Looking for first timer AG recipe, preferably British Bitter style

Hi, I am looking for an easy, quick recipe for AG that would be good for a beginner like myself.

I especially like lower alcohol, easy drinking British bitters, the kind you can't get easily over here in the states, so if anyone could recommend something I'd appreciate it. I see so many recipes out there its a bit overwhelming.

Here's my ESB recipe. I concider it a fairly easy recipe. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f64/steves-haus-esb-149564/

Thanks man this looks like a winner.

BTW, could I put it into bottles and let it condition in the bottle?

My bottling knowledge is a bit hazy, (I've only done meads which are not carbonated when you rack it) could someone point me in the right direction? Just a bit of priming sugar and a couple weeks of time right?

The first AG I made was this ESB: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f64/common-room-esb-83878/

It's pretty easy and is one of the best tasting ESB's I've ever made. All I needed was a backpack and a hostel bunk above a snoring Czech to remind me of my summer in England.

As for bottling, yes - add a little priming sugar (3.8 oz according to BeerSmith), bottle, let set for 3 weeks @ 70*, chill for 48 hours, and viola!

Can't go wrong with Orfy's https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f64/boddingtons-bitter-21131/
My Ordinary Bitter is very similar (mine has a little higher gravity, I use a bit less Cara-pils and I use S-04 yeast) and it is very easy, rather forgiving, ferments fast and is a very easy drinker.

badmajon said:

Thanks man this looks like a winner.

BTW, could I put it into bottles and let it condition in the bottle?

My bottling knowledge is a bit hazy, (I've only done meads which are not carbonated when you rack it) could someone point me in the right direction? Just a bit of priming sugar and a couple weeks of time right?

Click to expand...

Yes, it can be bottle conditioned. Just add the priming solution (sugar water) to the bottom of your bottling bucket before you rack your beer to it. Then bottle and let it sit for 2-4 weeks.

Steve, would these ingredients work for that recipe?

British Ale Yeast - WLP005
Briess 2-Row Malt
Franco Belges Munich Malt
Franco Belges Caramel Munich 40
Munton's Chocolate Malt (by the ounce)
Kent Goldings Hops (UK) - Pellets

Your recipe says...

9.0 lb 2-Row Brewers Malt
1.0 lb Munich Malt
0.5 lb Caramel Malt 40L
0.2 lb Chocolate Malt
1.7 oz East Kent Goldings (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
0.3 oz East Kent Goldings (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1.0 ea WYeast 1098 British Ale - 1000ml Starter

By the way, do I use pellet hops weight-for-weight for regular style hops?

ps. what kind of yeast starter should I use?

Yes, the hops should be the same as long as the aa% is the same. Your ingredients look good too. As for a starter, I just boiled 3oz. of light DME in 1000ml of water then pitched my yeast in it. Do that a few days before you brew and dump it in when you're ready.

I'd recommend my recipe https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f64/alans-special-bitter-76478/
but it has odd hops (It was developed during the hop shortage), and you probably need to adjust the grain bill to suit your efficiency. If you know your efficiency, and what hops you have/can get, then send me a PM, and I'll convert the recipe for your efficiency and hops; and calculate the priming sugar required for bottling.
There's a few things that I have found that really help when reproducing the British Bitters:
1. Mash at 1 US qt / lb grain. This makes a very big difference
2. Mash cool. For an ordinary bitter, you could mash at 150F. For special, or strong bitters, you can increase the mash temperature to 152F. You do not want to mash at a higher temperature than this.
3. Use British malt. The British malts are very different than American. You cannot get the same results using American malts.
4. Use a suitable yeast. The only dry yeast I have found that is suitable is S-04 (but there could be some that I have never tried) Nottingham and Windsor are IMO not suitable. For liquid yeasts, I've used WLP002, WLP005, WLP023, WY1275, and WY1968 successfully. There could also be others that I haven't tried.

Hope this helps.

-a.

Hey one more quick question, when you say:

"Strike with 3.5 gallons @178F to achieve mash temp of 148F. Rest for 75 min."

Do you mean pour 178f water into a room-temperature mash tun full of grain, while expecting the grain and mash tun to absorb 30 degrees of heat? Or do you mean pour the 178 degree water into a room temperature mash tun, wait until water is 148 degrees, then put in grain?

I'm just wondering because I have seen people on youtube put the water in first, wait for their temp, and then pitch the grain in there.

Also:

"Add 5.25 gallons of sparge water @186F to sparge at 169F."

again, wait until temperature decreases to 169?

Thanks

for 5 gallons...

Mash at 150 - 152F:
6.5 Pale Malt
4 oz Crystal 40L
4 oz Amber malt.

1 oz EKG @ 60 minutes
1 oz EKG @ 15 minutes.


two great yeasts for this: WLP006 and/or WLP022

This will let you taste the yeast and the pale malt profiles. Also look into increasing the sulfate side of the chloride:sulfate ratio.

badmajon said:

Hey one more quick question, when you say:

"Strike with 3.5 gallons @178F to achieve mash temp of 148F. Rest for 75 min."

Do you mean pour 178f water into a room-temperature mash tun full of grain, while expecting the grain and mash tun to absorb 30 degrees of heat? Or do you mean pour the 178 degree water into a room temperature mash tun, wait until water is 148 degrees, then put in grain?

I'm just wondering because I have seen people on youtube put the water in first, wait for their temp, and then pitch the grain in there.

Also:

"Add 5.25 gallons of sparge water @186F to sparge at 169F."

again, wait until temperature decreases to 169?

Thanks

Click to expand...

178 f water is way to hot for my setup.I would use 168f water added to mash tun then slowly stir in grain stir well for 5 min.put the lid on wait 5 min then check temp.If you are between 148-154 you will be fine.if not add ice or boiling water.Brewing software comes in handy when doing all grain.Most all my recipes use initial strike water at around 168 degrees f.With a room temp mash tun and grain.you dont need to preheat the tun or wait for the water temp to come down.Try it.!!

badmajon said:

Hey one more quick question, when you say:

"Strike with 3.5 gallons @178F to achieve mash temp of 148F. Rest for 75 min."

Do you mean pour 178f water into a room-temperature mash tun full of grain, while expecting the grain and mash tun to absorb 30 degrees of heat? Or do you mean pour the 178 degree water into a room temperature mash tun, wait until water is 148 degrees, then put in grain?

I'm just wondering because I have seen people on youtube put the water in first, wait for their temp, and then pitch the grain in there.

Also:

"Add 5.25 gallons of sparge water @186F to sparge at 169F."

again, wait until temperature decreases to 169?

Thanks

Click to expand...

I probably should have noted in that recipe that it was in the dead of winter and my mash tun was ice cold. In decent weather, I would suggest a 165-170F strike temp. I should adjust my recipe accordingly.

Here's what it all means... When I say add 3.5 gallons at a certain temp, it means you heat your water to that temp. I usually scoop out about 2qts of water and put it in my mash tun 5 minutes before I add the rest of the water. This heats up the tun so you don't lose as much heat when adding the rest of the water. At this point, you add the grains directly to that 165-170 degree water. The temperature of the grain will decrease the total temp to around 150F.

As far as the sparge goes with this recipe... I did a batch sparge. I also may do it differently than some, but it works fine either way. Instead of draining my tun (first runnings) and then adding sparge water, I add my total water at a high enough temp that will raise the entire batch to 169F. So adding the 5.25 gallons of sparge water at 186 will bring the total volume down to 169F. No need to wait on either of them.

Hope this helps a bit. If you have any more questions, keep asking. I'm more than willing to help.

Thanks for the clarification. I haven't heard not not draining first runnings before, you mean you can just drain it all at once? Is there any advantage in a two-step process (i.e., getting first runnings off the mash, then sparging)?

The only advantage I see over my method is less time heating water. My method requires me to use a larger amount of water to raise the entire mash to 170F. As long as you raise the temp of the grainbed to 170F, it'll rinse the sugars just fine. I use a different method now, but I used that method for years with no issues. I had 75-80% efficiency every time and the beers tasted great.

If you feel more comfortable using a two step process, it'll work fine with my recipe.