Wheat, as it has more protein than barley malt, is a useful addition in small quantities to aid foam. 4 ounces of wheat malt in 5 gallons is about right. But that shouldn't be an issue here.

View the above notes on "add a dab of this and a dash of that" or "that might be too much of that" with extreme caution. The 80/10/10 formula is proven. Not just by me, but by commercial brewers all over the UK.

That's not to say the commenters above are wrong, per se. It's saying something else entirely.

This is for the benefit of you other fellows, as Skeptidelphian has no doubt seen this lecture elsewhere: I've been brewing for twenty years. In that time, yeasts have gone from 3-4 types of dry packets to dozens of strains in multiple forms. Grist ingredients have expanded to dozens of grains. Hops varieties have gone completely STUPID. The knowledge base in the hobby has expanded exponentially. All of which change is a massive benefit to brewers everywhere.

One thing which unfortunately remains constant through this expansion is that brewers needlessly overcomplicate their recipes. I saw a recipe on here the other day with something like a dozen different grains in the grist. Then he had about seven hops additions. FOR A STOUT.

Yes, you can get a bit of biscuit if you put in 4-6 oz of Aromatic. But before you do that you should really examine what's at fault - the recipe, the style, or your expectations? Is there even a fault, or are you overthinking? Have you ever even tried to brew it simply? Overwhelmingly the answer is "No". If the answer is "No", put down the Beersmith database, do a little more research on the style than what other hobbyists are complicating their brewhouses with (i.e., don't look exclusively at homebrew recipes) and KISS.

Especially with such a simple beer as Bitter.

[/rant]

Now, as to yeast. As I said, 002 is perfectly acceptable, provided you've done your calculations and build a correctly-sized starter to pitch. Me, I hardly ever bother with that anymore, since dry yeasts have come so far. I'd use S-04 on this and have done. I think it'll do fine; I certainly don't think 002 will add anything more than the S-04. Now, if you were suggesting using one of the Wyeast artesinal British yeasts I'd support that over S-04 with jolly great knobs on.

Cheers,

Bob

you can't go wrong with WLP002 (Fullers) or WLP005 (Ringwood). i'm sure dry yeast has come on a long way, but these two are certified classics for brewing this style.

My favourite best bitter recipe is just 90% Maris Otter, 10% Crystal, 1.044 OG, 30 IBUs from Challenger, Goldings, Northdown.

I like Ringwood too. I cut my professional teeth in a Ringwood brewery. That's why I advise hobby brewers to avoid it!

It is a yeast with some ... special ... characteristics. It can be difficult to manage unless you're very familiar with it. It is not a pitch-and-forget yeast.

Hell, lager brewing is easier than dealing with Ringwood.

I <3 what it brings to the table. I just can't stand dealing with it!

I recently brewed a batch of Best Bitter and like Yooper based the recipe loosely on Jamil's. It's currently on tap and I like it a lot - I'm going to brew another batch soon, for bottles. Photo and recipe at http://www.singingboysbrewing.com/Best-Bitter.html

I used WLP005 British Ale - is that really the Ringwood strain? In any case, I fermented it at 64F and found it easy to work with and loved the results.

Bob said:

One thing which unfortunately remains constant through this expansion is that brewers needlessly overcomplicate their recipes. I saw a recipe on here the other day with something like a dozen different grains in the grist. Then he had about seven hops additions. FOR A STOUT.

Yes, you can get a bit of biscuit if you put in 4-6 oz of Aromatic. But before you do that you should really examine what's at fault - the recipe, the style, or your expectations? Is there even a fault, or are you overthinking? Have you ever even tried to brew it simply? Overwhelmingly the answer is "No". If the answer is "No", put down the Beersmith database, do a little more research on the style than what other hobbyists are complicating their brewhouses with (i.e., don't look exclusively at homebrew recipes) and KISS.

Especially with such a simple beer as Bitter.

[/rant]

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Amen, brother.

So after much thought and reading, my revised recipe.

OG 1.042
FG 1.012
ABV 4.0%
IBU 35
SRM 11

7 lbs Maris Otter
1 lb Crystal 60
1 lb Turbinado

0.5 oz Goldings FWH
0.25 oz Challenger FHW
0.75 oz Challenger 60 min
0.5 oz Goldings Knockout

6g gypsum

S-04 yeast

Mash 1qt/lb @ 151-152°F
Ferment 66°F, raise to 68°F, from pitch to pigging/bottling 2 weeks.
2.0 volumes CO2

I think after this brew I'll try a darker Crystal malt and the West Yorkshire yeast which I hear does amazing things.

I like the idea of Challenger and EKG as FWH. I think you're on to a winner here!

Bob

Well brewed this one today using the recipe I last posted. Hit nearly all my numbers, just needed to add 4 oz of DME to bring up the OG to 1.042.

I'm gonna work on this recipe until it becomes my "house beer"! Really excited for this one to turn out.

Bob said:

I like Ringwood too. I cut my professional teeth in a Ringwood brewery. That's why I advise hobby brewers to avoid it!

It is a yeast with some ... special ... characteristics. It can be difficult to manage unless you're very familiar with it. It is not a pitch-and-forget yeast.

Hell, lager brewing is easier than dealing with Ringwood.

I <3 what it brings to the table. I just can't stand dealing with it!

Click to expand...

i've started using it a lot and you're right about it not being "pitch and forget", but i do love it and i get great results so long as i (1) give the wort a second aeration 12-24 hours after pitching, (2) rouse a few times and (3) give it a generous D-rest.

So everyone, I'd like to report my results.

Brew day went well, although I was a tad sloppy during the mash and felt I may have aerated the wort a little too much on the hot side.

Boil was uneventful. Added the last hops after I had the chiller running for about 10 minutes and the wort was somewhere around 180F (82C) and did a "manual whirlpool".

Unfortunately, I discovered aspergillus niger or some other black mold in my HEPA filter so I did not aerate the wort with my aeration stone. I did rock it like crazy. Used two packs of S-04 yeast. I also missed my SG by two points and added some 1/4 cup DME to bring it up to 1.041.

I fermented in my cool brewing cooler after pitching, ferment was around 64F according to my fermometer. It brightened quickly with no need for fining.

Sunday, I party pigged half the batch and bottled the other in these awesome 500ml bottles my LHBS had. 16.9 oz - so I could pour a US pint (unfortunately, not a proper real 20 oz pint, but hey, the bottles look awesome).

I chilled a test bottle tonight. It's definitely carbed up.

So, tasting (I have an untrained palate and will get my cicerone friend to taste it for a better opinion).

Appearance is a mostly bright amber. I figure a few days in the fridge will fix that. A decent head that persisted but left no lacing.

Aroma was kinda disappointing. Smelled like "yeast stress", not really the spicy EKG profile I was expecting.

Taste was better. Definitely the taste of a less-than-par fermentation. But, once that got past, I got a hint of what this recipe's potential is. Bready, toasty notes backed with caramel and a hint of molasses from the turbinado. Mouthfeel was medium, it finished 1.011 but felt a little heavy.

So, what will I do next? I'm brewing a dark mild this Sunday with the West Yorkshire strain. Going to make everything proper, aerated starter, aerated wort, I'm going to dial in my numbers (boil off, etc) with this batch.

I'll rinse and reuse the yeast to make another batch of bitter. Same recipe, but with the west yorkshire and a lower mash temp (149 instead of 152).

On the other end, I'm going to try and perfect an American pale ale (sometimes you just crave those C hops). Those will probably be my brews until I dial things in. I want to get my process right before I venture to more complex brews.

Oh, and a picture. I'll report back on after it's conditioned it's full two weeks and I've tried in from the party pig.