Strong Bitter Common Room ESB

Grabbed supplies for a swamp cooler this morning and brewed today. Sparge water calculator misled me, it had me heart 3.6 gal of strike water and 5.14 gal of sparge water for my batch sparge to get 6.37 gallons of preboil volume.

I ended up with a 6 1/2 gallon boil and 1.5-2 gallons of wasted wort.

Wort smelled great, sat the pot out in a snow bank and it took forever to cool and I had to leave for work so I'm praying it doesn't get infected before I can get home and rack to primary and pitch.

Enjoying a glass form a batch I put down on the 14 of December. This is my second go at this recipe, it's a good one.

Just started the "60" minute timer on a 2.5g batch. Doing a 75 minute boil because I started a little low on the OG... 1/4g too much sparge water...

Homebrew club competition foe April is British Pales so looking forward to seeing how this goes.

Ive brewed this twice. Second round is in primary before the first keg is kicked. 2nd time i went with 10% biscuit to see the difference

KingBrianI said:

...Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 13.75 qt of water at 173.3 F 154.0 F
10 min Mash Out Add 8.00 qt of water at 198.3 F 168.0 F
Sparge with enough water to achieve desired boil volume.

Click to expand...

Is the mash out water addition just to raise the temp or does the extra volume of water have additional purposes? I am going to do this BIAB and i was just goint to turn on my burner for a few minutes to get the heat unless the extra water adds something to the process.

Cheers!
DP

Just took first place in a recent homebrew comp with a slightly modified version of this beer. Thank you sir for laying the groundwork cheers

BrewMoto said:

Just took first place in a recent homebrew comp with a slightly modified version of this beer. Thank you sir for laying the groundwork cheers

Click to expand...

What was the tweak - if u don't mind sharing?

joetownhound said:

Common Room ESB All Grain

Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale) (8 C)



Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 6.50 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 4.75 gal
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage


Date: 29 Dec 2014
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Equipment: Dennis's Equipment
Efficiency: 69.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 78.4 %
Taste Rating: 30.0


Taste Notes:



Ingredients


Amt

Name

Type

#

%/IBU

1.06 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 1 -
10 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 87.0 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.5 %
8.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.3 %
4.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.2 %
1.75 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 6 29.6 IBUs
0.25 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 7 2.3 IBUs
0.25 oz Fuggle [4.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 8 2.1 IBUs
1.06 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 9 -
0.25 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
0.25 oz Fuggle [4.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 12 -
1.06 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Other 13 -


Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.054 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.7 %
Bitterness: 34.1 IBUs
Est Color: 12.1 SRM

Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Sparge Water: 4.79 gal
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE


Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 8.0 oz
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Mash PH: 5.20

Mash Steps


Name

Description

Step Temperature

Step Time

Mash In Add 14.38 qt of water at 166.7 F 148.0 F 75 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 4 steps (Drain mash tun , 1.75gal, 1.75gal, 1.75gal) of 168.0 F water
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).



Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Keg
Pressure/Weight: 12.54 PSI
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 45.0 F
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage


Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Carbonation Used: Keg with 12.54 PSI
Age for: 30.00 days
Storage Temperature: 65.0 F


Notes
Going to brew this on New Years Day for my next brew with the few changes. Hoping for a more of a malty chewy beer. The original looks so tasty.

Click to expand...

Just getting around to brewing this tonight, (so busy at work). Started around 6 PM tonight and just finishing cleaning up and putting it in the freezer. Going to ferment it at 64 degrees for a week then slowly bring it up to 66-68 for another two. Will move it to secondary after then for a week before cold crashing it at 35 degrees for a week. Plan on kegging it using only 12.5 PSI of gas. The wort is a nice reddish color. Can't wait to try it. I did over shot my OG by 10 point coming in at 1.064 instead of the intended 1.054 hope that don't affect it much. Thanks again for the recipe KingBrain :rockin::rockin:.

Sampled a bottle today after 13 days in the bottle, it was okay, still alittle under carbonated, I'm hoping to serve this at an easter party were having Saturday so I hope the yeast get to work over the next few days

I brewed a version of this recently for a local homebrew competition, but I subbed Maris Otter for the base and domestic Crystal 120L for the dark crystal based on availability. It got me a gold for the category with a competition high score of 47!! Definitely a confidence boost for being my first competition.

Thanks for the original recipe!

My version has been in the keg for about a week now. A really easy beer to drank. Only getting better day by day.

I had such a problem getting the flow started with my recently warped autosiphon that I think I oxygenated it...I'm dumping what I have chilled as its rather unpleasant and I'm going to let the warm ones sit for awhile. It's terrible because it was SO good before I bottled it

My first time with this beer I missed my targets. My OG was low my FG was high. Overall the beer was a miss in my view. Completely as a result of the brewer NOT the author of the recipe I hasten to add.

Second brew I got a great result. I did change the yeast to WYeast 1028. The grain bill was altered only to account for my efficiency. The percentages were the same. Hops were largely unchanged.

OG was 1.055 FG was 1.014

Thanks again KingBrian

A very tasty ESB

Gavin C said:

My first time with this beer I missed my targets. My OG was low my FG was high. Overall the beer was a miss in my view. Completely as a result of the brewer NOT the author of the recipe I hasten to add.

Second brew I got a great result. I did change the yeast to WYeast 1028. The grain bill was altered only to account for my efficiency. The percentages were the same. Hops were largely unchanged.

OG was 1.055 FG was 1.014

Thanks again KingBrian

A very tasty ESBView attachment 270107

Click to expand...

That is one scrumpdillytious looking beer!

I'll be brewing my third batch of this tomorrow. I've done it with 1968, WLP013 and tomorrow with S-04. This is becoming one of my house ales.

fimpster said:

I'll be brewing my third batch of this tomorrow. I've done it with 1968, WLP013 and tomorrow with S-04. This is becoming one of my house ales.

Click to expand...

Which version was your favorite?

Well, I haven't had any of the S-04 version yet. It's kegged and carbed, but I wont tap it until my friends upcoming housewarming party next week.

Between 1968 and 013 its a tough call, the yeast definitely added it's own character and both were really good. I'd have to give the nod to 1968, I guess, because it was so good immediately. 013 took a couple of weeks in the keg to really peak, but that's probably just being picky.

I'll let you know how the S-04 compares once I've poured it.

Brewing today for the 4 or 5th time. 1335 this time around

Following up from my previous post; having used 1968, WLP013, and S-04, I'd say that either 1968 or S-04 are my favorite. I just tapped the S-04 and it is as good as I remember the 1968 being right off the bat. Although the S-04 keg did sit in the keggerator under serving pressure for a couple weeks before being tapped, so I never really tasted it green like I had with the WLP013. I am really digging on S-04 in a lot of my beers lately.

Ordered ingredients today. Added biscuit to the order. How much is recommended? I have never used this particular grain.

1469, West Yorkshire Ale, is my "house" English yeast. I would appreciate any thoughts you may wish to share about using it over S-04 or the other yeasts mentioned in this thread.

Thank you.

I used 1469 once, not in this exact recipe but something similar, and loved it. It was a bit fruity, like a light taste of ripe pear, at first, but that faded over time (it was bottle-conditioned) and it ended up with more of a nutty taste. Took a long time to clear, but that may have been process-related

I see I neglected to post my results. (I brewed this at the beginning of the year.)

Absolutely the best beer I've made! Fantastic recipe, great balance, just terrific!

It's all gone now, so I think I know what my weekend project will be.

Planning on doing this early next week, looking forward to it. Converted to a partial mash...

2kg (4.4lb) Irish Pale Malt
340gm (.75lb) Medium Crystal
113gm (.25lb) Dark Crystal
1.8kg (4lb) lme

40 gm (1.4oz) Goldings, East Kent [5.7 %] (60 min)
7 gm (.25oz) Progress [6.60 %] (20 min)
7 gm (.25oz) Goldings, East Kent [5.7 %] (20 min)
7 gm (.25oz) Progress [6.60 %] (0 min)
7 gm (.25oz) Goldings, East Kent [5.7 %] (0 min)

Progress hops are a fuggles substitute, I believe fairly similar!?
I'll be using a harvested gervin ale yeast, hopefully it's similar to the S-04. I'm fairly new to stove top brewing and my efficiency is fairly low (60% ish) so with that recipe I might struggle to break 5% abv. I'm hoping to improve efficiency this time around with a few changes, but might add 200-300 gm brown sugar if I need to... unless that's a bad idea?

Should I ease off a little on the progress hops since the AAU is a little higher (6.6 as oppose to 4% in the recipe)

I would add more malt extract if needed to up the OG. sugars will dry the beer out and give it a thinner body. Not what you're going for in an authentic tasting ESB.

Hop sub is fine. ESBs dont really have enough hop character for it to matter what you put in as long as its not like some crazy potent IPA hop

m00ps said:

I would add more malt extract if needed to up the OG. sugars will dry the beer out and give it a thinner body. Not what you're going for in an authentic tasting ESB.

Hop sub is fine. ESBs dont really have enough hop character for it to matter what you put in as long as its not like some crazy potent IPA hop

Click to expand...

I haven't ordered any more extract, maybe I should just reduce the water to be added to compensate.

For example at 23 liters 60% efficiency I should get 4.3%... 19 liters should give me 5.2% with same recipe. Just missing out on a few pints I'm fine with 4.3%, I just want to remain as faithful to the recipe as possible.

I'd go with the 4.3% to net you a few more beers. Try mashing 1-2 degrees higher to get more body to compensate

m00ps said:

I'd go with the 4.3% to net you a few more beers. Try mashing 1-2 degrees higher to get more body to compensate

Click to expand...

Then I'm sacrificing more abv. I'll play it by ear, maybe I'll get a killer efficiency.

Question about the Fuggles. I'm substituting with Progress hops which are at 6.6% but this recipe calls for Fuggles 4%. Would it be appropriate to adjust these additions to compensate for the extra aau?

i.e. 7gm (0.25oz) Fuggles (4%) = 4.1gm (0.14oz) Progress (6.6%) ?

Would it be appropriate to make such an adjustment or negligible?

Zippy, for bittering hops, I would make the adjustment. For late hops, probably not. However, I get 4.24 g. of 6.6% to equal 7 g. of 4%

rmyurick said:

I get 4.24 g

Click to expand...

True, not sure where I got 4.1g... although the difference I'm sure would be indiscernible.

Cheers.

Planning to brew this weekend, just trying to decide on a yeast strain. I've more or less married it down to 1469 or 1275 if LHBS has either of them.

Has anybody made this with either of these strains? What are your thoughts? Also, thinking of fermenting with the lid lose on top of the fermenter, after researching a little it seems that many English strains benefit from having additional oxygen during fermentation. So, I'm thinking keep the lid lose for the first 3-4 days, check on it and tighten the lid if fermentation has more or less finished. Then give it a few more days, raise the temp a few degrees for a couple days then move it to an upper 50's area for a couple weeks.

Love the 1469-has some pear-like fruity esters that really benefit a bee r like this.

I should brew this again to recover from my botched batch. Had a sour apple flavor even though I used a swamp cooler. Maybe I'll use us-05 next time.

zippy84 said:

I haven't ordered any more extract, maybe I should just reduce the water to be added to compensate.

For example at 23 liters 60% efficiency I should get 4.3%... 19 liters should give me 5.2% with same recipe. Just missing out on a few pints I'm fine with 4.3%, I just want to remain as faithful to the recipe as possible.

Click to expand...

My ESB is on, got a good efficiency compared to last time... was conscious of trying to extract every last bit of goodness from the grains because of my lack of ingredients.. got an o.g. of 1.047. (guessing around 70-75% efficiency).

I was a little nervous about pitching yeast I harvested the same day, first time using harvested yeast. Mixed the yeast cake with about a litre of water, shook and transferred to sterile mason jar. Closed and let it settle throughout the brew. After about 3 hours there were 3 distinct layers, beer on top, yeast layer, trub layer at bottom. Using a turkey baster I took 150 ml from the middle layer and pitched. Hope that was enough. Took the brew between 24-36 hours to show signs in an opaque bucket (pressure - lid bulging). Would have liked it a little quicker, but hey, it's going!

How was my yeast pitch? Find it a little difficult to objectively use the MrMalty calculator... i.e. thin slurry/thick slurry? Guesswork?

Picked up ingredients today, went with WY1275 Thames Valley, was either that or 1968 based on LHBS stock. Going to get yeast starter going tonight and brew Saturday morning.

Kind of excited for this as I can't get my hands on many ESB's besides Southern Tier's Harvest Ale, Goose Island's Harvest Ale, and Fuller's ESB. I do like Fuller's although wish it had a little more caramel/toffe malt taste. ST Harvest Ale to me is too hoppy for the style and I'm guessing uses some Cascade based on the grapefruit taste I pick up. Goose Island's Harvest Ale going by their site only uses Cascade, I don't care for many beers that are heavy on Cascade. I believe Southern Tier's is around 45 IBU's from what I've been able to find and Goose Island is around 40 IBU's. I think the low 30's will be more ideal and using UK "earthy" hops instead of American "C" hops will help tremendously with showcasing the malt with a smoother bitterness to balance it.

Brew day went well, hit 1.054 with 6 gallon going into the fermenter. I think I carried over a little more rub than usual, but still happy that I hit the OG since my last couple batches have been a little low. Only mishap was my 4 yr old son dropped the aroma (0 min) hops about 1 min before they had to go in, luckily because of my hops having slightly higher AA I had enough left of both to measure them out quickly and get them in.

After about 24 hours have a really good layer of krausen on top, at this point I have the lid on tight with a blowoff tube, really don't have much headspace since i ended up with 6 gal in the fermenter instead of 5.25 like i was expecting. Wanted to do more of an "open ferment" with the lid more or less just laid on top for the first 4-5 days, but with the lack of headspace I may want till the krasuen drops then loosen the lid for a few days to introduce a little more oxygen, the nbutton it back up. Some research suggests that a little oxidization simulates the oxygen introduced when cask are tapped. Any thoughts?

Can anybody compare this to Brooklyn's Summer Ale? That's classified as an English Pale Ale, but to me it doesn't have much malt to it and had a good amount of carbonation to it. I would expect being an English Pale that it would've had more malt presence and the amount of carbonation could've been due to the restaurant having the CO2 up to high or just carbonating all their beers the same.

Giving this a go on Saturday!

On the fence when it comes to Bitter, so I'm hoping this can change my mind

Just incase I want to scale the recipe down to 3 gallons, not sure about my calculations, I used Brewers Friend to scale it down.

Should I round off some of these numbers?

5.45 lb Maris Otter (2 Row)
0.41 lb UK Medium Crystal 60L
0.14 lb UK Extra Dark Crystal
0.82 oz East Kent Goldings (60 min) (First Wort Hop)
0.14 oz Fuggles (20 min)
0.14 oz East Kent Goldings (20 min)
0.14 oz Fuggles (0 min)
0.14 oz East Kent Goldings (0 min)

Pulled a hydro sample this morning and it's at 1.018 right now, I'm thinking of moving it to a little warmer room to see if it'll drop a few more points, OG was 1.054.

Has a surprisingly fruity, almost citrus like taste right now. Assuming this is more from the hops than yeast, since WY1278 is supposed to have low fruitiness. I'm not picking up much malt at this point, but it hasn't been quite 2 weeks in the fermenter yet so I'm sure the flavor will change in over the next week or two.

I have had this at 72 degrees for a week, checked on it today and there's half an inch of krausen and its dropped 2 gravity points. Taste is less citrusy than the last sample, more malty with some balancing hop profile. Just wondering if anybody has ever seen the krausen come back after raising the temp, maybe something with this yeast strain...