British Bitter - Mash Temperature

[PittsburghBrewer]

I'm planning a British bitter for my first AG batch, and I'm trying to decide on the mash temperature. In a article in BYO on ordinary bitter, Jamil wrote:

The lower the starting gravity of your bitter, the higher your mash temperature should be.... A mash temperature around 152–154 °F (67–68 °C) creates wort with the proper balance between long chain, non-fermentable sugars and simpler fermentable sugars.​

In the recipe that comes with the article, Jamil recommends 152. A post on the Northern Brewer Blog suggests 154, and another blog recommends 156 (as well as a thick mash).

Based on this, I would like to know:

1. At what temperature do you mash your ordinary bitters?
2. Would you mash an ESB at a different temperature than an ordinary bitter (in line with Jamil's suggestion to increase temperature as OG decreases)?

 

[kristiismean]

the last one I did was at 151 for what it's worth (151.5) and it turned out proper.

by the above reads, i would go with 152...to 154

 

[KeninMN]

I did mine at 153. I agree with kristiismean...

 

[BigEd]

Based on this, I would like to know:

1. At what temperature do you mash your ordinary bitters?
2. Would you mash an ESB at a different temperature than an ordinary bitter (in line with Jamil's suggestion to increase temperature as OG decreases)?

152F is just fine. That's my default temp for the style. Frankly anything from 150-155F is still going to be good and I guarantee anyone outside of your most geeky beer friends won't notice and won't care.

Re ESB, it think it would depend on the recipe. For the most part ESB recipes seem to have a slightly higher crystal malt percentage than the typical ordinary bitter. I stay with 152F for mine as I don't want to compound the increased dextrins of the specialty malt.

 

[JKaranka]

I head to around 150-152F. I do over and under shoot it slightly, but that's a good range to aim for. I do brew more bitters in the 1.040s than in the 1.030s, though.

 

[dmtaylor]

Mash temperature honestly doesn't matter as much as people think. What yeast are you using? That makes the hugest difference in attenuation. Mash temp, who cares.

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

I completely agree! Mash at 152-153 and experiment with yeast and fermentation temp profile until you find what you like. The yeast and temp profile are much bigger knobs then mash temp and mash thickness as long as your between (150-155 F and 1 to 2 qts per pound)

Mash temperature honestly doesn't matter as much as people think. What yeast are you using? That makes the hugest difference in attenuation. Mash temp, who cares.

 

[MaryB]

I aim for 154, but that means 152-156 depending on garage temps, grain temps(was it in my 40 degree garage all night...). 154 seems to be the sweet spot for my particular recipe...

 

[MrFeltimo]

I've had great luck mashing at 148, I also let it sit for around 75 minutes.
My recipe uses a touch of crystal malt of various degrees so I'm allowing for the low attenuation of these malts? Aim for a dryer finish and ferment on the lower side of temperature for the yeast strain.

 

[mongoose33]

You're going to do fine at any of these temps. I personally wouldn't go higher than 155, but I have a specific grain bill in mind when I say that, and I don't know what yours will be. But that's a personal taste thing, higher will still produce beer.

I have an ESB I brew and the next time I do it I'm going to try to mash at about 149 or so, see if I can dry out the finish a bit.

 

[jwalk4]

In Gordon Strong's Modern Homebrew Recipes, he has an ordinary bitter that has an og of 1034, and mashed at 149F with a mash out.

Edit: I'm going to brew it this weekend, and serve it at the end of the month.

 

[FlyDoctor]

I think it's more complex than all of this. It also depends on how ferments your wort will be based on recipe. More grains that produce less fermentables (more crystals) the lower I mash. Also, some British yeasts are less attenuative - so I will mash lower with some depending on what I'm going for. If it's a simple recipe without too much crystal and a higher attenuating yeast- yeah - I've done 156 and been spot on - producing a 3.9 beer most think is 5%