Almost there with my ESB but need some help

[lhommedieu]

In the interests of making things very simple I did the following:

93% Marris Otter
7% Chrystal Malt 60
Goldings East Kent at 60 min/30 min/0 min for an IBU of 40

I let my mash temp get away from me for a few minutes but generally it was @149F in a direct fired ss mash tun for 60 minutes; I transferred the mash to the sparge tun and sparged appropriately. Boil was 90 minutes.

I used Wyeast London 1068 at 67F for 3 weeks, and transferred to the keg when fermentation was complete. My numbers were just a little high, but within the style.

The result was a great beer with a perfect color and clarity. However, it's a little...mild. I am missing something with the overall bitterness. I like EKG but I am wondering if I should use something more assertive for bittering (Challenger or Fuggles?), and reserve the EKG for aroma?

 

[slymaster]

Did you use chalk and gypsum in your water? They add to the bitterness perception.

 

[grifulkin]

I made almost the exact same recipe, and I also mashed a little on the low side. Mine also came out a bit on the mild side. It tastes great, but not exactly what I wanted. It doesn't help you any, just letting you know you aren't the only one.

 

[EarlyAmateurZymurgist]

Category 8 beers are one of my specialties. I would leave out the crystal. I would use a grist composed of 94% to 94.5% British pale, 5% torrified wheat for mouth feel and head retention, and 0.5% to 1% pale chocolate for color. I would also switch to a different yeast strain if you want the beer to be more hop foward. Wyeast 1968 is going to leave a malt forward beer even at 149F. I would use Wyeast 1275, 1335, or 1098. If you do not have anything against dry yeast, S-04 makes a good English-tasting bitter (it's basically a dry form of the same strain as 1098)

You did not mention your O.G. or your F.G.? What were your gravity readings? What was your fermentation temperature?

 

[lhommedieu]

Did you use chalk and gypsum in your water? They add to the bitterness perception.

Bingo! I'd forgotten that for this batch, I forgot to add a Tbsp. of gypsum to my water, which is quite soft. (There's nothing like ending up a school year to make you tired and forgetful if you're a teacher.) Chalk isn't necessary, but adding that amount of gypsum will bring my water numbers very close to what others have recommended to me on the forum.

Using just EKG was my attempt to make as simple a recipe as possible. This was a very successful beer insofar as the color and clarity, were, for the first time, what I wanted in this beer.

I'll try another batch with the gypsum addition, then use Challenger or Fuggles as the 60 minute hop addition if it still tastes a little mild. I'm still interested if anyone uses this hop combination or prefers just EKG...

EarlyAmateurZymurgist, my OG was 1.056, my FG was 1.013, my fermentation temperature was 67F. I'll post back once I've made a batch with the water treatment described above, move through the hop variables, and then try the yeast variables. I'm still partial to using Crystal 60 but may cut back a bit to go from a dark copper to a lighter copper color.

My summer schedule's also full with some attempts at decoction pilsners - but that's another animal...

 

[jfk69]

For this kind of beer, I think EKG would be awesome. I'm partial, but I like them more than Fuggles. Oh, and Maris Otter is an awesome malt. I like it a lot.

 

[EarlyAmateurZymurgist]

I no longer use crystal malt in my bitters because I do not care for the way that it ages into dark fruit. Crystal malt is almost a necessity with American 2-row because American 2-row is the Melba toast of base malts. British pale malt has more than enough flavor by itself.

 

[lhommedieu]

I'll take that into consideration in the future. When you use chocolate malt, do you add it at the end of the mash just for color?


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[EarlyAmateurZymurgist]

It all goes into the tun at the same time. I mill a mixed grist. One percent chocolate malt is barely detectable. The Brits often use black patent malt as a coloring agent, but I prefer to use pale chocolate. One-half to one percent pale chocolate produces a rich light amber color.

 

[stamandster]

Ive used a combo of fuggles and goldings before. Turned out nice even though it was just an ordinary bitter.