Strong Bitter Common Room ESB

[ESBrewer]

I don't think you need to change it too much to reach the expected 1.014 with 1318. 1318 should have a similar attenuation range to s-04. If you want to be sure you could either mash at 150-151F or use 90min mash but this may even drive it down more than suggested in the original recipe. In addition, I would make a starter when using the wyeast liquid yeast.

 

[zonkman]

Awesome, thanks so much. I'll mash a little lower (150-151), pitch low and raise to 68 over 2 weeks (as per other thread).

 

[zonkman]

Brewed this up last night and made one error: 0.75 Fuggle at flame out, instead of 0.25. Curious if anyone else has added a bit more hops than original recipe? Results?

I've seen English IPAs with this ABV, IBU, hop aroma....

 

[bolus14]

You may get a little more flavor/aroma but bitterness won't really change since it was a flameout addition.

 

[zonkman]

I've had this bad boy bottled for a week now. Two changes to the original: used 1318, and accidentally added an extra 0.75oz Fuggles at flame out. It's still carbing, developing, etc, but my initial impression is that the extra Fuggles worked out very nicely. The 1318 left it just a tiny bit the sweet side for me (my teeth tingle only slightly), but that little boost in bitterness/earth aroma meets it well. Of course it's all about the Maris Otter.

If you like aromatic beer - and maybe, like me, you explored the hop-side quite enthusiastically - I'd say give this one a go. It's my first English-style brew - haven't drunk many either - and it's definitely convinced me to go deeper.

Many thanks to the King, Brian I.

 

[SteelRinger]

Brewed this up last weekend and am going to keg it up this evening. I changed the recipe up just a bit. I used Maris Otter instead of 2-Row and went a step lighter on the Crystal malts (45L and 120L). Still turned out a nice color overall. Instead of S-04 I used Wyeast #1968. Went a bit high on the OG as I came in at 1.061. Finished at 1.014. Has a great malty sweetness up front with a lingering bitter on the tongue (from the gravity reading sample). I used a whirfloc tablet and with this yeast the beer is already very clear.
I will let it sit in the keg for a week or two before I start drinking it, but I am sure it isn't going to last long.

 

[NZJoe]

I brewed this back in February and have been drinking it for a few weeks now. With all my beers, I try to use NZ ingredients (because they are usually fresher and cheaper than imported) so I have substituted the malts and hops here. I researched the malt alternatives which have the most similar characteristics to those in the recipe and with the hops I was pretty much cleaning out my freezer, but I don't think they deviate too much in character from the hops in the recipe (except the Moutere, but thats just there for the IBUs.)

OG: 1.052
FG: 1.012
IBU: 33
ABV: 5.25%

2250g Gladfield American ale malt
2250g Gladfield Ale malt
340g Gladfield Medium crystal
113g Gladfield Dark crystal

10g Moutere (17%AA) @ 60min
19 Saaz (3%AA) @ 60min
9 Saaz @ 20min
9 Motueka (4.9%AA) @ 20min
9 Saaz @ 0min
9 Motueka @ 0min

1x pkt Safale S-04

Fermented 9 days at 18-20degrees then into secondary for 5 days. Didn`t use any finings.

Impressions after a month in the bottle:
Hearty, yet drinkable ale. Faint sweetness but solid bitterness. I definitely wouldn`t add more hops for fear of taking away from the malt. Murky copper with a creamy beige head which dissipates somewhat. Very subtle nose of caramel and flowery hops.
Overall, very nice. My only gripe with my brew is that the flavour of the hops and malts is not very defined - it tastes malty and bitter but it`s hard to actually taste any real characteristics from these elements. This may have come down to not using traditional English ingredients. I will definitely brew this again and won`t deviate from the recipe with my ingredients so much. I may also add some biscuit malt as has been suggested. My water profile here may also have been a bit off which could affect how much flavour came through.

 

[Shenanigans]

Yeah brew day went well, pretty much hit my numbers for all 4 beers.
I only have three 30L buckets so I put this beer in a 23L plastic carboy that I normally only use for bulk aging. Even though the recipe was planned for a bucket
Then I had about 5 liters left over at the end so I put it in a smaller bucket and added an out-of-date pack of Windsor yeast I was going to throw away. Should be enough for about 10 bottles so a nice little unexpected experiment.
First time I will have fermented the same wort with two different yeasts.

Well 3.5 years later and I'm ready to try this again in a few weeks.
If I remember correctly both beers turned out OK but nothing special.
It might be related to my water and processes back then and also I'm not a big fan of S-04.

So hopefully with the experience I picked up over the last 3 years, using 1968 instead of S-04 and some water moifications, I should get a better end product this time.

Anyone have a water profile that worked out good for them?

Thanks.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

If you're looking to get close to the Fuller's one, this is meant to be pretty close and is based on the original Fuller's recipe :
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...m-the-horses-mouth.642756/page-2#post-8281609

 

[Shenanigans]

If you're looking to get close to the Fuller's one, this is meant to be pretty close and is based on the original Fuller's recipe :
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...m-the-horses-mouth.642756/page-2#post-8281609

Cool I will have a look

I am indeed a fan for Fullers ESB but don't have enough Target or any Northdown.
I do have 30g of Challenger but it's somewhere at the back of my freezer and from 2011 or 2012

I have newish Fuggles, EKG, First Gold, German Northern Brewer (possible Challenger sub), Brewer's Gold and Bramling X.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I wouldn't sweat the hops too much, all those would be fine, and although you can never ever go wrong with Goldings, First Gold are probably the best choice for bringing a bit of the Fuller's oranginess to proceedings.

Those Challenger would work in a lambic though!

 

[Shenanigans]

I wouldn't sweat the hops too much, all those would be fine, and although you can never ever go wrong with Goldings, First Gold are probably the best choice for bringing a bit of the Fuller's oranginess to proceedings.

Those Challenger would work in a lambic though!

Might just give the Fullers a go then.
Have malts from different malsters but should be good.
Facwetts MO, Warminster med-crystal (140 ECB)
Need to decide if I should keep it all British and use Warminster pale chocolate or Bestmalz normal chocolate
Nugget to bitter
Northern Brewer and First Gold instead of Northdown and EKG

I'll stop hijacking this thread now.