ESB Blues

[rodwha]

I brewed a revised ESB with Lyle's Golden Syrup as it was in a clone recipe I had seen for Old Speckled Hen, my favorite by far.

Being very anxious I shaved a few days off of conditioning and carbonation as I just couldn't wait (2.5 weeks cond and 3 days carb). What I poured tasted like unsweetened tea, which is similar to what my first attempt at an ESB tasted like. I'm wondering if it's an overpowering bittering addition.

This is the 5.5 gal partial mash recipe I came up with:

4 lbs Maris Otter
3 lbs MO LME (FO)
1 lb Lyle's Golden Syrup (FO)
1 lb British crystal 70/80
0.5 lb carafoam
1.5 oz EKG (4.5%) @ 70 mins
1 oz EKG @ 21 mins
0.5 oz EKG @ 7 mins
S-04

1.055/1.014
5.4%
34 IBUs
10 SRM

I mashed at 154* for 70 mins and fermented at 64* for 7 days and 75* for another 14 days.

My water (I don't have testing equipment and go off of the yearly water report and use Brewer's Friend advanced water calculator) was adjusted to Ca 83, Mg 19, Na 40, Cl 70, SO 143, pH 5.32.

My first one mellowed a little with time, and so I expect this one too as well, but I'm at a loss for the unsweetened tea-like taste. It's nothing remotely similar to OSH!

Any ideas? I'm guessing there's just too much in the bittering section.

 

[Yooper]

Does it taste a bit harsh? That's a high sulfate level, and that may be where the harsh/firm bittering comes from. "Tea" usually means astringency, though.

 

[rodwha]

It does come across as mildly harsh. I wouldn't say it was overbearing.

 

[rodwha]

Looking at some causes of astringency it would seem pH would be the greater possibility.

I try to target middle of the road pH in case anything is off or a mistake is made.

Maybe I ought to buy some pH strips to test my mash with. I hear they aren't very accurate but it seems better than what I've been doing.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

I would go with what Yooper said. The pH may not be an issue but that sulfate seems very high for an ESB. Considering that you go off a yearly report then adjusted, your sulfate could be massively higher or lower (I go off a yearly report as well but I keep my sulfate under 70 for hoppy beers).

I would bet money the "unsweetened tea" is from sulfate rather than pH. Beers I previously made and did a rough estimate of mash pH that ended up around 5.6 tasted like soap rather than over extracted tea (I love black tea so astringent normally doesn't bother me).

 

[rodwha]

Disappointing to say the least. Hopefully it mellows a bit with time as the first one did.

 

[rodwha]

I love the smell of hops so much I often save a few packages. As I'm brewing today I decided to toss the older ones and saw the EKG and smelled it. It smells like tea. It's about exactly the flavor I get in my ESB.

 

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

I'm curious to know how you have 4,246 posts on this site and are now encountering water composition issues... Did you recently move?

3 days in the bottle is very very early to taste. I wait a minimum of 2-3 weeks. I do miss those days when I just couldn't wait.

 

[rodwha]

It conditioned for 2 weeks and sat in the fridge for 3 days.

I did move, but I wasn't treating my water the first several years. And I just recently moved to all grain now that I have a better mash tun.

 

[rodwha]

I guess it just needed a bit more conditioning as the ones today aren't like tea. It's still nothing like OSH though.

 

[rodwha]

Yesterday it was similar enough to OSH. Apparently this beer needed a little longer to mature.

I give 3 weeks to ferment, 3 weeks to condition, and 1 week in the fridge, but I've been cutting 3 days from the conditioning and chilling for the typical 3 days with those bottles that didn't fill a 6 pack. It's not like I tried it well before it's assumed time.

I've not had a lighter style of beer change so drastically, nor have I had the hop flavors change like this.

 

[Taranis]

For me the most distinctive flavor in OSH is the yeast characteristic. Im also a big fan and I get that flavor from fermenting with 1968 at 68F.

 

[rodwha]

I still have one more can of Lyle's Golden Syrup meant for this. I've also been looking into a versatile British yeast that will work well with a few styles so I can easily keep it going. I'll check this one out.

Thanks!