# How Would Us-05 Go In An English Bitter?



## Bribie G (1/3/09)

I've got a cube of a Ruddles County Wannabe that I brewed yesterday. At the same time I started a Wyeast UK Bitter 1768 that I had a small jar of... been in the fridge since Xmas. This morning there's not much sign of activity and I reckon at this rate I won't have anything to pitch till around Tuesday if I'm lucky.

On the other hand I've just done an American Amber and have a big yummy live and kicking batch of US-05 available right now. Wondering how it would go in a UK bitter? This is the first time I've used US-05. I also have heaps of Nottingham but I'm aiming for a fruity rich ale and Notto could turn out way too dry. On the face of it, the AA and the Bitter recipes are surprisingly quite similar - even down to the use of some Bramling Cross.The AA is Barret Burston Ale and the Ruddles is Maris Otter, but similar adjuncts (Carared, Crystal)...

On the Jamil show about AAs they said that US-05 was pretty good in a 'big' beer.

I'm sorely tempted.


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## katzke (1/3/09)

I think it is too clean. Better off with S-04 for the flavor you want.


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## LexP (1/3/09)

Its certainly possible but you'll be missing out on alot of the fruity esters.
You may also find the beer will be a bit drier.


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## boingk (1/3/09)

Another punt for the S-04, US-05 is a bit of a clean demon. Having said that, theres nothing like an experiment! If you want to do it and see what the result is then I say go for it.

Cheers - boingk


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## Bribie G (1/3/09)

Brainwave... The Big Burper lives a couple of blocks away and I believe he has some S04. I might front up to him tomorrow when he gets home from work. 

"please mister can i borrow a cup of yeast, pretty please "  

Thanks guys.


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## mwd (1/3/09)

Ruddles is a more hop driven ale than most English bitters so 05 should be good to bring out the BC taste.

I love the Bramling Cross taste soo much I will be using it on a regular basis in my Ruddles taste quest.

P.S. The clear glass Ruddles County they sell here seems a poor relation to the full bodied Ruddles of yesteryear that I remember as a youngster.


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## Bribie G (1/3/09)

Tropical_Brews said:


> Ruddles is a more hop driven ale than most English bitters so 05 should be good to bring out the BC taste.
> 
> I love the Bramling Cross taste soo much I will be using it on a regular basis in my Ruddles taste quest.
> 
> P.S. The clear glass Ruddles County they sell here seems a poor relation to the full bodied Ruddles of yesteryear that I remember as a youngster.



Yup. It was originally 5% ABV. It got taken over by Morlands of speckled hen fame and they tried brewing the Ruddles at Abingdon but couldn't get it quite right so gave it back to Ruddles original site, then Morlands got taken over by Green King (Greed King) who have not only dropped the Ruddles to about Tooheys New strength but have also gutted the Hen which is down from 5.2% to 4.5%.

I think we are in agreement that the only way to get a good Ruddles is to brew it ourselves! Hm back to square one with the yeast. Bugger it I'll go ahead with the US-05 and I'll post or PM you with the results in a couple of weeks.

Whatever, it will get drunk with great pleasure I'm sure :icon_cheers:


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## drsmurto (1/3/09)

Bribie

Care to share your Ruddles recipe?

I have 1 on tap at the minute.

Bought a bottle of it last night - $15.50...... a mate paid $19.90 for the chimay blue (reserve?). 

I used 1275. 

Not too bad but the hops are a bit muted IMO.

Maybe US05 would be the way to go.


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## Bribie G (1/3/09)

5000 g Maris Otter TF
250g Carared
35g Carafa T3 (might steep some more and adjust colour up a bit)

Mashed 67 degrees 60 mins

500g dex

90 min boil

45g NZ Fuggles 60 min
20g Bramling Cross 20 min
20g Bramling Cross 10 min

dry hop with 20g Bramling Cross after 4 days

Planned Wyeast English Bitter 1768

Didn't do any water additions as I wouldn't have a clue what the waters would be like in that part of the UK. :icon_cheers:


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## RdeVjun (3/5/09)

Folks, at last I'm having a crack at AG this week when my first order of MO arrives probably on Tuesday. I grabbed a BIAB as well, although I picked up a big sheet of voile for a dollar from St Vinnies the same day I ordered:  ...

I thought BribieG's Ruddles recipe would be a fairly straight forward number to try first, but silly me doesn't have any T3. So I'm wondering if some T1 would do as a replacement? I've never had or used it, but do have T1, from the specs T3 just seems to be a darker roast. I could blend in a bit of Roast Barley if it'd sub, but I'm not sure this would help.

Also, digressing back on topic, still run with US-05? Did we reach a consensus? I have Windsor, Nottingham and S-04 on hand, can get US-05 from the LHBS though, but not T3.

Am quite looking forward to this, so many thanks in advance! :icon_cheers:


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## T.D. (3/5/09)

I haven't read the rest of this thread, but out of the yeasts you have listed there I would go with Windsor.

I recently fermented a Ruddles-like bitter (wasn't mean to be just turned out that way! :lol: ) using US-05 and as much as it 'worked', as in it made beer, I think it could have meen MUCH better if I used a proper English yeast. Ruddles is a fairly bitter drop, I would be careful using such a clean yeast on it. But if a crisp and clean bitter is what you are going for it might have some merit. But still, if that is what you are after I would still rather use something like S-04 (happy medium) rather than US-05.


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## RdeVjun (3/5/09)

T.D. said:


> I haven't read the rest of this thread, but out of the yeasts you have listed there I would go with Windsor.
> 
> I recently fermented a Ruddles-like bitter (wasn't mean to be just turned out that way! :lol: ) using US-05 and as much as it 'worked', as in it made beer, I think it could have meen MUCH better if I used a proper English yeast. Ruddles is a fairly bitter drop, I would be careful using such a clean yeast on it. But if a crisp and clean bitter is what you are going for it might have some merit. But still, if that is what you are after I would still rather use something like S-04 (happy medium) rather than US-05.


Thanks T.D., I've never tasted the original, so I'm not really sure where its supposed to be going, but I've done similar extracts with steeped grains, traditional british hops and yeasts, so these ingredients are appealing.

I know what you mean with the unintentionally- bitter brews, by hook or by crook, a few of my recent brews have been quite bitter through ignorance, accident or the wrong guess. But they've been quite drinkable, so if this is one is quite bitter that'll be just fine. Crisp & clean is more like what I'd do for someone else as a request, so I'll keep that in mind with the US-05.

I do have a couple of smaller fermenters & cubes though, maybe they'll come in handy for a side- by- side yeast comparison, but I said to myself a while back that perhaps I'd do better to quit all the experiments and just do popular, proven recipes. The mad scientist in me is objecting strongly to that though!

Thanks again, I appreciate your insights.


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## Bribie G (3/5/09)

If you go back to my post in March re the Ruddles, you'll note that I said "Planned to use 1768" but as it happened my saved sample didn't revive after a couple of days so I used US-05, being unable to get any S-04, and IMHO it produced a very nice bitter. 


However if I had to do it again, as suggested if I needed to use a dried yeast I would use S-04 which is a bit more fruity, and no way Nottingham that goes too clean and dry for this style. You can't go too wroing with the 05 depending on what temp you use, I have used it in my Cerveza at 17 degrees and in bitters at 20 degrees. I'm back onto 1768 ATM with a Ringwood to follow up with a new Yorkie but, if push came to shove I would use US-05 again.


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## RdeVjun (3/5/09)

Thanks, that makes complete sense in the full context.

Anyone got thoughts on T1/T3? At this point I'm tempted to just up the T1 to around 50g, leave everything else alone and from my present yeast inventory, pitch S-04. Maybe even run a few pints of wort into a small cube I have to test Windsor to keep my mad scientist contented and back in his box, but purely optional.


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## Kai (4/5/09)

BribieG said:


> However if I had to do it again, as suggested if I needed to use a dried yeast I would use S-04 which is a bit more fruity, and no way Nottingham that goes too clean and dry for this style. You can't go too wroing with the 05 depending on what temp you use, I have used it in my Cerveza at 17 degrees and in bitters at 20 degrees. I'm back onto 1768 ATM with a Ringwood to follow up with a new Yorkie but, if push came to shove I would use US-05 again.



Really? I'd say US-05 is cleaner than nottingham. I agree with others who say nottingham leaves behind a dusty flavour. Great in darker ale, but for a neutral, hop-driven light-coloured ale I'd pick US-05.... too neutral for any english ale imho.


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## MarkBastard (5/5/09)

Bribie they were selling bottles of this or $5 each at Dan Murphys Brisbane Airport about two weeks ago. I bought a bottle and liked it.

I think they normally go for about $7.50 to $8 at DM.


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