Any advice on my first all-grain premium bitters recipe?

[robfalck]

I'm brewing my first all-grain this weekend. I think everything here is reasonable but if I'm missing something or if you have any recommendations for improvement, I'm all ears.

http://hopville.com/recipe/508100/special-best-premium-bitter-recipes/house-premium-bitters

 

[LexusChris]

Looks tasty! Didn't see your planned mash temp though?

You may want to mash in the middle area ... 152-154-F?? I've used WLP007, a whitebread yeast, and it went pretty dry. It may be a different strain than 1099, but I'd leave a little bit of body via mash temp....

Just a few thoughts... good luck!
--LexusChris

 

[robfalck]

Thanks, I was planning on mashing around 150-152F. Designing Great Beers says a thick mash (1 qt/lb) and 149-152F is typical. Plus I'd like the FG to be around 1.010-1.012, which means a lower mash temperature as I understand it. If you click the process tab on the left of Hopville recipes it shows mash and boil schedules. At this time, though, it seems like it doesn't really factor in the mash temp into the FG. (No Beersmith for OS X yet)

As for the yeast, I'm still up in the air. The Wyeast whitbread is already on the low side of attenuation at 68%. Other options are London Ale or ESB Ale, which both have somewhat higher attenuation. Since I'm picking up the supplies today at the LHBS I may have to go with something else depending on what they have in stock.

 

[ghpeel]

Looks like a great start to me. Brew it up and then alter it based on your preference. Be sure to report back how it turns out!

 

[KingBrianI]

If you haven't already picked up a yeast, you may want to check out this thread I started a few days ago about british yeasts. There is a lot of good input on there from people who have been brewing english bitters. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/british-yeasts-fermentation-temps-profiles-cybi-other-thoughts-221817/

As for your recipe, I'll add a bit of input, but feel free to ignore it. After all, we all have our own taste preferences.

First, be sure you are using a british crystal malt. I see you listed 60L and most british crystals in that range are more like 55L. There is a big difference in flavor.

Second, I'd drop the biscuit malt. I know lots of people like it in their bitters, but it's not a traditional ingredient and I personally don't care for the taste. Use amber malt as a more traditional (and better tasting IMHO) substitute.

Third, the flaked corn and sugar are a bit redundant, since both are used to lighten up the body and increase fermentability. But if you are happy using both then it's really not a problem.

Good luck on the beer!

 

[robfalck]

Thanks for the help. I'm going to replace the 50/50 split of flaked maize and corn sugar with 1 full lb of flaked maize. My LHBS only had american crystal malt, so I'm using that this time, but will order a more true-to-form variety in the future.