Looking for a great classic English or Scottish Bitter

[jcole]

Hello,

I'm researching my next brew (my 5th) and I'm looking for a partial mash recipe for a great classic English or Scottish Bitter on the lighter side (in terms of color and alcohol content). Something along the lines of a really nice session beer.

Any recommendations for a good recipe?

Thanks,
John

 

[Danek]

Hi John,

Have you tried Orfy's Hobgoblin clone? I'll see if I can find a link to the recipe...

[EDIT]Here's the extract / steep version:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/hob-goblin-extract-steep-20228/

 

[Bob]

While Orfy's Hobgoblin is a fantastic beer, it is neither English Bitter nor Scottish 60/-.

Try my Bitter recipe. Tried and true!

Maris Otter is my pale malt of choice. Use UK malts for authenticity; I like Muntons. You'll be mashing 3 pounds of grain at 152degF. If you choose a more attenuative yeast, mash higher to keep some dextrins in there; the Muntons DME ferments quite dry, and you don't want too thin a beer. I use a bit of Demerara sugar for tradition, really. Most commercial Bitters are not all-malt beers; they have a proportion of adjunct and/or kettle sugar.

Bittering hops are up to you. I like Target and Challenger. Shoot for ~30 IBU, with a significant addition of Goldings or Fuggles at flameout for flavor and aroma.

Yeast should provide some fruitiness. Nottingham is too clean in lighter beers, IMO. I like S-04 or Windsor.

Without further ado:

Sebastian's Special Ale - PM

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

08-A English Pale Ale, Standard/Ordinary Bitter

Min OG: 1.032 Max OG: 1.040
Min IBU: 25 Max IBU: 35
Min Clr: 4 Max Clr: 14 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 3.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 5.25
Anticipated OG: 1.037 Plato: 9.17
Anticipated SRM: 6.9
Anticipated IBU: 28.6
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.8 0.25 lbs. Demerara Sugar Generic 1.041 1
38.1 2.00 lbs. Maris Otter Great Britain 1.037 4
38.1 2.00 lbs. Muntons DME - Light England 1.046 5
9.5 0.50 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.033 2
9.5 0.50 lbs. Crystal 55L Great Britian 1.034 55

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 4.75 0.0 0 min.
0.75 oz. Target Whole 9.00 28.6 60 min.


Yeast
-----

DCL Yeast S-04 SafAle English Ale


Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Type: Single Step

Grain Lbs: 3.00
Water Qts: 3.90 - Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 0.98 - Before Additional Infusions

Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.30 - Before Additional Infusions

Saccharification Rest Temp : 152 Time: 60
Mash-out Rest Temp : 170 Time: 10
Sparge Temp : 178 Time: 10


Total Mash Volume Gal: 1.22 - Dough-In Infusion Only

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[balto charlie]

While Orfy's Hobgoblin is a fantastic beer, it is neither English Bitter nor Scottish 60/-.

What is it considered...OG is high so I'm guessing it is a Strong Ale??

 

[balto charlie]

What is it considered...OG is high so I'm guessing it is a Strong Ale??

On second thought it's OG is w/in the scale for a ESB AND an ESB is a strong ale. PErhaps a Brown Ale?

 

[Danek]

Actually, I have no idea what it'd be classed as. AFAIK we don't have BJCP style guidelines over here (as you might guess from some of the 3% cackwater that gets labelled 'IPA' ) so it's not a distinction that anyone really observes particularly closely. I'd consider Hobgoblin to be a classic English ale, but that's in layman's terms only - I don't know what its official designation might be.

Good beer though

 

[Bob]

Guys, look at the recipe. It says, plain as day:

Style: English Old Ale

Regardless of what the recipe says under the "style" column or what bongwater gets labelled IPA in Old Blighty, it's waaaaaaay too strong for a Bitter or 60/-!

 

[jcole]

BobNQ3X,

Thanks very much for the recipe! Looks to be in line with just what I was looking for.

I just got back from my LHBS where I picked up the following ingredients based on their inventory:

Grains
2.00 lbs. Maris Otter
2.00 lbs. Breiss Light DME
0.50 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt
0.50 lbs. Crystal 60L
(I have the Demerara sugar already)

Hops
1.00 oz. Yakima Golding leaf
0.75 oz. Fuggle

Yeast
DCL Yeast S-04 SafAle English Ale

I plan to start brewing this weekend if all goes well.

John

 

[Bob]

Good on yer! I think you'll be pleased. The Briess DME is mashed with a proportion of CaraPils already, so you'll be fine if you mash 150-152.

Be sure to post back when you're drinking this, as I've never used Yakima Goldings and want a report before I toss money at 'em.

Cheers!

Bob

 

[jcole]

Thanks Bob! If you have a moment, would you mind reviewing my brew sheet for tomorrow? I'm a new home brewer using BeerSmith and I'm still learning the software, so I'm not 100% on all of the features yet.

Here's a PDF of the brew sheet for the Sebastian's Special Ale as I've set it up based on the info you gave me: sebastians_special_ale.pdf

If you see anything wrong or missing, please let me know.

Best,
John

 

[Bob]

The only possible flaw I can see is your mash temperature; you're mashing awfully hot. Too hot, IMO. Remember, amylase activity is regulated by mash temperature, and you've got to find a happy medium.

β-amylase works best between 131-150F and α-amylase works best between 154-162F. A good (and popular) compromise is 152-3F. That should give you good vollmundigkeit (mouthfeel) as well as a good shot of fermentables.

Rules of thumb:

For a more fully attenuated beer, mash a bit lower than 153F, to favor the β-amylase enzyme. If you want to make a somewhat sweeter, fuller-bodied, less-fully attenuated beer, mash a bit higher than 153F. β-amylase will be less active, and α-amylase activity will be prominent.

You dig?

 

[jcole]

Yes, I'm starting to get it. I really appreciate the input. I'm thinking at a mash temp of about 152 will probably be more in line with what I am looking for.

Is 45 min. appropriate for a mash time?

Also, what do you think about the step of sparging with 3.75 gallons of 168 degree water?

 

[jcole]

I've also been considering 'Countertop Partial Mashing'. Would this be an appropriate method for this recipe or overkill?

 

[Bob]

Mashing for 45 minutes ought to be sufficient, but I'd leave it for a full hour just to be sure.

The article referenced is excellent. That's exactly the approach I take - collect and boil three gallons from the partial mash, add extract at flameout, chill. Cast, top off in the fermenter, pitch.

Easy-peasy!

Bob

 

[DaleJ]

Check out the Scottish 70/ in my recipe drop down.

Just brewed another 5g this morning.
It's always a fan favorite...and quick turn around, especially if you keg.

 

[Mutilated1]

Try this:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f64/ordinary-bitter-ag-46817/

Its a great a session beer. I make mine with less hops, but I'm sure its good as its written in the recipe. Definitely a good session beer, I have no problem going through 5-6 pints while watching football or playing cards.

 

[jcole]

Thanks Bob. I'd like to have a go at the Countertop Partial Mashing method but reading the article, I'm still not sure of the appropriate water amounts and mash times involved in your recipe. The numbers in the article seem to be written for 4 lbs. of grain, where the recipe calls for 3 lbs. of grain (malt extract aside).

I'm getting ready to head out and get a 3 gallon cooler, but may just do the simple method if I can sort out the Countertop Partial Method.

Thanks for all of the help so far... I hope I'm not pushing it with the follow up questions.

Thanks to everyone else for the recipe recommendations. I look forward to trying some of those next.

 

[Bob]

No worries with questions. That's why I haunt this place.

The appropriate water can be scaled. That's why most teaching texts - like How to Brew - tell you to configure your mash liquor in a quartsounds ratio. I usually do 1.25 quarts per pound of grain. From there, you have to figure out how much liquor is absorbed by the grist. A good place to start is 0.13 gallons per pound of grain. Once you know that, you can figure out how much sparge liquor you'll need to collect 3 gallons of wort in the kettle. Thus:

1.25 X 3 = 3.75 quarts of strike liquor - or 0.94 gallons.

0.13 x 3 = 0.39 gallons absorbed by the grist.

0.94 - 0.39 = 0.55 gallons in the kettle from the first drain. You'll probably be able to round that off to a half-gallon. That means you need to sparge with 2.5 gallons of sparge liquor to collect 3 gallons of wort in the kettle. I'd split that into two seperate batches of 5 quarts each to increase extraction efficiency.

See how easy it is?

Bob

 

[jcole]

Bob,

Thanks for the continued help. I'm slowing getting there. Still trying to get the big picture and fill in all of the details...

So, here's what I did today during the brew session.

1. Heated 5 qts. of water to 163 °F. Put the 3 lbs. of crushed grains into a nylon steeping bag.

2. Once the water was heated, poured it into the cooler, then lowered the grain bag into the hot water. Put lid on cooler and set timer for 45 min.

3. While the grains were mashing, began heating 5 quarts of sparge water to 180–190 °F in a large kitchen pot. In addition, began heating 2 quarts of water to a boil in a brewpot.

4. After the mash time was completed, opened the lid on the cooler. Took a pitcher and held it below the cooler’s spigot and ran off about a couple pints of wort. Poured this wort carefully back into the cooler, on top of the grain bag. Repeated once more.

5. Next, opened the spigot and collected all the wort that runs off. Poured this wort immediately into the 2 quarts of boiling water in your brewpot (to stop any enzymatic activity and “fix” the fermentability of that wort). Continued heating this wort in my kettle while I collected the second wort. Brought to a boil, then adjusted the heat to produce a moderate boil.

6. Poured 2.5 quarts of 180 F sparge water into cooler and then let the mash sit (with the cover on) for about 5 minutes. Next, recirculated and drained the mash twice as before. Put this wort into the boiling pot with the other wort.

7. Repeated above procedure with remaining 2.5 quarts of 180 F sparge water. Added this wort to boiling pot.

8. Added Demerara sugar, DME, bittering hops. Brought back to a boil for 60 min.

9. Turned off flame. Added aroma hops.

I guess everything went ok... My measured OG after the boil seemed a bit low at around 1.025... However, I'm not sure my hydrometer is calibrated right as all of my measurements on previous brews seem to be too low... but the beer seems to be coming out fine.

Last time I tried to calibrate it, I think it showed about .010 off or somewhere around there. I'm may try a different one going forward.

So.... what do you think? Did I miss anything? Any problems that you can see from the above steps?

Thanks again for all of the help. Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.

John

 

[Bob]

I don't think you missed much at all. Good work!

Here's a few pieces of advice.

Instead of making a grain bag, tying it shut, and dunking it like a teabag in the mash liquor, try using the bag like a liner for the mashtun. You should really stir the mash to prevent clumping and to ensure the entire mash is properly wetted. If the grain is in a big ball in a bag, chances are you lost some sugar from dry spots. Stirring also equalizes the temperature in the mash.

Boil the grain wort with the hops, and don't add the dried extract until the end of the boil. Keeps the color lighter and increases hops utilization.

I can't think of anything else to add, other than to read DeathBrewer's Partial Mash thread and synthesize it with the BYO procedure.

Again, good work! No matter what, it's going to make beer!

Cheers!

Bob

 

[jcole]

Thanks for the advice Bob.

How long would you expect to see active fermentation in terms of gas bubbles on this recipe? I was surprised to see some activity several hours later that evening after I pitched the yeast into the primary fermenter. My previous batches didn't start bubbling until the next day.

Now, its still bubbling, but starting to slow down. Seems a like a lot of activity relatively quick, and I'm guessing that it might go faster than usual.

This was also my first time to use dry yeast.

John

 

[Bob]

You'll often observe faster starts with dry yeast. That's because a fresh packet of dry yeast has far more active cells than a fresh pack or vial of liquid yeast.

That's the big Catch-22 with homebrew yeast: Dry yeast is simpler to pitch because no starters necessary to achieve rapid onset and healthy fermentation, but there are far fewer varieties of them. In other words, you can't really do a Belgian-style Flemish Red Ale with dry yeast; you need Wyeast's Roselare blend or something equivalent.

But you can brew English and American styles almost exclusively with dry yeast. I find I prefer dry yeast, just for ease of handling; I also have the fortunate circumstance of rarely brewing styles which require specialized yeasts.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[jcole]

Cool. Thanks for the info!