British Bitter Crystal Malt help

[MeanGreen]

Was hoping for a few thoughts on mash temp with my grain bill and yeast choice. This is based on Goose Island HOnkers. Many threads out there including one from the brewers say 20% Crystal but I've toned it down.

81% Us 2 Row
10% Crystal 55 UK
2.5% Crystal 37 Uk
5% Torrified Wheat
1% Roasted Barley

Wyeast 1968 and Wyeast 1028 split batch

I have been thinking 152 for this mash am I too high with the crystal and yeast choices?

I want this to remain fairly full bodied but not overly sweet.

Thanks in advance

 

[GuldTuborg]

20% crystal? Who suggests that? I've had a fair amount of Honker's Ale in my time, and it's hardly a super sweet or over-crystalized beer. Yeah, the whisper of roasted barley dries it out a bit in taste, but it's still not a big beer. I might start at around 10%, even a bit less than you have now, and be prepared to tone it down on subsequent brewings. I think the overall split of a light and medium crystal, as you have it, is about right. Then again, it's been a few months since I've had one, so I could be off base.

 

[MeanGreen]

I know 20% is insanely high for some crystal. Link below to one of a few places that has this same reference

http://goo.gl/R3FSx

My guess is a very low mash temp to keep the sweetness down

 

[GuldTuborg]

URL="http://goo.gl/R3FSx"]http://goo.gl/R3FSx[/URL]

Well, the poster does claim to have some solid info on the grainbill, so who knows? Maybe that is correct. I balked at a 20% crystal bill, but I can't say I've ever tried it. Maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about. Granted, smaller beers often need a bit more crystal or something like that to keep some semblance of body (along with higher mash temps), but this isn't a very small beer; it's more on the light side of medium.