Fullers ESB : What Lovibond of crystal/caramel malt do they use?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Silver_Is_Money

Larry Sayre, Developer of 'Mash Made Easy'
Joined
Dec 31, 2016
Messages
6,452
Reaction score
2,209
Location
N/E Ohio
What is the lovibond color of the crystal/caramel malt that Fuller's uses for its London Pride, ESB, and 1845 ales? Do they use something along the lines of a dehusked Carafa to attain the darker color in their finished beers, or do they merely use a really high Lovibond crystal?
 
Looks like medium crystal, not dark roasted grains. If you can get your hands on Simpson's Medium Crystal (~60L), i'd go with that over American Crystal, but the latter would suffice. WY1968 tends to flocc-out pretty fast. After 3-4 days of PF, it's not a bad idea to gently shake/swirl your fermenter to rouse the yeast then move the fermenter to a slightly warmer area for several days, if possible, to burn off any diacetyl.

I've made both of these clones a handful of times. The color and flavor, in my experience, is best with a hard 90 minute boil and appropriate water chemistry.

https://www.fullers.co.uk/beer/explore-our-beers/esb
https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/3422-fuller-s-esb-clone
https://byo.com/recipes-tag/item/3023-fuller-s-esb-clone
 
Simpson's dark crystal, 80L. They also use a modified parti-gyle method of mashing.

My LHBS carries Muntons 60L, or I could use Briess 80L. Which would you recommend? I could use 60L and a touch of UK Chocolate if staying with UK all the way is necessary.
 
Muntons 60L would be fine. Maybe just a dash of Crystal 120L or Special B (4oz or so) if you're shooting for London Pride to match the flavors mentioned on their website.

Or if you're wanting to clone the ESB, consider Muntons 60L, a dash of Victory malt and 3-4oz Chocolate Malt. Their website lists crystal & chocolate malts for the ESB and a nutty flavor, which you can get from good UK pale malts and Victory.
 
Muntons 60L would be fine. Maybe just a dash of Crystal 120L or Special B (4oz or so) if you're shooting for London Pride to match the flavors mentioned on their website.

Or if you're wanting to clone the ESB, consider Muntons 60L, a dash of Victory malt and 3-4oz Chocolate Malt. Their website lists crystal & chocolate malts for the ESB and a nutty flavor, which you can get from good UK pale malts and Victory.

Very helpful! Thank you. Would 1/2 lb. of Victory be OK for a 5 gallon batch?
 
They list chocolate malt in the ingredients on their website. I'd use max 4oz of it with 5% of your grist made of the medium crystal.
 
Back
Top