English Bitter Recipe Help

[mattyh77]

Going to do an English Bitter this weekend. Never done one but want to use up some of the English hops I have.

23L
5.0 kg Maris Otter
250g Crystal 60L
250g Wheat (Head retention)
20g Challenger (8.4%) 60 min
20g Challenger 10 Min
20g Challenger Whirlpool
WLP002

Mash 66?, Boil 60min?

Est OG 1.057
Est FG 1.013
IBU 36.2

Other hops I have include chinook, cluster, tettnang

Is the Challenger the best option? I also have some Vienna I was thinking of putting in for some body, but thought this would take away from the EB style?

Hows it look?

Cheers
Matt

 

[warra48]

The Maris will give you plenty of body, no need for the Vienna.
Otherwise looks OK to me. Your other hops don't fit a UK style to my mind. I boil longer than 60 min, usually 75 to 90 minutes, but that's me.

 

[manticle]

Looks fine. Maris, crystal, challenger. I highly recommend wlp 013. Start at 17- 18 for 2-3 days, bump to 22, done and dropped by day 6-7 Add finings and you have bright, drinking beer kegged in a week from pitching.

 

[Blind Dog]

Challenger is definitely the best option (hands down my favourite hop)

Personally I'd either drop the malt quantities to get a lower OG, or up the bittering hops to increase IBUs to get an IBU:OG ratio in the region of 75% to 80% (so ~45 IBU if you kept an OG of 1.057). I tend to do a bittering charge, whirlpool (cube) addition and maybe a dry hop for bitters aiming for >70% of overall IBU to come from the bittering addition. I find that gives the lingering bitterness that I enjoy. Rest is from the whirlpool addition (which for me usually means cube addition) to add flavour and aroma. Dry hop is optional, but challenger works well as a dry hop.

Other option is to add some dark crystal to the mix to bump up the malt complexity, say three percent or so, drop the MO to compensated, but otherwise keep your recipe as is. Should end up with a more malt forward, complex ESB type brew.

 

[Sidney Harbour-Bridge]

My preference would be East Kent Goldings for the later additions.

IBU is right for ordinary bitter, OG is way too high for an ordinary bitter it should be 1.035 ish I would reduce the MO but leave the crystal/wheat where they are.

A 90 minute boil will give a slightly darker colour.

 

[stewy]

As is will make a great Bitter.

I’ve used Aromatic in mine before & it is great. Really ups the maltiness

 

[Bribie G]

There are roughly three "strength bands" of UK Bitters which can seem confusing if you haven't been there or lived there. They are also set out in the BJCP guides.

There's a session type bitter around 3.8% ABV that we would class as a "mid". - e.g. SA Brain's Bitter, Theakston's Bitter

Then a premium type bitter around 4 to 4.5% ABV. - SA Brain's SA (Special Ale), TT Landlord

And at the top of the heap a fairly headbanger (by pom standards) of around 5% ABV. - Courage Directors Bitter, Greene King Abbott Ale.. approach with caution if drinking by the pint.

I generally go for the premium "best bitter" range and your recipe slots in around those upper ABVs. Sounds good.

Yes 66 degrees, one hour. No Vienna. If anything I'd even sub a kilo of the MO with lager malt - I do that with a Boddingtons clone and it comes out less chewy and more quaffable.

 

[shacked]

I agree with the folks about that the OG might be a little on the high side but just brew it and see how you like it! You can always change next time around.

I've tried to like 002 but really haven't got the results that I'd want from it. I like London Ale - WLP013, WY1099 (Whitbread) and Burton Ale - WLP023.

I do triple batches and ended up throwing some Belgian yeast onto an all challenger English Bitter cube. Turned out great! Great hop!

 

[RdeVjun]

approach with caution if drinking by the pint

Sheet, now you tell me Bribie, I'll have to remember that next time at your place!

Anyway, for PBs Challenger is a fine, versatile hops, but so are many others, e.g. EKG, Styrian, recommend trying a few.

 

[mattyh77]

I picked up some EKG today, so should I use it for the late hop and possibly dry hop?

 

[RdeVjun]

Yep, that would be fine, EKG is a fairly versatile strain, although the predominant use in my brewery has been late for flavour, so <20 minutes.

 

[Randai]

Honestly looks good to me, late EKG is classic bitter territory for me. Not so much crystal in there that you won't get the good flavour of the base malt.