Please give me feedback on my ESB recipe

[raymarkson]

I am planning on brewing an ESB soon and this is the recipe that I am putting together for it. I would appreciate some feedback on it. Thanks.

Style: ESB
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.5 gal
Estimated OG: 1.054
Estimated Color: 11.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 44.3 IBUs
Mash temp: 154
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
9 lbs Maris Otter US (3.0 SRM)
1 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L
8.0 oz Carapils

.75 oz Nugget [13.50 %] - Boil 60 min
0.50 oz Sonnet [4.70 %] - Boil 15.0 min
0.50 oz Sonnet[4.70 %] - Boil 5 min
0.50 oz Sonnet[4.70 %] – Boil 0 min


YEAST- Safale S-04 (or) Danstar Windsor


I know that the hops that I am planning on using are not typical for this style, but I am trying to use hops that I have on hand.

If any of the other hops that I have would work better, I am open to suggestions. Here's what I have: centennial, cascade, galaxy, nugget, summit, chinook, magnum, opal, and sonnet

Also, I prefer to use dry yeast, but if there is a certain yeast that is not a dry yeast that I simply MUST use for this style, I'm open to that too.

 

[signpost]

I think the Sonnet hops would work really well in an ESB. No need to change that at all.

There are all kinds of great English yeast options. I've never used S-04, just because I generally prefer liquid yeasts, but it would probably work fine.

The one addition I've made to my English style beers is a little bit of gypsum. How much you use might depend on the makeup of your water. I use just a teaspoon in a five gallon batch and it seems to have a good impact.

One other note, I really don't like using Carapils. I know a lot of people use it, but I'm not a fan.

 

[raymarkson]

I think the Sonnet hops would work really well in an ESB. No need to change that at all.

There are all kinds of great English yeast options. I've never used S-04, just because I generally prefer liquid yeasts, but it would probably work fine.

The one addition I've made to my English style beers is a little bit of gypsum. How much you use might depend on the makeup of your water. I use just a teaspoon in a five gallon batch and it seems to have a good impact.

One other note, I really don't like using Carapils. I know a lot of people use it, but I'm not a fan.

Thanks for the advice! It's very helpful. Also, if I remove the Carapils, should I replace it with more crystal 80? And is there a liquid yeast that you prefer for an ESB?

 

[BrewSomeMore]

You are mashing at 154 which will provide plenty of body and crystal 80 will provide some body as well, so no need for carapils. Wyeast London ESB is very good option for liquid. I have used S-04 for porters and stouts and have come out good but the liquid will provide that extra authentic flavor.

 

[Steveruch]

Thanks for the advice! It's very helpful. Also, if I remove the Carapils, should I replace it with more crystal 80? And is there a liquid yeast that you prefer for an ESB?

I'd replace it with some crystal 40. And like BrewSomeMore said, Wyeast 1968 works great. Wyeast 1275 would also work well.

 

[signpost]

Thanks for the advice! It's very helpful. Also, if I remove the Carapils, should I replace it with more crystal 80? And is there a liquid yeast that you prefer for an ESB?

If you want to keep the target gravity of your recipe, I'd replace the Carapils with more Maris Otter.

As for yeast, the 1968 and 1275 are good. My favorite is 1469, though.

 

[nick_a]

If you want to keep the target gravity of your recipe, I'd replace the Carapils with more Maris Otter.

As for yeast, the 1968 and 1275 are good. My favorite is 1469, though.

Mine, too! Maris Otter is a wonderful malt that stands extremely well on its own. If I were you, I would be bold and replace all carapils with MO, and cut the C80 in half.

Mangrove Jack has a nice selection of dry English-style strains if you're looking for something different, but trying to stick with dry yeast.

EDIT: Also, I've used Sonnet in bitters and LOVED it.

 

[rhys333]

With the MO and C80 combo you have a solid foundation for an ESB right there. I would also recommend removing the carapils, but suggest replacing it with a character malt like biscuit or victory. Looks like the Sonnet hops are a good choice, but honestly ESBs are brewed with US citrusy hops too, so I wouldn't limit your choices by trying to force it into a specific category. I think as long as your have a decent UK malt backbone and bittering combined with moderate hop flavor/aroma, then you're set for ESB goodness.

 

[raymarkson]

Thank you so much for the help, everyone! This forum is a great resource! I will definitely leave out the carapils and use one of the suggested liquid yeasts. I'm really excited about this beer!

I do have another question, though. As I look at some of the other recipes for an ESB, I notice that sometimes people will toast about 10 to 20 % of the base malt. This sounds good to me. Would any of you recommend doing this? Or, would you recommend against it?

Again, thanks for all the advice!

 

[signpost]

I've never tried toasting my malt. I guess I've just figured the malt companies know what they are doing more than I do. But at the same time, we don't make our own beer just because we know how to do it better than the pros. We do it to put our own stamp on a beverage we enjoy.

 

[jjeffers09]

It may be just me, and my opinion and opinions of few others.. There shouldn't be crystal malt, there should only be minute amounts of roast malt. There shouldn't be anything toasted in a ESB and most nowadays have a newer American hop variety hop bursted.

Others may think crystal is worth it, I think you want a dryer finish in an ESB. Crystal will add the wrong kind of flavor. Also you want to use KMeta or NaMeta.

 

[raymarkson]

Okay, so I brewed this 9 days ago. This is the modified recipe that I followed based on suggestions that you all gave me.

Style: ESB
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size (fermenter): 7 gal (I decided to make the batch a little bigger)
Estimated OG: 1.054
Estimated Color: 11.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 38 IBUs
Mash temp: 152 (I meant to mash at 154 but I was having a little trouble with my thermometer)
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
12 lbs Maris Otter US (3.0 SRM)
1.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L


.75 oz Nugget [13.50 % AA] - Boil 60 min (lowered to decrease the percentage of IBUs coming from the 60 min addition)
2.0 oz Sonnet [4.70 % AA] - Boil 15 min
1.5 oz Sonnet[4.70 % AA] - Boil 5 min
1.5 oz Sonnet[4.70 % AA] – Boil 0 min

Yeast- Wyeast 1318
-I wanted to use the 1469 or 1968 that were suggested on this thread but these were not available at my LHBS. So, I chose 1318 from the selection that they had. From what I read about it, it seemed as though it would be a good choice for this beer.

Anyway, I pulled a gravity sample last night and it reads at 1.010. This is lower than the 1.015 FG that I was projecting. The specifics on the Wyeast website say that the attenuation of the 1318 yeast is supposed to be 71-75%, but mine is at 81%. Should I be concerned about this? I did mash two points lower than I wanted to, but would that really drop my FG by 5 points?

 

[rhys333]

For sure. 150-2F mash usually dries out a beer. No need to worry though, you're ESB will be fine.

 

[StewMakesBrew]

I would go higher on the base malt. The "S" in ESB stands for "strong" as in higher gravity. At 9 lbs of base you're about 4% alcohol - bounce that up to 11 and you're more like 5.25%.

I just did one (in fact in the fermenter right now) and I was going for maximum british so I did:

11 lbs English Maris Otter
1 1/2 lbs 60L Caramel malt
1/2 lb Vienna malt (for mouthfeel primarily, not terribly fermentable)

For hops i did:

1 oz East Kent Goldings - 60 min
1 oz East Kent Goldings - 30 min
1 oz Fuggles - 15 min
1 oz Fuggles - 5 min

I also added 1 tsp gypsum to my Chicago water, and 1 tsp Irish Moss for clarification.

Yeast is Wyeast 1098 British Ale

I mashed at 154 - a little hotter than a typical single infusion (150) as I wanted more body, but pitched very cool - 66 - as you want as little to no diacytl or ester flavors in it, and it's been fermenting at around 68 this entire time. I'm going three weeks on the primary, no secondary (I gave up screwing with secondaries on anything but Tripels as the gain is not worth the contamination risks), and kegging it with a 2.0 vol carbonation level which I'll get by going 10 psi for 2 weeks at 3 at 38-40 degrees.

I'm sure yours will be good - let's put it this way - there's nothing in there that could be bad!

When my mom taught me to cook, that was her motto - "hey put good things in, you get get good things out."

Works for beer too.

Good luck and enjoy.

 

[Murphys_Law]

I would go higher on the base malt. The "S" in ESB stands for "strong" as in higher gravity. At 9 lbs of base you're about 4% alcohol - bounce that up to 11 and you're more like 5.25%.



I just did one (in fact in the fermenter right now) and I was going for maximum british so I did:



11 lbs English Maris Otter

1 1/2 lbs 60L Caramel malt

1/2 lb Vienna malt (for mouthfeel primarily, not terribly fermentable)



For hops i did:



1 oz East Kent Goldings - 60 min

1 oz East Kent Goldings - 30 min

1 oz Fuggles - 15 min

1 oz Fuggles - 5 min



I also added 1 tsp gypsum to my Chicago water, and 1 tsp Irish Moss for clarification.



Yeast is Wyeast 1098 British Ale



I mashed at 154 - a little hotter than a typical single infusion (150) as I wanted more body, but pitched very cool - 66 - as you want as little to no diacytl or ester flavors in it, and it's been fermenting at around 68 this entire time. I'm going three weeks on the primary, no secondary (I gave up screwing with secondaries on anything but Tripels as the gain is not worth the contamination risks), and kegging it with a 2.0 vol carbonation level which I'll get by going 10 psi for 2 weeks at 3 at 38-40 degrees.



I'm sure yours will be good - let's put it this way - there's nothing in there that could be bad!



When my mom taught me to cook, that was her motto - "hey put good things in, you get get good things out."



Works for beer too.



Good luck and enjoy.

I believe the "S" actually stands for "special" and is generally a lower ABV. A "strong bitter" is another category.

 

[StewMakesBrew]

Interesting, I stand corrected. I always thought it stood for strong because that's what I was told by the barkeep at the Fuller's Pub and Pie House on Fleet Street in London. Now that said, they do talk about how strong it is. So ... yeah. I still like it higher gravity.

https://www.fullers.co.uk/beer/explore-our-beers/esb

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

It may be just me, and my opinion and opinions of few others.. There shouldn't be crystal malt, there should only be minute amounts of roast malt. There shouldn't be anything toasted in a ESB and most nowadays have a newer American hop variety hop bursted.

Others may think crystal is worth it, I think you want a dryer finish in an ESB. Crystal will add the wrong kind of flavor. Also you want to use KMeta or NaMeta.

I use .25lb of special B for mine and I love it. It's a little bit of roast and plummy mild sweetness but only enough for a small contribution.

I think 1.25 lbs as listed (of regular crystal) is too much as well. Half a pound at most I would say for 5 gallons.

 

[dstockwell]

I have used Sonnet with a little special roast..

 

[JKaranka]

ESB is a beer by Fullers' that in Britain we class as a strong bitter. Special / best / premium bitters are a tad weaker at below 5% usually.

Edit:

Also, remember than when ESB was launched in 1971 it would have been a very strong beer compared to pretty much all the commercial beers of the period. British beer was strong until WWI, but it never recovered (until fairly recently).

Just for comparison, check the ABV of the Whitbread lineup of 1960:
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/whitbread-beers-in-1960.html

The bitter (PA) is 3.5%, the mild (Best Ale) is 2.7%, and the brown ale is 3.3%. The strong ale, KKKK is 4.7% abv. So a beer like Fuller's ESB coming in above 5% would have been a bit of a shocker.

Fullers does (roughly) fit with the expected sequence of beers, their main lineup of bitters is:
- Chiswick Bitter. 3.5%, launched in the 1930s. "Ordinary bitter".
- London Pride. 4.1%, launched in the 1950s. "Premium / special bitter".
- ESB. 5.5%, launched in 1971. "Strong bitter".

They do also brew other bitters, like the old Gale's HSB after buying the brewery. That is a special bitter at 4.8%.