Yeah, I want to try that black treacle stuff too. I'll look for it at amazon.
I made a English blend of something yesterday. I don't know what you call it, but I have hopes. I just thought it would be a good summer session ale.
4.5 lbs MO
3 lbs light wheat
1 lb flaked wheat
8 oz honey malt
1 oz fuggles @ 60 min
.5 oz fuggles @ 20 and 2 min
mashed at 154F, 60 min boil.
Pitched a packet of 04 and it's bubbling away down in the 63F cellar. The heat of fermentation has bumped up the fermenter temp to 68F. I usually use 1469, but I didn't think ahead to make a starter. I'm looking forward to kegging this one up.
Look at lower OG and including 2lb of invert sugar. You should just about squeeze 1080 or so!
This is my latest ESB. It needs a little something; some Vienna malt, or light crystal, I dunno. (any suggestions?) Or maybe I just mashed at too low a temperature -- it's a little thinner that I was shooting for but still tastes pretty good. This is a 4 gallon recipe:
7 pounds American pale ale malt
4 ounces Special B
1 oz Bramling Cross (6.5 AA) @ 60 minutes
1 oz Bramling Cross @ 5 minutes
S-04 yeast
RO water plus 1/2 tsp gypsum and 1/2 tsp calcium chloride
Try subbing Maris Otter for the American 2 Row. Fawcett, Simpsons or Crisp - doesn't matter. All are a little "toothier" and bring a little more flavor/color/mouth-feel to the party + are more authentic to British beers in general. The addition of some British medium crystal always goes well (IMO) with any bitters recipe. A few ounces of torrified wheat will improve head retention. If it still isn't what you're looking for and want a little more "chewiness" try adding 4-6 oz. of Maltodextrine with 20 min. left in the boil.
I love the addition of the Bramling Cross at the end (5 min) but I would prefer to use something like Target, Challenger, Fuggles or E. Kent Goldings for the bittering addition. (Got to check the IBUs on BeerSmith for amounts.) You should get all the nice ESB flavors but with a little less spiciness.
Thanks. This isn't plain 2-row, it's the slightly darker "pale ale" malt, but I agree a British malt would be better in a British beer. I bought a 50 lb bag of pale ale malt and I'm using it as a base malt in everything until I use it up.
I should have used a half a pound of medium crystal malt instead of 4 oz of very dark Special B. And maybe a handful of flaked barley?
I think I have 4 oz of Fuggles, I'll use that next time for the bittering (not the whole 4 oz)
I messed around with your recipe and found it came up short of the ESB guidelines in several points. So with a few tweaks hit on something for you to consider:
8.5 lb. Pale Ale Malt
1.0 lb. Victory Malt
12 oz. British Medium Crystal (OK to sub American C40)
3 oz. Special B Malt
60 min. mash @ 154
60 min. boil
2 oz. Fuggles @ 60 min.
1 oz. Bramling Cross @ 5 min.
S-04 Yeast
Assuming 70% efficiency you should end up with an ESB something like this:
OG 1.044
FG 1.011
ABV 4.3%
IBU 31.1
Color (SRM) 11.2
All these numbers fall within BJCP guidelines for an ESB. At 11.2 SRM it will be a fairly light colored ESB which is just fine for the style. But if you'd like it a little darker you can always add an ounce of chocolate malt or roasted barley.
I'm thinking you're going to get a fairly complex flavor profile with the biscuit notes from the Victory, a little raisin from the Special B and some spiciness from the Bramling Cross. Sounds good enough I may make a batch myself!
Cheers!
Thanks. What size is that recipe? (looks like about 5.5 gallons; mine was 4) Where was I outside the guidelines? I don't doubt that it was, I'm just trying to learn something.
OK, that one was my bad. I missed the 4 gal batch size. Your recipe would be just right. Calculations in the one I sent was based of 5.5 gal.
Sorry for the confusion.
Cheers!
I think my biggest problem is I've been drinking it too cold for the style. I opened a 750ml bottle tonight. The second pour, after the bottle had been sitting out for a half an hour, was much more flavorful.
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