Extract ESB Reciple - Trying to Brew to Style

[baldben]

I wrote this simple ESB recipe as an attempt at brewing to style. It's not to compete but just to challenge and educate myself. It is only a 3.25 gallon batch as I'm trying to get higher turnover. Smaller batches allows me to afford to brew more. I'll list the ingredients and the specs and would appreciate any feedback you might have or any experiences you've had brewing an ESB. Thoughts on different specialty grains and yeast would be interesting. Thanks.

Small Batch ESB - 3.25 gallons

8 ounces caramel 40l (Briess)
5 ounces caramel 50-60 (Simpson's)
4 pounds Light DME (Munton & Fison)
2 ounces East Kent Goldings (UK)
1000 milliliter starter of Wyeast 1275 - Thames Valley Ale

Steep the specialty grains at 155 for 30 minutes.
Bring to a boil and Stir in 2 pounds light DME.
Add 1 ounce East Kent Goldings and boil for 60 minutes. (t-60)
At t-15 add .5 ounce East Kent Goldings.
At flameout add .5 ounce East Kent Goldings and stir in 2 pounds light DME.

The specs according to BeerSmith:
OG 1.056
IBUs 39.6
SRM 10.9
ABV 5.8%

 

[baldben]

Well, I'm gonna assume by the lack of replies that there's at least nothing off base here. Still interested in hearing about other yeasts. Any experiences with 1968?

 

[commonsenseman]

Looks fine to me. No experience with either of those yeasts, I use S-04.

 

[ajf]

That recipe looked terrible until I noticed it was a 3.25g batch. Then it looked a lot better.
Personally, I'd drop the crystal 40. (5 oz Crisp crystal shout be plenty.)
You may also want to increase the bittering hop addition to 1.5 oz. I ran the recipe through Promash using Tinseth, and came up with an OG of 1.063, 10.7 SRM, and 31.9 IBUs
Losing the 40 L crystal and adding an extra 0.5 oz EKG gave me OG of 1.059, SRM of 7.9 and 45.9 IBUs (using EKG at 4.75 AA). That just about exactly matches what I do when I make an ESB.
The 1275 should work OK, but I much prefer the 1968. (It is supposed to be the Fullers strain).

-a.

 

[baldben]

I appreciate the input guys. Think I will drop the Crystal 40. As for the hop addition, I'm using BeerSmith to calculate it. The higher IBU I get is due to the late addition of half of the extract. If I move it all to the front end it drops to 29.1. I'm really not sure how much I trust that though as I haven't heard any firm science on boil gravity and hop utilization.

 

[baldben]

ajf

Forgot about the yeast. I was originally planning on using 1968 and am wavering back on forth. Do you rouse with this yeast and what temperature(s) do you use?

 

[ajf]

I'm sorry, but I really can't help you.
Today my wife has been diagnosed as having an advanced stage of cancer, and has little chance of surviving.
It's going to take me a while to come to terms with this.

-a.

 

[baldben]

So sorry to hear that man. My thoughts are with her and you.