Working on a English Pale/Strong Bitter Ale...

I am working on my next recipe, trying for the 04b/c style... Does Maris Otter work well as a steeping grain? I have been using Simpsons Caramalt. Also, I am changing up my Fuggle/EKG hops to all EKG - am I using enough? Lastly, should I add .25 or .125 of a chocolate/brown/black malt?

TastyBrew.com shows my recipe might work out to be (5 gal batch):


OG 1.055
FG 1.014
IBU 37
SRM 8
ABV 5.3

Estimated OG / Brew Time:
1.055 / 6 Weeks
1-2 primary, 2-4 secondary
3 weeks btl cond

SPECIALTY GRAIN: 1 lb Maris Otter Pale (steeped for 20 min at 150 F)

FERMENTABLES:
3 lbs Amber malt syrup (60 min)
1 lb Golden Light DME (60 min)
3 lbs Amber malt syrup (30 min)

HOPS: 1 oz Kent Goldings (60 min)
1 oz Kent Goldings (30 min)
1 oz Kent Goldings (5 min)

YEAST: WYEAST 1335 BRITISH ALE II (my temp range is about 72-73 F, I have been using 1098 British Ale I in my previous batches)


I haven't found a free recipe calculator that allows for specifing late malt additions...

Marris Otter must be mashed, and is not a steeping grain.

I wouldn't steep the maris otter. If you are going for maltiness, maybe .5 lb victory malt and .5 lb of crystal 80. Adding that bit of dark malt would just color the beer a bit. Probably not necessary with the amber malt syrups; especially if you steep crystal 80.

I've forgotten pretty much everything I knew about extract brewing, but if you bought the Maris Otter especially for this brew, and it would get wasted if you don't use it now, then I would use it. You could crack the grains with a rolling pin or a bottle. If you have the ability to keep water at 150-158F for about 30-45 minutes, then you can mash/steep it in a bag with a very fine mesh. You would need to be careful to keep any major particles out of the finished water. You could do this separately from the rest of the brew before you do the main brew. You would add this result to the boil as if it were a water addition.

You specified a strong bitter, and mashing the MO would help that along.

MO is a very good base malt for the style, and bitter benefits from it.