I'm thinking about brewing this as my first a.g. beer what do you think?

English County best
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 1/5/2008
Style: English Special or Best Bitter Brewer: Mark Gable
Batch Size: 5.33 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 6.80 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Cooler (48 qt)


Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 48.78 %
1.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 14.63 %
1.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 14.63 %
0.75 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 7.32 %
0.50 lb Barley, Torrefied (1.7 SRM) Grain 4.88 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.88 %
0.50 lb Munich Malt - 20L (15.0 SRM) Grain 4.88 %
1.00 oz Challenger [6.30 %] (45 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 21.5 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.10 %] (15 min) Hops 8.5 IBU
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.7 IBU
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.053 SG (1.039-1.045 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.015 SG (1.009-1.014 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.008 SG
Estimated Color: 6.6 SRM (6.0-14.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 32.7 IBU (20.0-45.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 11.4 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 4.91 % (3.70-4.80 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 4.95 %
Actual Calories: 201 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out Mash Tun Weight: 9.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 10.25 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 5.30 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 11.94 qt of water at 164.3 F 149.0 F 75 min


Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (0.8-2.1 vols)
Estimated Priming Weight: 4.0 oz Temperature at Bottling: 60.1 F
Primer Used: - Age for: 4.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F

This is a complex beer but it should work for your first AG. A couple of suggestions though:
You show 5 pounds of MO and 1 1/2 Lb of pail malt. Couldn't you just use all MO?

1 1/2 pounds of crystal is a lot. Maybe reduce it to 1/2 to 1 pound and use a darker, say 60ºL crystal.

.75 pounds of Vienna and .5 pounds of Munich aren't going to have a huge effect on your beer. You might think about increasing them some and reduce your base malt by the difference. Both of these will convert during the mash.

Good luck and keep us posted!

The only things I have to add to what Richbrewer said are kind of nit-picky- I'd assume you won't get 75% efficiency. Not a problem at all, but you may want to plug in like 65% to see what that does to the IBUs in Beersmith. If you have a lower sg (and you might if this is your first batch), you will have a hoppier brew than you planned.

The other thing- I like ESBs and see them as malty, medium bodied. I'd up the mash temp to 154 ish.

I agree with YooperBrew; crank up the mash temp to around 154 and let that go for about 90 minutes. This is a maltier style and the increase in temp will produce more unfermentable sugars in the mash, leading to a fuller bodied beer. I would also do a mash out at about 170 for about 10 minutes, to denature the enzymes. I have done this style in the past and used a similar profile with good success.

English County best
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 1/5/2008
Style: English Special or Best Bitter Brewer: Mark Gable
Batch Size: 5.33 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 6.80 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Cooler (48 qt)
Actual Efficiency: 69.44 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 62.50 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt - 20L (15.0 SRM) Grain 10.42 %
1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 10.42 %
0.50 lb Barley, Torrefied (1.7 SRM) Grain 5.21 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.21 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.21 %
0.10 lb Chocolate Wheat Malt (400.0 SRM) Grain 1.04 %
1.00 oz Challenger [6.30 %] (40 min) Hops 19.1 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.10 %] (15 min) Hops 8.7 IBU
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.8 IBU
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.050 SG (1.039-1.045 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.014 SG (1.009-1.014 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.008 SG
Estimated Color: 11.8 SRM (6.0-14.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 30.6 IBU (20.0-45.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 11.4 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 4.63 % (3.70-4.80 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 4.95 %
Actual Calories: 201 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 9.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 9.60 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 5.20 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 12.00 qt of water at 169.4 F 154.0 F 60 min


Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (0.8-2.1 vols)
Estimated Priming Weight: 4.0 oz Temperature at Bottling: 60.1 F
Primer Used: - Age for: 4.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F