Feedback on my best bitter recipe?

Still on the quest to create a house ale that I love so much that I can brew it constantly and that is low alcohol enough that it'll finish fairly quick. This is the fourth incantation of this beer - have been adjusting the parts out of, or into, it that I did/didn't like. Interested in some feedback on my recipe.

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil: 60 min

Ingredients

8.50 lb ESB Malt (UK Pale Malt) 85.00 % (The closest to MO that I can get)
0.75 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) 7.50 %
0.50 lb 60 deg. L (60.0 SRM) 5.00 %
0.25 lb Wheat Malt (2.0 SRM) 2.50 %

0.50 oz Whole - Magnum [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 27.5 IBU
0.50 oz Whole - Cascade [7.00 %] (10 min) Hops 2.6 IBU
0.75 oz Whole - Goldings [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
0.50 oz Whole - Cascade [7.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)
0.75 oz Whole - Goldings [4.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)
0.25 oz Whole - Cascade [7.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)
0.25 oz Whole - Goldings [4.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)

1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc

London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.049 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.45 %
Bitterness: 32.5 IBU
Est Color: 10.2 SRM

What would you keep/change? All opinions sought and valued.

Thanks, lads and lassies; As always!.

What was lacking in the previous three batches? What did you change? It is hard to give many suggestions on a recipe without knowing exactly what someone is aiming for. That said, personally I would reduce/eliminate the Victory malt, I think a good English basemalt gives enough toastiness.

Oldsock,

Yah, good point.

#1 - Started of with a ESB malt/Goldings SMaSH; 60,10,0 hop additions. Boring.

#2 - Added Crystal 60. Same hop schedule. Better, but still lacking.

#3 - Added Victory. Liked malt, but hops too pronounced (Northern Brewer @ 60, Goldings at 10 and 0 + dry hop)

Lacking: Malt/hop balance.

Didn't like: The bitterness was a bit too pronounced; not wild on the strong grassiness of the hop flavour (too much Goldings?).

New for #4: Wheat malt; added more Victory as I really liked it in an Irish Red I made. Changed to Goldings focused-Cascade blend as I like qualities of both, but not sure that I like Goldings flavour hops alone. Not looking for strong Cascade flavour in this case.

Mashed all at 152F for 90 mins, 60 min boil, Wyeast 1275 @ steady 68F for all.

Hope this helps. Sorry if it sounds all scrambled. Thanks a lot

hmmm, it looks yummy. I am a huge fan of MO. Heck, wouldn't a MO and EKG smash be a great brew to have as your house ale, especially if you are going for an authentic brittish flavor?

5 gallon batch

10.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 100.00 %
1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 27.2 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (15 min) Hops 4.5 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (5 min) Hops 1.8 IBU



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.053 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 FG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.13 %
Bitterness: 33.5 IBU
Est Color: 5.1 SRM


If you wanted a little more color or some malty sweetness I think .50 pound of crystal 40 or 60 would be good. I think the MO EKG smash is a great idea though.

I'd say keep your recipe the same grain bill but change the hops. 1 oz EKG @ 60min and .5 oz Fuggles @ 5 min

English yeast to compliment the english hops.

Oops. Double post.

As he stated, he already did a single malt single hop with a UK base malt and goldings.

Personally I think its a good recipe, but I would swap the magnum for either galena, northern brewer, or nugget. Just adjust according to the AAs. Magnum is really more of a German hop, which doesn't necessarily mean you can't use it, but the varieties I listed are a bit more British. Remember also that you'll probably only want about half of your total bittering coming from your early additions, as a rule of thumb about balance.

Also, try oats or torrified wheat to really enhance the biscuity notes from victory. Regular wheat is good too, just some other ideas.

The grain bill looks good for a best bitter.

The hops look rather unusual to me (but don't let that dissuade you).
I would think that in the late and dry hops additions, the Cascades would totally overpower the Goldings, and that the hop flavor and aroma would be overdone.
For my best bitters, I like about 1 oz 10 - 12% AA at 60 minutes, 1 oz Fuggles (or EKG) at 10 minutes, and 1 oz EKG at 0 minutes, and no dry hopping.
But that's what I like. No reason why you should like the same.

-a.