Critique my ESB...

[GrumpyPaul]

[SIZE=medium]Hi all - Any thoughts or comments on this recipe.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]I am trying to use up hops I have - so thats why I used these.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium](I have a heap of CTZ and Nugget if you think they would be better)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]The grain bill is based on a previous ESB I have done - but I want to try and get a nice reddish hue to this one.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Not sure on what yeast to use - lat time I used Wyeast 1968. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Grumpy Bucks ESB[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Batch size = 19l[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Ale Maris Otter 2.40 kg[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Munich 1 1.20 kg[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Crystal Medium 150 0.30 kg[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]CaraRed 0.50 kg[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]CaraAroma 0.50 kg[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Black Patent Malt 0.05 kg[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Willamette 30g @ 60 Mins[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Apollo 5g @ 45 Mins[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Willamette 20g @ 20 Mins[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Apollo 10g @ 10 Mins[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Willamette 15g @ 0 Mins[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Apollo 10g @ 0 Mins[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Yeast – still undecided[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]OG1.050 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]FG 1.015 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]EBC 60.0 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]IBU 36.1[/SIZE]

 

[thermo_47]

Hey grumpy,

My 2c is that West Yorkshire (1469 I think) is a killer yeast for English styles. I highly preferred it to 1968 when I split my last batch of ESB to test them both out.

I've never used Williamette and Apollo so really not sure for hops. I find ESB to be one of those styles that has so much variation! Some I've tried tasted more like an IPA or American Pale ale, or completely bland and overly bitter. I think a good place to start is with traditional English hops like EKG, and another personal fav is Northdown for orange/gingery/marmalade kinda tones. I think it's more traditional to stick to earthy/floral hops and let the yeast do the talking in terms of fruitiness. I'm no expert either, but my interpretation is to essentially avoid hops that have those typically american characteristics like piney and resinous flavours.

I also like munich in my ESB. At worst, you'll make beer. By the looks of things, still a pretty tasty one

 

[Bribie G]

+1 for the Northdown. Doesn't seem to be used a lot here but it's the hop of Tetley's Yorkshire Bitter in the good old days and does give a citrusy flavour. Willamette is very Fuggle like and would go well in an ESB. Don't know much about Apollo - if you are doing this as an exercise in using up existing hops then it should turn out ESB-like but probably more like a stronger APA.

Grain bill looks fine - personally I'd slip in some white sugaz, h34r: say 300g . A fair few UK ESBs use it for example Bombardier and Abbott Ale (I think), as it's traditional.

Edit: last time I used 1968 it stuck, then took forever to clear. The Yorkshire ale is a good suggestion. My last ESB I used Wyeast Irish Ale for a slightly drier beer and it turned out great.

 

[sponge]

More just out of curiosity, but isn't 26% crystal (150/carared/caraaroma) a fairly high % ?

I am no means a bitter expert, so was just curious as it seemed to stand out a bit for me looking at the recipe..?

It sounds like you have already brewed something similar which turned out well so can't be too bad at all :lol:

+1 for 1469 though

 

[GrumpyPaul]

I was thinking of going a dry yeast this time (mostly out of laziness - but I am happy to convinced othewise if someone can point me to an appropriate albiet excessivly long thread)

Which of these lends itself best to an ESB.

Windsor, Nottingham, Safbrew T58 or Safale S-04????

 

[Phillo]

More just out of curiosity, but isn't 26% crystal (150/carared/caraaroma) a fairly high % ?

I am no means a bitter expert, so was just curious as it seemed to stand out a bit for me looking at the recipe..?

I was thinking the same thing. I usually leave it at 10% in total.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Ok - so reducng the crystal etc down to about 10% and adding a bit of White sugar.

[SIZE=medium]Grumpy Buck ESB version 2[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]19l batch[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Ale Maris Otter 2.40 kg[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Munich 1 2.00 kg[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Crystal Medium 150 0.20 kg[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]CaraRed 0.10 kg[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]CaraAroma 0.10 kg[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Black Patent Malt 0.05 kg[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Willamette 30g 60 Mins[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Apollo 8g 45 Mins[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Willamette 20g 20 Mins[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Apollo 10g 10 Mins[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Willamette 15g 0 Mins[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Apollo 10g 0 Mins[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]White Sugar 0.3 kg[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Yeast = Windsor[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]OG 1.056 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]FG 1.014 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]EBC 37.5 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]IBU 41.6[/SIZE]

 

[mxd]

a couype of things

T58 is a belgium yeast so you could make a belgium.

your recipe has appollo but you mention CTZ (Columbue, Tomahawk, Zeus), which I think are different.

I've only used CTZ once and wasn't happy with the beer I made so can't comment on that well enough, I've used willamite a few times and it's just not my type of hop.

The hops you mention are "americanish" so it'll be more a APA but an english yeast is still a good fit and will add some matiness (which you have plenty with the muich) to help with the IBU.

But looks fine, give it a shot and let us know.

 

[stakka82]

+1 for 1469.

I cooked up 50 litres of English IPA the other week and filled 2 cubes, then had 5 litres left over which I diluted to fill 9 litres of a 10 litre cube.

So I pitched the 1469 on the diluted cube (which worked out at about 1033 and 30 ibu - ordinary bitter territory) to use as a starter beer. Came out awesome, took it to a party, 9l keg gone in ONE hour.

Split the cake and now i've got the 2 cubes of IPA cold conditioning, tastings from the fermenters are splendid. Big thanks to Manticle for recommending the yeast and Ross for critiquing the grain bill. Will definitely be using west yorkshire again soon.