Punch up an old Papazian recipe

[dmorrison]

From The Complete Joy of Homebrewing is a rather plain bitters recipe. What would you add to it for extra pizzazz? Would honey malt, or actual honey, sound good to you?

5# amber English DME
1.5 oz. Cascade (boiling, 45 min)
.5 oz Goldings or Willamette (finishing, 1 min)
English Ale Yeast

 

[motobrewer]

candi sugar

 

[dmorrison]

How much candi sugar would it take to impart a mild caramel flavor to the beer, assuming the method below is used?
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/How_to_make_Candi_Sugar

 

[KAMMEE]

1. Make sure the DME is english in variety
2. Add about a 0.5 lb of special B or crystal 120 if you don't mind a light brown color
3. If you want to keep it light, just do a mini mash @150-152 degrees for a half hour instead of "steeping" with a pound of two row and a half pound of biscuit or victory malt. It'll round out the flavor nicely.

 

[chefmike]

I would punch it in to brewing software and think more about not pushing the OG too high with the candi sugar, as you want balance in a bitter. maybe 1/2 lb to 1lb.

I would probably brew it as is the first time and tweak it the next time... then you will know how the tweak effected your beer.

a good bitter is elegance in simplicity. Like a cocktail dress if you will... it does not have to be big and fancy to catch your attention if it is done well.

 

[dmorrison]

Thanks all, for the candi sugar, dark crystal, and biscuit malt suggestions, these sound good. Chefmike's recommendation to try the recipe before changing it is wise. I'll split the difference by adding 1 pound of mini-mashed cara-pils. If that works well, I'll replace the cara-pils with a .5-1 pound of special b in the second batch. If it's too thick or foamy, I'll try a medium candi sugar in the second batch. Whether to add biscuit will depend on how biscuity the muntons amber dme tastes. Cheers.

 

[kanzimonson]

I recommend doubling the malt, adding 7oz of finishing hops, 5oz of dry hops... that should help its blandness