Strong Bitter Common Room ESB

LGI, tread freely!

I think I am going to try a partial mash version of this very soon. William's Brewing just discontinued their Maris Otter LME, so I will just mash as much MO as possible with the crystals and use DME to hit 1.054. Maybe it will help if I add some biscuit to the mash to make up for it.

Sorry for being off topic. The question of base malt is a bit confusing. People call stuff differently. For example, my LHBS offers at least 5 different base malts: Domestic 2-row, Domestic 6-row, Belgian Pale malt, German Pilsner and British Pale malt. Sometimes, it not always clear what people are referring to. Sometimes they say to use Pale Malt, but they really are referring to domestic 2-row which is really better suited to produce American style lagers as far as flavor goes and ends up tasting really weird when fermented with fruity ale yeasts when attempting pale ales with those grains. For pale ales, the British pale malt is kilned a bit hotter and has a warmer fuller well rounded flavor as oppose to domestic 2-row. It just works better. I went with the British pale malt which is what I thought you used for the common room esb. Thanks for the clarification though. Cheers!

NCBeernut said:

I think I am going to try a partial mash version of this very soon. William's Brewing just discontinued their Maris Otter LME, so I will just mash as much MO as possible with the crystals and use DME to hit 1.054. Maybe it will help if I add some biscuit to the mash to make up for it.

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They discontinued it? That sucks. You'll just have to get a heat stick and go all grain!

Read my gauge wrong and missed my mash temp. Took quite a few minutes to bring it back in line but eventually I got it. First runnings tasted awesome though. Also wasn't able to get my OG as my hydrometer was broken? All in all it was just typical of how my day went. But, it's bubbling away at 67° so I'll post again in 4 weeks.

whutever said:

Read my gauge wrong and missed my mash temp. Took quite a few minutes to bring it back in line but eventually I got it. First runnings tasted awesome though. Also wasn't able to get my OG as my hydrometer was broken, WTF? All in all it was just typical of how my day went. But, it's bubbling away at 68° so I'll post again in 4 weeks.

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I'm sure it will turn out great. Your first runnings look good enough to drink

Sorry, but I can't really think right now. I see you put
0.25 lb UK Dark Crystal 135-165L (150.0 SRM) Grain 2.27 %.
I'm thinking right when I think Special B when I see that right?
Also, I'm thinking about nottingham.
Ever tried it with this recipe?

HalfPint said:

Sorry, but I can't really think right now. I see you put
0.25 lb UK Dark Crystal 135-165L (150.0 SRM) Grain 2.27 %.
I'm thinking right when I think Special B when I see that right?
Also, I'm thinking about nottingham.
Ever tried it with this recipe?

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Special B is a bit different. What you want is this http://brewmasterswarehouse.com/product/0101482/simpsons-extra-dark-crystal. It's a british malt instead of a belgian malt. I've never tried it with Nottingham but it's sure to make a great beer.

On the subject of special B. I tried some in my bitter recipe, and it got me very excited and gave me a great brew. Since then I have made my own crystal using Maris Otter using Dontman's method as stated in this thread. Using that method I have successfully replaced Special B with a more "In style" substitute.

(Treading freely here! )

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

On the subject of special B. I tried some in my bitter recipe, and it got me very excited and gave me a great brew. Since then I have made my own crystal using Maris Otter using Dontman's method as stated in this thread. Using that method I have successfully replaced Special B with a more "In style" substitute.

(Treading freely here! )

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There's an idea! Next time I make this recipe I'm going to use all homemade crystal malts. That'll be a very interesting comparison.

KingBrianI said:

There's an idea! Next time I make this recipe I'm going to use all homemade crystal malts. That'll be a very interesting comparison.

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Sounds like a fun experiment. If you do it enough, you can put your own special roast on em and make a super specialized recipe.

This beer was the hit of a Halloween party. We normally have a selection of home brews in pop kegs. I'm happy to report that mine went first. I altered the recipe a little by using .25 lb dark crystal, .50 lb light crystal and .50 lb biscuit. Folks thought it was very balanced and clean. Thanks for the recipe! Right now it's my standard!

gregolma said:

This beer was the hit of a Halloween party. We normally have a selection of home brews in pop kegs. I'm happy to report that mine went first. I altered the recipe a little by using .25 lb dark crystal, .50 lb light crystal and .50 lb biscuit. Folks thought it was very balanced and clean. Thanks for the recipe! Right now it's my standard!

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Awesome! Glad everyone liked it.

KingBrianI said:

There's an idea! Next time I make this recipe I'm going to use all homemade crystal malts. That'll be a very interesting comparison.

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It's an interesting comparison for sure, but for me the most important factor is control. If you are buying crystal malts, you don't really know their origin, what grain it was derived from etc. However, if you are making your own specialty malts from the same base grain that you are using anyway, it gives you that warm fuzzy feeling that you get from taking over control of the free world. Oh the power! MWHAAHHAHA!

Just brewed this earlier today, using a slightly modified grain bill for a partial mash and the exact same hop bill

3.5 lb British Light DME
3 lb of Maris Otter
0.75 lb Crystal 60L
0.25 lb Special B
0.25 lb Biscuit Malt

The wort tasted really good. I can't wait to see how this turns out. I am using Nottingham, so it should perform about the same as US-04. It was my first mash and I hit exactly 1.054.

on friday night, as part of a brew off, I used a very similar recipe.
10 lbs Maris otter
.75 lbs crystal 60
.25 lbs extra dark crystal (160)
.25 biscuit

kept the hops the same, but put them in a bit earlier. 60,30,10

also, used Wyeast 1318 london III, instead of the safale.

I brewed this back on 10/25 and have been cold crashing since fermentation ended. However, it's still sitting on the yeast cake in the primary. This is ok right? Do to work and other commitments I've not had the opportunity to keg it. Input would be greatly appreciated.

whutever said:

I brewed this back on 10/25 and have been cold crashing since fermentation ended. However, it's still sitting on the yeast cake in the primary. This is ok right? Do to work and other commitments I've not had the opportunity to keg it. Input would be greatly appreciated.

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It will be fine. I've left beer in primary much longer than that and it always comes out great. It should be nice and clear when you do keg it.

KingBrianI said:

It will be fine. I've left beer in primary much longer than that and it always comes out great. It should be nice and clear when you do keg it.

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Thanks for that - greatly appreciated.

Gonna enjoy a couple more SN Celebrations tonight while watching the Civil War on ESPN.

Trace

whutever said:

I brewed this back on 10/25 and have been cold crashing since fermentation ended. However, it's still sitting on the yeast cake in the primary. This is ok right? Do to work and other commitments I've not had the opportunity to keg it. Input would be greatly appreciated.

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What Brian said.

I have an Apfelwein that's been sitting on the primary now for 3 months lol. I had a porter sitting in the primary for 7 weeks until just a couple of weeks ago. I usually let all of my brews do a three week primary then I throw them into the keg or secondary for further aging.

Tapping a keg of this on Christmas Eve. Been looking forward to this moment since I brewed it going on 2 months ago.

I need to bottle this. never enough time to do all my brewing and projects.

whutever said:

Tapping a keg of this on Christmas Eve. Been looking forward to this moment since I brewed it going on 2 months ago.

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So how was it?

It's goooooooooooooooooooooooood. Thanks again for this awesome recipe! Happy Holidays KBI.

Awesome, merry christmas!

Just wanted to say I am going to brew this over the weekend. Really just did this so I can find the thread again. Never done an ESB before, recipe looks good. Any reason I cant use cascade or centennial (adjusted for IBUs)? I got a bunch and dont feel like gettin UK hops, but I will if I have to. Ill update.

brewed this back in Nov. for a competition with a friend. used an extra 4 oz of bisquit. came out great. maybe my best beer yet.

I'm trying this one again this coming Saturday. This time, I decided on using the WLP023 Burton Ale yeast as oppose to Wyeast 1968 as it has slighty better attenuation. At what temperature should I mash using this yeast? Is 154F good?

mithion said:

I'm trying this one again this coming Saturday. This time, I decided on using the WLP023 Burton Ale yeast as oppose to Wyeast 1968 as it has slighty better attenuation. At what temperature should I mash using this yeast? Is 154F good?

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Nice choice of yeast, I love Burton Ale. It will be great for this recipe. 154 would work great.

Wow an impressive recipe backed by an impressive amount of reviews.
I'll be brewing this on Sunday.

Jumping in with 2 feet, making it a double batch. Time to fill the cornies

Thanks for sharing.

did this up with chefchris and I kid you not it was drank within 4 hours

elmetal said:

did this up with chefchris and I kid you not it was drank within 4 hours

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Sounds like a good time!

it was really was.

Ok, I'm gearing up to make this, and I'm prepared to follow the recipe exactly, but with the FWH Goldings, won't the perceived IBUs be a bit low? My brewing software calculates the IBUs at 20.7, which is below standard for the style. That said, I'm prepared, like Luke Skywalker, to forego the computer for the Force, but I thought I'd ask first. Clearly no one has had a problem with this beer being too mild, but I just wanted to throw this out there in case I'm missing something...

it's an ESB not an IPA!

it's perfect I think.

Batinse said:

Ok, I'm gearing up to make this, and I'm prepared to follow the recipe exactly, but with the FWH Goldings, won't the perceived IBUs be a bit low? My brewing software calculates the IBUs at 20.7, which is below standard for the style. That said, I'm prepared, like Luke Skywalker, to forego the computer for the Force, but I thought I'd ask first. Clearly no one has had a problem with this beer being too mild, but I just wanted to throw this out there in case I'm missing something...

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Hmm, Beersmith calculates about 35 IBU when using the amount of hops at the AA% and the times listed in the recipe. Maybe it's a difference between software calculations or maybe you're basing it on a batch of hops with lower AA%? Some software calculates FWH additions as having the bitterness of 20 minute additions, though I think that's a mistake. Although FWH additions provide flavor like a 20 minute addition would, they provide more bitterness than an addition of their boil time not FWHed would, though the bitterness is "smoother" and might be perceived as being slightly less. As long as your hops are around the same AA% as those listed in the recipe, the bitterness of this recipe is nicely balanced.

I'm using Brewtarget, which I think does calculate FWH as a 20 min addition. I've only made an Oatmeal Stout using FWH, and while the bitterness calculated by the software tasted fine, in an Oatmeal stout it's pretty hard to overhop. In researching for that brew, the general consensus for FWH seemed to be while the real bitterness was indeed high, the perceived bitterness was lower, but perhaps "smoother" is a better way to describe it.

At any rate, I wasn't going to mess with what is clearly a popular (and beautiful, based on the pics) brew, so I just wanted to clear it up! Thanks for the reply, and the recipe! Cheers!

Batinse said:

At any rate, I wasn't going to mess with what is clearly a popular (and beautiful, based on the pics) brew, so I just wanted to clear it up! Thanks for the reply, and the recipe! Cheers!

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To shamelessly quote myself:

whutever said:

It's goooooooooooooooooooooooood.

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I agree. I brewed it and drank it. Beers like this tempt me to go 10 gal. I added 4 oz of biscuit, and over carbonated a little, but AWESOME none the less.

Brewed this tonight.. My first AG, and my equipment is far under par. Looks and smells great though. I can't wait to try it!