Help with ESB recipe.

[Wables]

Do any of you have a good, proven all grain ESB recipe that you would be willing to share? I will be traveling 2 1/2 hours to my LHBS to pick up supplies for my normal house ale and some extras. I would like to brew a ESB for my next beer, and I am looking for some hints. Thanks!

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

I have no tested recipe for AG, but according to Designing Great Beers, the yeast strain is less important to ESB's since it's sort of a catch-all beer category anyway (more on that in a minute). What is important though is, first, Maris-Otter Malt because it gives the beer the right copperish color and is important to the british character of the beer style. Second, a notable percentage of award-winning ESB's use some caramalt- I used 8% 40L, and that's just a tiny bit on the high side, with the rest being Maris-Otter. Many also use a small amount of dextrose.

Next, as I recall, You are shooting for an OG above 1.054, but below like 1.060 (I don't remember the range for ESB's exactly). The whole point of an ESB is that it is "Extra Special" meaning higher in alcohol.

Next, for hops, you want Fuggle and EKG. IIRC, according to Beer Captured, in 80% of the award winning ESB's sampled, those are the only hops used. Experiment at the risk of being called a Pale Ale. By contrast, if you're beer is much stronger or more hoppy, you will probably have brewed an IPA. Those three beer categories are very closely related. Also, if you miss your OG on the other side and make it too weak, you've brewed an Ordinary Bitter, and if you leave some hops out, you have a Mild.


This is all off the top of my head. If you want me to doublecheck those numbers, let me know, but in a nutshell, I don't see why people freak out about well-tested recipes when you're only using highly modified malts. If you are already into AG, I would think you'd already have some idea of what flavors you like in your beer and how to get them.




Cheers!

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Northern Brewer actually posts their recipes on their web site. This ESB is the all-grain version of their extract kit that I brewed.

It was my first brew, and it is now all gone. I loved it. It was so very close to Fuller's ESB in all characteristics. Except that mine was better, naturally.

Fuller's ESB is a little different than most other ESBs, or so I've heard, so if you're not fond of Fuller's you might not like this recipe.

Oh, by the way, it is quite bitter. Very.

I used NorthernBrewer's recipe as my starting point when I designed my own recipe (Extract batch). Forgetting malt and just looking at the hops, I did...

0.75oz Target (60)
1oz Willamette (30)
1oz Cascade (Yes, cascade) (5,4,3,2,1,0- I just sprinkled it in at a regular rate).


It was a screwed up batch, it was supposed to have about 44.5 IBU's, but because I was partial boiling by mistake and had a high grav, my actual IBU's were probably around 38 and I thought it had a very assertive and defining hop character.

FWIW, in my tasting notes from that batch, I said, "For next time, dry hop the cascade and use Fuggles or EKG for the finishing hop" Also I said, "Willamette is spicier than Fuggle. So replace Willamette with Fuggles on next batch, but keep IBU's about the same).


Personally, I was trying to produce a malty ESB and my recipe with a FG of 1.017 came pretty close to perfect for my tastes. I would shoot for a FG of 1.014 or so.


For comparison's sake, I find Fuller's to be a little too bitter. It's a british ESB. American ones tend to be on the maltier side and that is my preference, but to each their own!

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

The following is from Designing Great Beers, Ray Daniels, regarding ESB's.

OG: 1.046-1.060
Bitterness: 30-55 IBU's
Alcohol: 4.8-5.8%BV

The above style characteristics are based upon published data from the American Homebrewers Association and the Institute for Brewing Studies as well as an evaluation of the current commercial offerings of ESB.


Interesting, according to DGB, English and American Pale Ale is distinguished from the strongest Bitters in that, while they may have the same gravity, they have less hop bitterness and more hop character.


In a survey of 226 English Commercial Bitter recipes, Bitters have a 60-90% incidence of using Crystal Malt, with the average percentage of the grain bill being 6%; A little less than half of the sampled Bitters use sugar, averaging about 10% of the fermentables; On average, 89% of the grain bill is made up of Pale Malt; Generally, the bitterness-to-gravity ratio is lower for Extra Special Bitters than for other bitters, around 0.70.

As for incidence of hop variety in COMMERCIAL ESB's, Goldings is found in 68% of recipes, Fuggle: 47%, Challenger: 53%, Target: 26%, Northdown: 11%, Progress: 16%. That's out of 19 recipes sampled. That's hardly conclusive, but it gives you some good ideas...

Now, of the NHC Second Round finishers, Goldings was used 17 times in 13 recipes, the majority of those were for bittering. Fuggle was used about half as much, only 8 times, and those additions were about evenly split between bittering, flavor, aroma, and dry-hopping. Then, the next most common hop is Centennial, which was used 4 times in those 13 recipes, then NorthernBrewer (3), Mt Hood (2), Target (2), Willamette (2).


Hope that helps! Cheers!

 

[raceskier]

The BYO 150 Classic Clone Recipes issue includes all grain and extract versions of the Fullers ESB clone. I can't speak for the all grain version, but the extract version is awesome.

 

[Brewing Clamper]

Yooper Chick has a good recipe for Redhook ESB clone. I think it's floating around here somewhere.

 

[debtman7]

I'm brewing one this weekend, trying to match Rogue's Younger's Special Bitter which is one of my favorites.

10 lbs 2-row
1.5 lb Crystal 60
1 lb Carapils
2 ounces black malt

1.5 oz Williamette (60 minutes)
.75 oz Kent Golding (20 Minutes)
.5 oz Kent Golding (5 Minutes)
.5 oz Kent Golding (dry hop - 1 week)

Safale S-04 yeast

Mash @ 155-156 to enhance sweetness

Should come out at 35 IBU's, 1.052 OG and 14.2 SRM.

 

[Wables]

Wow! Thanks to all for the responses. I now have a starting place to work something up. I am currently regretting lending my books to a new brewer.

 

[TUCK]

Paloney Ale2-All Grain Version
8-C Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)

Size: 5.2 gal
Efficiency: 72%
Attenuation: 75.9%
Calories: 206.2 per 12 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.062 (1.048 - 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.015 (1.010 - 1.016)
Color: 11.2 (6.00 - 18.00)
Alcohol: 6.17% (4.60% - 6.20%)
Bitterness: 43.42 (30.00 - 50.00)

Ingredients:
10.0 lbs English 2-row Pale
.5 lbs American Caramel 20°L
1 lbs Honey Malt
1 lbs Honey
1 oz Sterling (7.50%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1 oz Crystal (4.25%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
1 oz Sterling (7.50%) - added during boil, boiled 5 min
1 tbsp Ground Corriander - added during boil, boiled 0 min
.5 tbsp Ground Sage - added during boil, boiled 0 min
8.00 fl oz WYeast 1768 English Special Bitter

Schedule:

Notes:
(2/24/07)
OG: 1.076 - Got a little crazy with the honey and grain, o well
(3/3/07)
FG: 1.016

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.0.20
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This recipe is my favorite at the moment I have brewed it 3 times before deciding on the final recipe.
I love it, it has a beutiful boquet of corriander and if you try you barely pick up on the sage. Then the honey gives a nice soft touch/roundness on your palat, with a medium bodied maltiness in the middle and strong bitter finish that does not linger to long and leaves a clean finish...mmmm....mmmm, taste GREAT!