Strong Bitter Captain Hooked on Bitters (Red Hook Clone & Award Winner)

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I'm making this in the weekend. I wasn't able to get any tettnanger, though. What can I sub for that? I have Willamette, spalt, mosaic, falconers fight, Nelson sauvin, Apollo, centennial, cascade, Amarillo, citra, summit, belma and calypso.
 
I compared this to a bottle of red hook ESB today and they're nothing alike. The color wasn't even close. Not saying it isn't a great beer, just wasn't a good clone of Red Hook's ESB.
 
Did you end up substituting the Tettnang? If so what for?

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So I brewed this last New Years day 2013 and was really please with the results. I've become a bit of a hop-head over the last year, so I sort of forgot about this recipe. However I think it's time to resurrect this one and bump up the hops a bit. So I've decided this is my next brew in a couple weeks. I've bumped up the hops to a full 1oz for each addition for a 5.25 gal batch. According to Beersmith the IBU's come in right smack in the middle of the style at 41.8 IBU's. I think I'm gonna like this. Looking forward to brewing this awesome recipe once again.
 
Brewing this tomorrow. Modified grain bill because I'm on my own devised 4 gallon system (I only use 5 gallon glass carboys and 5 gallon FDPE buckets from hardware store) and because I don't have a mill so toasting grains was not an option.

Type: All Grain
Batch Size (fermenter): 4.00 gal
Boil Size: 4.50 gal
Boil Time: 75 min
Equipment: Brew Pot (5 Gallon), bucket sparge system
End of Boil Volume 4.00 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %

Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.3 %
Bitterness: 29.3 IBUs
Est Color: 12.9 SRM

5 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 71.4 %
12.8 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 9.9 %
5.6 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.3 %
12.8 oz Amber Malt (30.0 SRM) Grain 9.9 %
5.6 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.3 %

0.60 oz Willamette [5.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 14.3 IBUs
0.20 oz Tettnang [3.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3.1 IBUs
0.40 oz Tettnang [3.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 4.8 IBUs
0.40 oz Willamette [5.30 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 5.8 IBUs
0.80 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining
0.40 oz Tettnang [3.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 1.3 IBUs


8 grams (~.8 of a package) of Mangrove Jack's Burton Union M79 Ale Yeast

Obviously I adjusted for toasted 2 row by using MO, Victory and some Amber Malt for a biscuity toasted flavor. I also adjusted amounts of hops because of lower AAU. Still consider using warrior bittering and even upping the IBUs slightly more, despite Red Hooks website saying IBUs are about 28.

I'm also going to rack 1 gallon into a growler and dry hop with some cascade or williamette/tettnang.

Thoughts?
 
Made this today. My first brew in 12 months. My only mistake was I spilled 1oz of the Willamette. That cost me the addition at 40 minutes. So this beer comes in at 19 IBU which is a bit low, but I'm thinking I'll be just fine. Just fine. Thanks for the recipe!
 
Brewing this on Saturday with 19 lbs of the pale, then the oner of biscuit. Everything else the same except the yeast I'm using is the 1099 Whitbred. They seem to be fairly similar and I have it left over from an ipa I just brewed. My MT can only hold ten gallons and the mash will take up about nine of that. No chance for a mash out it doesn't seem. Is that a problem?


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I brewed two batches of this so far and even though only one is ready to drink so far I have to say that this is by far one of my favorites.
 
Brewed this over the weekend but didn't get enough runoff and ended up with only nine gallons. Literally threw away another couple of gallons of 1.020 because I tho't I had twelve gallons, I think it was only tenish. subsequently ended with a OG of 1.067, way over the recipe. Should I dry hop? And if so, with what. I used the Willamette but subbed Cascade for the Tettnager.


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Bottling my version of this brew today, main difference is I just used Mangrove Jacks dry ESB yeast instead of liquid. Will repost in a couple weeks
 
I'm planning on brewing this up for a Fathers Day BBQ that's an annual event. I am currently collecting sap from my Maple trees for syrup & will end up with extra sap. The sap is basically clean, semi sweet water.

I have read about using Maple sap in place of your brew water and thought this would be a good beer to try it on. I had a Maple Amber Ale at Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids, MI. last summer & it was very, very good. Just had a subtle Maple finish.

Sounds good, doesn't it?
 
Wow, this batch came out better than the first time I brewed this. My doubling of the hops has really added some nice aroma and a hop profile that reminded me of the first time I tried Red Hook ESB. There is really nice maltiness which balances quite nicely with the increased hops. I brewed this with Wyeast's Thames Valley Ale yeast and I like the results better than when I brewed with British Ale. This sat 5 weeks in the primary and it's been bottle conditioning for a month and it's really developed perfectly. Thanks again BierMuncher, great recipe!
 
Drank two of these very green still but very good. Malt subs I made were maris otter as a base and victory malt in place of toasted pale 2 row. I also used Mangrove Jacks Burton Union ESB yeast. It fermented with a wort temp at 66F.

It has some really good fruity ester flavors from the yeast, nothing over the top. Basically the amount you would expect in a ESB, maybe more than Red Hooks though. Have a bottle for a side by side but wanna give mine more time first. It has a great malt backbone. The bite from the bitterness and the subtle hop aromas are present and is about perfect to balance it. I had to use slightly more at 60 because of a lower AAU.
 
Thanks Biermuncher for another great recipe base. I use your centennial blonde a lot. As itself its a great light beer that I enjoy and many non craft beer drinking friends have enjoyed. I've also blended it post fermentation with green tea, apple juice (Graff), and pureed apricots for a great apricot beer. All beers on this base have come out with great results.

Do you ever do any salt or other additions to your water. I just got into water chemistry and my tap is a little under most styles recommended on sulfates, chloride, magnesium and my ph on most brews should be a bit lower, for lighter beer ph estimate is around 5.8 with no additions. What type of water profile, if any, do you adjust to for these 2 beers?
 
I brewed 10 gallons of this
I split the batch and used s04 and s05.
Then I dry hopped the s04 with fuggles and the s05 with Centennial & Cascade.
I'm drinking the s05 batch on tap right now and it's delicious.
Thanks BM
SHAL
 
I'm curious, I have a fairly decent pipeline right now so I'm wondering, if I brew this, will it suffer at all if it sat in a keg for 1-3 months? Ie dissipating flavors?
 
Did this last night. I went with 16lbs. MO and biscuit. O.G. came out at 1.051 We'll find out in a month or so how turned out.
 
Brewed this a couple of weeks ago. Came out at 1.052, one week in it was at 1.024, and been stuck there since then. Did the Maris Otter, Biscuit and Cara malt variant, and pitched Danstar Notty. Anyone had this problem? I wonder if maybe my mash temperatures went a bit too high. Would that explain the high FG? Not sure if too high temps would also mean my OG would be too, 1.052 is really spot on for what I was expecting.

I bottled a couple without adding any sugar and mover to a warmer place to see if any CO2 gets produced, if not I guess it's finished.
 
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Mine finished at 1.017, I used o-4. First time I've not reached fg. Not sure what happened.
 
Brewed on Saturday... Came in at 1.055 and under volume by about 1 gallon... My setup unfortunately is not big enough for 11Gal boil volumes without splash overs.

I think fermentation is actually starting to wind down... I used s-04 and added whirfloc at 10mins. Subbed Sazz in for Tett because I wanted to use Whole leaf hops instead...

Only little hiccup was my new Chugger pump seized for some reason... I had to disconnect and use my march pump instead... Fixed it but jease what the hell?
 
Also i came under attenuated... Im stuck right now at 1.020... Not good... I've roused the yeast and moved to a warm room around 75*F...

My hopes are not too high to get it down, but If I could get it to 1.016, I'd be estatic... Taste is OK ,but I think the high mash temp was not a good idea...

I think if and when I brew this again, I will mash in at 154 instead of 157 and increase mash time from 60 minutes to 75 minutes.

Be curious to hear others experience with this.
 
Extract/Steep version of this done this morning. 4.5 hour lag and bubbling now. :mug:

Capture.JPG
 
I had my first bottle of Red Hook ESB a few weeks ago and am absolutely hooked (get it?...hooked?).

Fantastic beer and I only hope this attempt at a clone comes close. I modified a few things but stayed true to the gravity-to-hops ratio that I derived from the Red Hook website. Fantastic site. They are open with their approach and general ingredients list and share their hops bill.

Unlike my other recipes, I think I'll dial down the ABV% only slightly. Original ESB is 5.7% and this will be about 5.1%. I'll try to offset the lower grain bill by mashing at around 157 degrees to get that malty flavor back.

Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 13.12 gal
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 14.4 SRM
View attachment 1697
Estimated IBU: 25.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 67.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:------------
Amount Item
15.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
5.00 lb Toasted Malt (27.0 SRM) (2-row toasted at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes)
2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)

1.00 oz Williamette [5.50%] (60 min) Hops 9.7 IBU
1.00 oz Tettnang [6.50%] (30 min) Hops 8.8 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [4.60%] (20 min) Hops 4.9 IBU
1.00 oz Tettnang [6.50%] (5 min) Hops 2.3 IBU

2 Pkgs British Ale (Wyeast Labs #1098) Yeast-Ale (I'm pitching on a yeast cake from a prior brew)


Single infusion mash at 157 degrees. Boil for 75 minutes following the hops schedule. It may be necesary to reduce to a lower rolling boil to prevent excess boil off.
View attachment 1699
Love the recipe! Just curious as to how you get that kind of attenuation from such a high mash temp. Do you pitch a massive starter? Fermentation temp? Longer boil have anything to do with it? I love the fuller beers that a higher mash temp make. I've noticed on all the recipes I've seen of yours you tend to mash high end still get good a fg. Looking to do my first esb but I am using wyeast 1469 so I'm thinking of woosiing out and going for a 154* mash. Thanks for your contribution to this hobby!
 
made this on Super Bowl weekend, bottled for about 2 weeks now entered into a comp for judging on the 10th of april. taste is really pretty good just a taste of bitterness (good) but the flavor is off for what i was looking for, i will pry make this with either the addition of some sp malts ( victory, biscuit, etc..) or try same recipe with MO as the base. i used S-04 and mashed at 154 ferm was good @ 62 ambient temp, and was left alone for about 4 weeks b4 bottling. i really enjoy this beer thanks for another great recipe BM! when i get around to brewing with a change in recipe i will post again.

great beer easy for a BMC to enjoy this without thinking, "I don't drink dark beers"!! haha. .......... later
 
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