Thoughts on a hopped-up ESB

[Southwood]

Hey all, figured I'd bug ya with another "critique my recipe" thread

I want to brew an ESB to have as my first house draft beer :rockin:

I like the complex flavors of an ESB, but I also want something with alot of hop flavor, and I want to stick with English hops. Here's what I've come up with (modified NB's ESB recipe).

7lbs. Coopers light DME

1/2 lb Crystal 40L
1/2 lb Honey Malt
2 oz Chocolate Malt
2 oz Roated Barley

1 oz Target (60 min)
1 oz EKG's (30 min)
1 oz Fuggle's (10 min)
1 oz EKG's (1 min)

2 tsp Gypsum
1 tsp Irish moss

WLP 002 (prepared 1 L starter last night)

I'll probably be brewing tomorrow or the day after. Any thoughts are appreciated!

Cheers!

 

[Blender]

I don't think I would use roasted barley or chocolate malt in an ESB. I prefer victory,bisquit malt or even aromatic malts in mine.

 

[david_42]

Highly hopped ESB's don't work for me. The hops interfere with the malts too much. It will be hard to tell this from an IPA.

 

[FlyingHorse]

I don't think I would use roasted barley or chocolate malt in an ESB. I prefer victory,bisquit malt or even aromatic malts in mine.

Agreed. Aside from the not-so-ESB flavors, that beer's gonna come out a funky color...kinda grey-black-brown.

 

[Brewpastor]

Check out this link and listen to the talk on ESB. It has a lot of info. http://thebrewingnetwork.com/jamil.php

 

[brewt00l]

Highly hopped ESB's don't work for me. The hops interfere with the malts too much. It will be hard to tell this from an IPA.

True dat! ESBs are all about the balance...pile on the hops and you kinda move into different territory.

 

[the_bird]

If you're looking for darkness from the chocolate and roasted malts, try a little crystal 80L instead.

 

[Southwood]

OK, I took a step back, re-grouped, and listened to Jamil's show (great podcast, thanks pastor!).

Jamil suggests usibg 1/2 lb crystal 15 & 1/4 lb crystal 120. What are the thoughts out there about adding other specialty grains, such as biscuit, aromatic, or caristan (on top of jamils grains)?

Also, Jamil says British Pale LME is a must, but I've got tons on Cooper's light DME on hand. Anyone out there have a bad experience with the DME?

Thanks for the input!