ESB

[theQ]

I always wanted to brew an ESB, anyone can share a solid recipe has been tried and works ?

I have no restrictions on my system so technically anything could go!

 

[imasickboy]

I reccomend the one from Brewing Classic Styles.

I'm not at home right now, so I don't have the recipe handy, but will put it up later if no one else does.

 

[fourfarthing]

Common room in the recipes section is solid.

 

[dwhite60]

There's a thread here somewhere about "Favorite British Ale Recipes".
Good reading.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[thehaze]

Maris Otter 94-97%
Crystal 60L 3-6%
Fullers yeast/WY1469
EKG/First Gold/Brewers Gold, etc.
Around 5% ABV
30-40 IBU
Slightly sulfate leaning water

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I always wanted to brew an ESB, anyone can share a solid recipe has been tried and works ?

Well in the UK, ESB is not a style but a single beer, so would the original Fuller's brewlogs do? I'd guess that could be regarded as a tested recipe, as long as you can fit nearly 16 tonnes of grain in your mash tun... Here's a homebrew version from later in the thread.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Brewing an ESB this upcoming weekend using WY1968.

 

[ba-brewer]

Do you want to brew a English Strong Bitters or do you want to brew a US type ESB, do you have a beer you would like to emulate?

Are you looking to brew this for your own enjoyment or to enter into a contest?

If it is for your own enjoyment the recipes from thehaze and northerbrewer will make good enjoyable beers. If you plan to enter the beer into a contest then you might need to make some adjustment to appease the judges.

 

[theQ]

Do you want to brew a English Strong Bitters or do you want to brew a US type ESB, do you have a beer you would like to emulate?

Are you looking to brew this for your own enjoyment or to enter into a contest?

If it is for your own enjoyment the recipes from thehaze and northerbrewer will make good enjoyable beers. If you plan to enter the beer into a contest then you might need to make some adjustment to appease the judges.

It's just for my own enjoyment. I always liked ESB but in 7 years of brewing never did one :-|
The desire to brew one is that I want to try a beer that I know I like and always liked but dont get enough of it.

I liked the UK versions but no beer to emulate. This post is to get material in order as research.

 

[ba-brewer]

For the last year I have been brewing best bitters roughly following the recipe of thehaze to test different yeast(lower ABV, 5 to 10% light or med crystal). It was a bit surprising how a simple recipe could produce such a flavorful beer and how much the yeast contributes.

When you get your hops buy where the vendor lists the harvest year. I would pick a fresher harvest date over a particular variety. Buy british crystal malt.

Here is another thread worth looking through.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/british-yeasts-fermentation-temps-and-profiles-cybi-other-thoughts.221817/
​

 

[imasickboy]

Here's the recipe from BCS:

OG: 1.056 (13.8 °P)
FG: 1.015 (3.8 °P)
ADF: 73%
IBU: 40
Color: 8 SRM (16 EBC)
Alcohol: 5.4% ABV (4.2% ABW)
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-Boil Volume: 7 gallons (26.5L)
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.048 (11.8 °P)
Extract
English Pale Ale LME (3.5 °L) Weight
Percent
8.6 lbs. (3.9kg) 92.0
Steeping Grains
Crystal (15 °L)
Crystal (120 °L) 0.5 lb. (227g) 5.3
0.25 lb. (113g) 2.7
Hops-----------------------------------------------------------IBU
Kent Goldings 5% AA for 60 min. 2.0 oz. (57g) ---39.8
Kent Goldings 5% AA for 0 min. 1.0 oz. (28g) ------0
Yeast
White Labs WLP002 English Ale, Wyeast 1968 London ESB, or Fermentis Safale S-04
Fermentation and Conditioning
Use 11 grams of properly rehydrated dry yeast, 2 liquid yeast packages, or make an appropriate starter. Ferment at
68° F (20° C). When finished, carbonate the beer to approximately 1.5 to 2 volumes.
All-Grain Option
Replace the English pale ale extract with 12 lbs. (5.44kg) British pale ale malt. Mash at 152° F (67° C).

 

[theQ]

For the last year I have been brewing best bitters roughly following the recipe of thehaze ...

​

Do you have a handy link to that ?

 

[riceral]

Do you have a handy link to that ?

It's Post #5 in this thread, above.

 

[ba-brewer]

As riceral said look at post#5 but here is the outline.

Best Bitter
Shoot for a starting gravity of 1044
Mash 152F
Crisp #19 Maris Otter (90 - 95%)
Carastan or british crystal 60/70 (5 - 10%)
30 IBU of target 60min
5 IBU EKG 10min
Yeast Du Jour

I have mostly been brewing with the vault releases this last year, but WY1968 or WY1469 would be things to try.

 

[thehaze]

And another thing I like in Bitters is a lower FG. I saw a recipe above with a theoretical FG of 1.015. That seems like a lot, although if made well, it could taste well-attenuated. Anything from 1.008 to 1.010 is fine for my taste, so this is another thing you can think about, and of course experiment with. See where your own taste takes you. Cheers.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

And another thing I like in Bitters is a lower FG. I saw a recipe above with a theoretical FG of 1.015. That seems like a lot, although if made well, it could taste well-attenuated. Anything from 1.008 to 1.010 is fine for my taste, so this is another thing you can think about, and of course experiment with. See where your own taste takes you. Cheers.

That was on a strong bitter at 5.4%, essentially stronger than anything you'll find on the bar in 95+% of British pubs - attenuation of 73% is pretty normal.

The attenuation thing is complicated. In general the beers of northern England are more influenced by Burton and so tend to be more attenuated than the beers of the south - Burton was mostly brewing for export to the colonies, so wanted to leave less food for contaminating organisms on the journey to India etc. But going below 4% it's quite easy to end up with something that's a bit thin and uninteresting if you over-attenuate; IMO the best bitter strength of 4.2-4.4% is much the best level to aim for if you're not a regular brewer of British styles - certainly if you're natural-conditioning or not going too crazy with keg carbonation. But some commercial beers have got as low as 1.003....

 

[thehaze]

Northern_Brewer - I understand what you are saying and I do appreciate all your knowledge you are sharing with us, and I do read everything you have to say, as I am always learning and stocking on new info. I've had a few examples of bitters and then I also brewed at home. My preference comes from brewing bitters at home, some with a higher FG of 1.015-1.016 and others with a much lower FG, at around 1.010 and under. I do like an under 5% Golden Bitter, with a thin, crisp body, which is why again my preference goes to something that feels/tastes dry (er ).

 

[theQ]

I do like mine beers well attenuated so I am going to ask about the two yeast discussed above - WY1968 or WY1469

1. pitching temp range
2. ferm temp range
3. flavor profiles
4. personal preference of one over the other

Great info!!! Thank you all the got me going. Now is time to compile it in a recipe.