British Yeasts, Fermentation Temps and Profiles, CYBI, Other Thoughts...

[Leviathan]

I'd keep a close eye on those bottles. Everytime I have tried to bottle with the Fullers strain it has restarted fermenting and produced gushers with a very bad taste. Ordinarily you'd think that was infection but it's an issue others find repeatedly with this yeast. I keg now and have had no issues with it, but I also learned to always mash low too.

Mine went from 1.060 to 1.014 so I would assume fermentation was mostly complete. No diacetyl either and I used a modest amount of priming sugar (55g dextrose for about 4.6 gallons). I haven't had any gushers and the light carbonation is perfect for the style. It has taken on a slight tartness though, almost cidery as others have described. I'm still enjoying it as the off flavors are far from overwhelming but I would like to avoid this in the future.

My experience is that the flavor becomes more bland as the yeast unfortunately continue to 'clean up' many flavors that are desirable in an english style beer. What you are describing sounds like something else. What was the recipe and what is the 'strange character?'

Recipe is here: http://brewtoad.com/recipes/english-bitter-51. As I said above, after 3 weeks in bottles, it has taken on a slight tartness and sort of cidery flavor. It still retains an minerally/fruity english character though.

 

[progmac]

Recipe is here: http://brewtoad.com/recipes/english-bitter-51. As I said above, after 3 weeks in bottles, it has taken on a slight tartness and sort of cidery flavor. It still retains an minerally/fruity english character though.

that sounds more like acetaldehyde from a wild yeast or acetobacter to me.

 

[Beernip]

Does the change in bottle conditioning apply to all beers or just those of lighter color? I ask because I recently made an ESB with WLP002 that tasted perfect at bottling but upon 3 weeks aging, it seems to have developed a strange character to it. It is slight but present. Still a good beer however. I was wondering if this were to occur in a bottle conditioned stout/porter/imperial stout. Maybe the strong, dark flavors will mask any change during bottle conditioning? I've been thinking of brewing an imperial stout with this yeast.

Make sure to keep the bottles around 63-65 and let it carb slowly. If you bring it up in to the 70's I've had some issues like that. Switched to kegging since though so has been awhile.

 

[Leviathan]

Reading through this thread made me think WLP002 could be at fault but I think you may be right with acetaldehyde. I wonder how it could have happened. Maybe 2 weeks primary then straight to bottles was too short for a 1.060 beer. HMMM. Oh well, still good beer! Hopefully it doesn't get worse!

 

[progmac]

Reading through this thread made me think WLP002 could be at fault but I think you may be right with acetaldehyde. I wonder how it could have happened. Maybe 2 weeks primary then straight to bottles was too short for a 1.060 beer. HMMM. Oh well, still good beer! Hopefully it doesn't get worse!

Could also be an infection, especially if it has a slight vinegar/cider twinge. If it was from yeast stress, then maybe it will get better as it bottle conditions.

 

[jwalker1140]

Mine went from 1.060 to 1.014 so I would assume fermentation was mostly complete. No diacetyl either and I used a modest amount of priming sugar (55g dextrose for about 4.6 gallons). I haven't had any gushers and the light carbonation is perfect for the style. It has taken on a slight tartness though, almost cidery as others have described. I'm still enjoying it as the off flavors are far from overwhelming but I would like to avoid this in the future.

I had a similar experience last summer when I brewed KingBrianI's Common Room ESB with 1968. It tasted great as it went into my bottling bucket. Like, my-best-beer-ever sort of great. Three weeks later, it was perfectly carbed but the round malt character was mostly gone and it had taken on the same slightly tart, cidery, minerally flavor Leviathan describes. Those flavors did soften somewhat with time, but it never became the same beer it was when I bottled.

That was the last straw for me, and I finally purchased a keg setup about a month ago. I plan to give it this yeast another try in a couple weeks.

 

[Falcon3]

I had a similar experience last summer when I brewed KingBrianI's Common Room ESB with 1968. It tasted great as it went into my bottling bucket. Like, my-best-beer-ever sort of great. Three weeks later, it was perfectly carbed but the round malt character was mostly gone and it had taken on the same slightly tart, cidery, minerally flavor Leviathan describes. Those flavors did soften somewhat with time, but it never became the same beer it was when I bottled.

I just finished an english IPA with 1968 and got the same minerally/astringent taste as is described in the last few- I can almost guarantee no infection, and I pitched plenty of healthy yeast. We'll see how it goes as it ages, but definitely not what I was going for.

My OB with 1098 went spectacularly though- I realize this yeast has a less than stellar reputation compared to some other English strains, but it tastes pretty authentic to me, with the Fullers temp regimen, and getting it off the yeast as soon as it hit FG.

 

[progmac]

I just finished an english IPA with 1968 and got the same minerally/astringent taste as is described in the last few- I can almost guarantee no infection, and I pitched plenty of healthy yeast. We'll see how it goes as it ages, but definitely not what I was going for.

My OB with 1098 went spectacularly though- I realize this yeast has a less than stellar reputation compared to some other English strains, but it tastes pretty authentic to me, with the Fullers temp regimen, and getting it off the yeast as soon as it hit FG.

Interesting corroboration. I'm curious if others have had this experience. I'm going to have to avoid bottling with 1968.

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

I just made a bitter with White Labs Yorkshire square yeast and I didn't control the temp to the degree that I should have (lager in the ferm chamber...) and what I ended up with was a strange Belgian tasting ale. It turned out to be a good beer but not a special bitter like I wanted! This weekend I will read through this post to research temps.

 

[gbx]

Has anyone used Wyeast 1203-PC Burton IPA Blend yet? Any thoughts? Whats in the blend?

 

[bierhaus15]

As per the WY1203-PC, I would love to get a hold of the old, mixed strain Bass yeast before they cleaned it up - which supposedly still exists in the UK - but alas I would bet this is just a blend of their regular English yeasts... maybe 1275 and 1098.

 

[rockfish42]

It might be worth asking Mike Dawson formerly of Northern Brewer, now of Wyeast, about it. He just posted about this thread on his blog
http://thebeerengineblog.com/2014/03/04/reader-question-british-ale-fermentation-techniques/

 

[Leviathan]

I want to give an update on my WLP002 ESB I mentioned a page or so back. I have been drinking this for 5 or so weeks now and it is a fantastic beer that is true to the style. Delicious Englishy yeasty character, strong malt presence, adequate carbonation and perfect clarity. Don't be afraid of bottle conditioning with this yeast. It definitely tastes a bit different than it did at bottling time but I think the scare stories of bottle conditioned WLP002 beers got to my head. It did take a few weeks to reach its prime however. The 6.2%ABV could be a factor in this as well as drinking it at warmer temperatures. I don't keep the beer in my fridge, but rather in my basement which hovers around 50 degrees.

That all being said, I attribute my previous post and the problems I described to: drinking at cold temperatures, not allowing enough age, and subconsciously expecting off flavors from reading posts detailing this.

 

[AnchorBock]

I've got a lot of experience with WLP002 and English ales and have always chickened out when trying to Fullers fermentation schedule. I am trying it right now and trying to clarify a few things. I'm not concerned with the beer having a short duration of contact with the yeast - I've done some very short fermentations with very good results with WLP002 with no off flavors. Like others, though, I've noticed the cidery characteristics with bottling and I've never gotten that (for lack of a better phrase) English malt character so many others in this thread are aiming for.

Brewing Fullers ESB clone with 002:
1.061 OG - targeting 1.013-14 FG
- Pitched healthy active yeast and oxygenated at 63F
- After 12 hours (from pitch) raised to 68F (basement too cold to free rise)
- After 36 hours (from pitch) sample is 1.038, dropped to 63F over the course of 3 hours

Now next steps:
- According to the podcast I would rapidly chill at approximately 1/5th OG - which would be about 1.022, drop the yeast (in my case transfer from fermenting keg to serving keg). I'd then let it mature at cellar temps for about 2 weeks. At what point would the beer finish fermenting down to 1.013-14? I assume in their case that happens in the cask.

My thought was to:
- Let it finish down to about 1.016 - diacetyl test (assume passing from here on out)
- Crash cool below 40
- After around 24 hours at 40 transfer to keg
- Allow keg to warm to mid 50's where the remaining yeast should finish down to 1.013-14 while carbonating beer.
- After 2 weeks fine beer and serve at cellar temp (which is ambient basement temp right now)

With my outlined thoughts the beer has less contact with the main yeast pitch and isn't able to clean up at higher temps (more like 50-55F) and also avoids adding priming sugar to restart fermentation, rather a delayed finish. This seems like enough to trap the targeted malt profile based on other things I've seen in this thread, but wanted to confirm my interpretation.

 

[AnchorBock]

I've got a lot of experience with WLP002 and English ales and have always chickened out when trying to Fullers fermentation schedule. I am trying it right now and trying to clarify a few things. I'm not concerned with the beer having a short duration of contact with the yeast - I've done some very short fermentations with very good results with WLP002 with no off flavors. Like others, though, I've noticed the cidery characteristics with bottling and I've never gotten that (for lack of a better phrase) English malt character so many others in this thread are aiming for.

Brewing Fullers ESB clone with 002:
1.061 OG - targeting 1.013-14 FG
- Pitched healthy active yeast and oxygenated at 63F
- After 12 hours (from pitch) raised to 68F (basement too cold to free rise)
- After 36 hours (from pitch) sample is 1.038, dropped to 63F over the course of 3 hours

Now next steps:
- According to the podcast I would rapidly chill at approximately 1/5th OG - which would be about 1.022, drop the yeast (in my case transfer from fermenting keg to serving keg). I'd then let it mature at cellar temps for about 2 weeks. At what point would the beer finish fermenting down to 1.013-14? I assume in their case that happens in the cask.

My thought was to:
- Let it finish down to about 1.016 - diacetyl test (assume passing from here on out)
- Crash cool below 40
- After around 24 hours at 40 transfer to keg
- Allow keg to warm to mid 50's where the remaining yeast should finish down to 1.013-14 while carbonating beer.
- After 2 weeks fine beer and serve at cellar temp (which is ambient basement temp right now)

With my outlined thoughts the beer has less contact with the main yeast pitch and isn't able to clean up at higher temps (more like 50-55F) and also avoids adding priming sugar to restart fermentation, rather a delayed finish. This seems like enough to trap the targeted malt profile based on other things I've seen in this thread, but wanted to confirm my interpretation.

Hate to quote my own post, but I listened to the CYBI episodes again for the Fullers beers and on the 1845 episode in the interview with the brewer the process at the end is explained a bit better. From what I understood they start chilling at quarter to fifth OG and time the chilling down (degree per hour) to 6C to coincide with the beer hitting 6C and Target FG at the same time. He stated, "the faster you chill, the closer you want to be to your PG (final gravity)." He also states that it will ferment all the way down through chilling.

I'll try to work this into my process as much as I can. I can chill pretty fast so I'll probably start chilling if I can catch the beer around 1.018. I'll post my results in a few weeks.

 

[Falcon3]

Another data point in the search for the classic English Ale-
I brewed a pretty simple recipe (MO, C120, Munich) and used Wy 1275. My ferm chamber was full, so I used a water bath- ferm temp was 68 for 2 days, then slowly dropped to 64 over the course of a few days. Wy1275 threw so much diacetyl it was like drinking movie theater butter! It took warming back up to 72, stirring the crap out of it, and then krausening my keg to finally get rid of it! Finished beer is pretty plain with not much English character- Wy1275 also takes forever to floc- so I may leave this one off my next list of English yeasts to use.

 

[BreezyBrew]

I just finished an english IPA with 1968 and got the same minerally/astringent taste as is described in the last few- I can almost guarantee no infection, and I pitched plenty of healthy yeast. We'll see how it goes as it ages, but definitely not what I was going for.

My OB with 1098 went spectacularly though- I realize this yeast has a less than stellar reputation compared to some other English strains, but it tastes pretty authentic to me, with the Fullers temp regimen, and getting it off the yeast as soon as it hit FG.

Same here when I made an ESB with 1968. Weird cidery taste after about 4 weeks in the keg.

 

[winvarin]

What temp did you ferment? I'm drinking one of my favorite recipes from Jamil's BCS right now. It's the premium bitter, made at the high end of the ABV scale for that style. It actually rides the line (by numbers) between a premium and an ESB. I just like this grain bill.

The reason I ask about temp is that I fermented with the white labs equivalent (002). I was going out of town and I didn't want it to stall on me as 002 has before. So I went 24 hrs at 66f, ramped to 67 the night before I left on my trip, then kicked it to 68 before I left town. (I usually ferment this recipe in the 65-66f range)

It hasn't gone cidery on me (about 3 weeks in the keg). But the fruit esters are noticeably stronger than what I usually get with this recipe. Could you be getting esters and perceiving it as cidery? The only time I've gotten cider off this yeast is the one time I naturally carbed it in a 5L mini keg, then left (and forgot) it in a 68-ish closet for about 4 months.

The other thing with this current, more fruity, version, is that I have some chill haze. It was crystal clear in the fermenter like 002 always is. But it's a touch hazy at 40f and 10psi. I'm usually running almost filter clear a few glasses into this beer. But I've probably had 15 or so pours since this carbed and it's still running a little hazy.

I'm chalking it up to ferment temp, or the additional 5-7 iBUs I put in this time. Although I can't imagine 5-7 IBUs would cause haze.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[obeahsf]

Yeasts I don't like: wy1098, 1099, 1275, 1026, 1028, on the fence about 1469 (too fruity, but love the malt profile) and 1335. Still want to try thames valley II.

What do you not like about 1275? I'm about to brew a Best Bitter and have some 1318 and 1275. I like the sounds of 1318, but wonder if it might have to much residual for style accuracy. I'm only using about 5% crystal 120, with the rest to Maris Otter, Special Roast and a tiny touch of Aromatic. I tend to prefer a fairly high malt presence, but I want stick within BJCP guidelines for this one.

As an aside, 1318 sounds perfect for a dark mild. Definitely putting that in the brew queue.

 

[obeahsf]

Unlike Bierhaus, my favorite is Thames Valley 1275, though I have never tried London III.

Wanted to ask you also about 1275 and why you like it. Choosing between that and 1318 for this week's brew. I have both. Love high malt profiles, but want to stay true to style for Best Bitter.

Thanks all!

 

[obeahsf]

Unlike Bierhaus, my favorite is Thames Valley 1275, though I have never tried London III.

Wanted to ask you also about 1275 and why you like it. Choosing between that and 1318 for this week's brew. I have both. Love high malt profiles, but want to stay true to style for Best Bitter.

Thanks all!

 

[winvarin]

IMO you will be "true to style" with any of the yeasts mentioned in this thread. At some point it becomes a matter of taste and preference.

For me, the various varieties are like components of a highly customized sound system. I'll still get good sound whatever I do. But what am I in the mood for? Do I turn up the bass (malt)? Do I tweak the sound so that the vocals (hops) are a little more prominent? Do I have them both take a back seat and let the yeast play a solo on this one?

It's all about what you're in the mood to hear at the moment.

If you have the ability to run 2 fermenters at once, pick a couple of yeasts and have them go head to head. I brew 10 gallon batches and will regularly brew Jamil's Best Bitter recipe and spilt my batch between 2 yeasts. That's how I decided that for my tastes, 002 suits my taste better for paler beers, while I really like 013 or 007 for darker beers. 007 in a robust Porter is a thing of beauty.

 

[caskman]

Anybody try white labs 085? It's a blend of 002 and 005. Guessing it'll have the fullers flavor with the potential of fermenting out a little further.

 

[gbx]

Wanted to ask you also about 1275 and why you like it. Choosing between that and 1318 for this week's brew. I have both. Love high malt profiles, but want to stay true to style for Best Bitter.

Thanks all!

I like them both and have brewed bitters with each. I think I like 1275 a little better when it comes to taste. It isn't as flocculent but it responds well to gelatin if you are putting it in a cask or keg. If I was bottling I probably would go with 1318 as it clears up really nice on its own and 1318 is probably the easiest and most forgiving top cropper there is if you are planning to repitch.

 

[hanuswalrus]

Subbing

 

[ukulele01]

Hi. I am a kits and bits brewer who loves English Bitters and I have been fascinated by this thread. I don't have a kegging system and must bottle. Because my house is cold in the winter I often use Nottingham yeast so that it will still carbonate. I would like to try a modified version of the Fuller's schedule with Nottingham and bottle conditioning and would like your feedback on it.

1.) pitch rehydrated at 64F

2.) let free rise to 70F (for a few esters) over first 8-12hr

3.) hold @ 70F until half way to FG

4.) decrease to 64F until 1/4 - 1/5 left, then chill to ?57F (low point of temperature tolerance for this yeast) until expected FG is reached.

5.) Bottle and carbonate to 2.0 volumes. Carbonate against outside wall of house (high 50s to low 60sF).

6.) Cold crash when carbonated (use at least 1 PET bottle to allow checking). Drink ASAP/do not age.

I have never been able to get fruity esters from Nottingham as I have always fermented at <68F. But I hear it can get fruity at 70F. Would any esters I get be gone by the time it has carbonated in the bottles? Thanks in advance.

Might give making invert No. 1 a try.

 

[gbx]

I love the idea of dry yeast as it fits my brewing schedule so much better than liquid but I don't know if you will ever be able to get something acceptable with Nottingham. I've never been able to get anything I was satisfied with from a dry yeast. Nottingham strips way too much of the flavour out, Windsor is just dusty and weird tasting, S-04 can get a weird too but at least flocculates. If I was going to try to brew something English with dry yeast I'd probably go with with US-05 in an open fermenter and a little on the warm side. US-05 is pretty clean and attenuative but you will at least be able to taste the delicious maris otter, english crystal and goldings. The flocculation is pretty bad but it responds to gelatin okay (at keggerator temps anyways, I havent tried cask conditioning with it). I also haven't done anything sub 4%, but it was acceptable in an English porter and English ipa.

Has anyone had good luck brewing a standard bitter or a mild with dry yeast? I'd love to know the secret. I really wish there was a good dry yeast for english styles

 

[Warrior]

Personally I really like the S-04 it has done a great job in a special bitter I made. It ferments and flocs out fast. It seems to ferment well even in the lower 60's. Just finishing up a batch and brewed another one last week. Ferment was done in 4 days at about 66 deg. Love how fast this dry yeast takes off and will continue to use this yeast for my English style ales.

 

[Ryat66]

I'd keep a close eye on those bottles. Everytime I have tried to bottle with the Fullers strain it has restarted fermenting and produced gushers with a very bad taste. Ordinarily you'd think that was infection but it's an issue others find repeatedly with this yeast. I keg now and have had no issues with it, but I also learned to always mash low too.

This definitely isn't some mythical unicorn. I chased non-existent infections for a long time but once I realized that this was the only strain that was giving me this problem, I decided to do some research. I'm definitely not alone here.

I have experienced this exact behavior many times with both available variants of the strain, 1968/WLP002. I have decided to suspend bottling with this yeast because I can never get bottle conditioning right. My most recent batch was a rather tasty oatmeal stout that started to show signs of overcarbonation after 10 days. I caught it and vented 40 some bottles and by chance ended up with a nice level of carbonation. Obviously this isn't ideal and certainly not repeatable if I want to duplicate this brew.

I have given a lot of thought to how to approach this strain and short of picking up the carboy and shaking the cake back into suspension toward the end of primary, I think I will just switch strains.

Any suggestions on a strain that has some of the same characteristics without the excess baggage?

 

[z-bob]

I'd keep a close eye on those bottles. Everytime I have tried to bottle with the Fullers strain it has restarted fermenting and produced gushers with a very bad taste. Ordinarily you'd think that was infection but it's an issue others find repeatedly with this yeast. I keg now and have had no issues with it, but I also learned to always mash low too.

I brewed a brown ale about 1.040 just over a month ago. It's still in the carboy; it was ready to bottle 2 weeks ago (I think, I didn't take a hydrometer sample.) I was going to bottle last Saturday, but I think it has started fermenting again. Has what kind of looks like a krausen on top, and it's gotten cloudy again. I used Danstar Windsor dried yeast. Don't know if that's Windsor strain or not, I know it drop fast and I may have fermented this a little too cool.

I gave up beer for Lent (that's been tough this year, lol) and Easter is so close I'm waiting until after that to open it up.

 

[brewbama]

Tagging in to be able to find this info later

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

Great thread, this thread plus Bob's thread on Bitter, with some experimentation helped me get that malt flavor.. Key elements in my view are: pitch adequate quantity ( 350 Billon cells per 11 gallons @ 1.044,) remove from yeast quickly, go light to zero flavor hops (any hops in boil 25 to 10 minutes), Mash at 152 with 1.25 Qts/pound (or less).

I had so much much malt in my 1.044 OG brew that I cut it with sugar in subsequent brews and upped the IBU's to maintain the OG, but balance it. I often brew it at 1.039 without the sugar and it's British malty.

Here is what I do with 1968, I have a conical which makes it easy to get rid of the yeast/trub.

MO 86%
40L Crystal 7.5%
Sugar 6 %
IBU 38
EKG Hops for aroma at whirlpool
OG 1.044
FG 1.008

Pitch (don't skimp) at 62F and let it free rise to 66F, hold at 66F until it reaches 1.014 to 1.018 (3 to 4 days). Drop yeast/trub from the bottom of the fermenter. D rest and drive attenuation by raising temp to 69 F for 3 to 4 days. Drop yeast. Crash cool to 37 F under a continous blanket of CO2 for 2 to 4 days. Drop yeast, then Keg and force carbonate at 38 F for 7 days to desired CO2 levels. Serve at 51F.

For my tastes this is a near perfect brew and I thank all those who contributed to these two threads for helping me get there. What is the Key in my opinion???? ...I'm off the yeast and in the keg by day 8.

 

[CadiBrewer]

Great thread, this thread plus Bob's thread on Bitter, with some experimentation helped me get that malt flavor.. Key elements in my view are: pitch adequate quantity ( 350 Billon cells per 11 gallons @ 1.044,) remove from yeast quickly, go light to zero flavor hops (any hops with boils greater then 10 minutes), Mash at 152 with 1.25 Qts/pound (or less).

I had so much much malt in my 1.044 OG brew that I cut it with sugar in subsequent brews and upped the IBU's to maintain the OG, but balance it. I often brew it at 1.039 without the sugar and it's British malty.

Here is what I do with 1968, I have a conical which makes it easy to get rid of the yeast/trub.

MO 86%
40L Crystal 7.5%
Sugar 6 %
IBU 38
EKG Hops for aroma at whirlpool
OG 1.044
FG 1.008

Pitch (don't skimp) at 62F and let it free rise to 66F, hold at 66F until it reaches 1.014 to 1.018 (3 to 4 days). Drop yeast/trub from the bottom of the fermenter. D rest and drive attenuation by raising temp to 69 F for 3 to 4 days. Drop yeast. Crash cool to 37 F under a continous blanket of CO2 for 2 to 4 days. Drop yeast, then Keg and force carbonate at 38 F for 7 days to desired CO2 levels. Serve at 51F.

For my tastes this is a near perfect brew and I thank all those who contributed to these to threads for helping me get there. What is the Key in my opinion???? ...I'm off the yeast and in the keg by day 8.

Great post!

How do you cold crash under a blanket of Co2?

For repeatability, I prefer to do a slow ramp rather than a free rise because a free rise is dependent upon the ambient temp, the activity of the yeast, etc. How long would you guess it takes to rise from 62 to 66?

Lastly, what water profile are you using?

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

Cold crash - CO2 regulator (not shown) set a smidge above zero. From regulator to the gas post TC on the right hand side. Guage (on top) as the regulator guage is a bit of a crap shoot at these low pressures. Then on the very left hand side of the cross, there is a spring loaded pressure relief (opens at about 2.5 psi) to protect the fermenter should I have a run away pressure event. The TC ball valve allows me to isolate the fermenter to prevent 02 ingress when I change from blow off TC barb and hose to the gas post. I use the same set up to transfer to the keg. I just up the pressure to about 2 psi

On free rise time, the ambient temp is 70 to 72 F, I'd estimate it takes 10 to 15 hours. I usually pitch at 4 pm and by the next morning my cooling system is cycling to keep it at 66F. Will have to add my water profile when I get home (at work, don't tell the boss

Great post!

How do you cold crash under a blanket of Co2?

For repeatability, I prefer to do a slow ramp rather than a free rise because a free rise is dependent upon the ambient temp, the activity of the yeast, etc. How long would you guess it takes to rise from 62 to 66?

Lastly, what water profile are you using?

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

And the water profile in ppm ... I basically dilute potassium metabisulfite treated tap water with DI water and add gypsum and calcium chloride. I have flexed the Sulfate/CL ratio and it makes a difference but it's a second order effect. If the malt is profile is not there, even reversing the ratio doesn't produce it

Ca: 65
Mg: 5.78
Na: 23
Cl: 50
So4: 80
HC03: 121

 

[CadiBrewer]

Thanks for the detailed info. I have a house bitter that I love but I am looking for a new version to try. I'm brewing an Irish stout this weekend, then this one.

 

[gbx]

...and I don't know if this has been mentioned recently, but Simpson's 70-80L crystal (even fermented with US-05) will get you closer to "that british taste" than anything you can do with domestic malts, perfect ferment or not. Simpsons wasn't available to homebrewers here when this thread was started and I brewed a lot of bitters and milds chasing that taste.

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

...and I don't know if this has been mentioned recently, but Simpson's 70-80L crystal (even fermented with US-05) will get you closer to "that british taste" than anything you can do with domestic malts, perfect ferment or not. Simpsons wasn't available to homebrewers here when this thread was started and I brewed a lot of bitters and milds chasing that taste.

Will give this a try. I'm subbing Simpson's golden promise into the above recipe this weekend.

Thanks for the detailed info. I have a house bitter that I love but I am looking for a new version to try. I'm brewing an Irish stout this weekend, then this one.

would love to give yours a try if you post recipe?

 

[gbx]

This was my best one. It scored a 39 in competition despite being smaller than style back when ESB's won all the medals in English Pale Ales:

#79 First Gold Amber Bitter
Brewed: 14-04-2013
OG: 1.032
FG: 1.008
ABV: 3.2%
Batch Size: 19L

6lb TF MO
8oz Bairds C75
1oz Bairds Chocolate

1oz First Gold 8.4% AA @ FW
1oz First Gold 8.4% AA @ 0

Water: 1tsp CaCl, 1.5tsp CaSO4, 1tsp yeast nutrient (Vancouver's tap water is RO)

Ferment: wy1469 "open ferment" in bucket with lid set on loosely, pitched at 14C allowed to free rise in 18C ambient, packaged on day 5.

I've done this basic recipe (UK pale to somewhere between 1.030 and 1.040, 8oz UK crystal, 1oz UK chocolate, UK hops @ FW and 0min, UK yeast) more than 20 times but never the exact same. I usually brew it as a drinkable starter to harvest yeast from. I really liked the first gold and west yorkshire in this one. I haven't done again because I don't like the west yorkshire the second time around. Maybe there is a right way to harvest it but I couldn't find it.

 

[bierhaus15]

If you guys have not already done so, check out the private collection yeasts from Wyeast. Three really nice English strains, including one of my personal favorites, Thames Valley II.