Foster’s ESB was one of the first non lager beers I tried and liked. I’ve tried to brew an ESB with this kind of flavor but never got what I was after so I changed gears and went for an American amber.
I brewed this up late January and recently tried an early sample but still didn’t get a nice biscuity flavor I was hoping for.
I’m considering trying some British base malt next time, but I’m uncertain as to how far I can take Special Roast as I figured I may have been pushing it with a pound in this last recipe.
This is what I did for a 5.25 gal batch:
7.75 lbs 2-row
1 lb Special Roast
0.5 lb carafoam
0.375 lb C 90
0.25 lb C 20
1 oz Willamette (4.5%) @ 70/21/7 mins
US-05
An all Maris Otter beer would give you a fair amount of biscuity flavor as is. Then you could augment that with Biscuit, Victory, or (as you mentioned) Special Roast. I would start with all Maris Otter and then 3 or 4% of one of the latter mentioned malts. If this isn’t enough of that character, just increase incrementally. That ESB you mentioned must have a ton of biscuit character because I find that an all MO base generally has all the biscuit character I’m after. Good luck.
Edit - I see now that you used 2 row as your base malt in that recipe. I’d brew that recipe with just Maris Otter and the crystal malts, to see how you like the biscuit character. Then you could use one of the malts I mentioned on the next try. You may agree that this is what you’re after.
For Fuller’s ESB, I recommend 95 % Maris Otter, 5% carastan. Use Fuller’s yeast, and a combination of Target, Challenger, Northdown, for Bittering, and EKGs for finishing. That combination should get you there
So I tried another last night and found it had a very prominent biscuity flavor. I’m fairly happy but am considering a different base malt. Looking through what MoreBeer offers it seems Optic may have a more prominent bready/biscuity flavor than Maris Otter. Which would likely be better?
I’m also thinking about dropping the crystal malt for 3/4 lb of honey malt and a pinch of Midnight Wheat for color. Seems honey and biscuit would be nice! Maybe I’ll even add honey at flameout. If I do I’d possibly drop the honey malt to 1/2 lb as I’ve typically done in my honey wheat, though I have been curious where the threshold is for that malt (5.25 gal batches).
I love optic malt, but definitely not much “biscuit” going on. It’s more along the lines of pearl malt and golden promise; kind of a mix between MO and US 2row (a less flavorful British pale malt, or a more flavorful US malt). It’s a great malt; and easy substitute for US 2row in any recipe, but not very much “biscuit” going on there.
Maris Otter is probably the malt that has the most “biscuit” character of the many I’ve tried (usually more than I ever want in a beer).
^^Agreed. Do a batch with MO instead of your 2row and special roast, keep the rest the same. Adjust on the next batch if needed. In an ESB, MO is ideal.
I’ve been using MO in my ESB trying to create something like Old Speckled Hen using S-04 and don’t really get biscuit. Before trying for OSH my ESB tasted like unsweetened tea.
Soon I’ll be searching for a liquid British yeast that’s versatile for an ESB, IPA, old ale, and barleywine. Something I’d use often enough to keep it going a while. S-04 just hasn’t made a good ESB for me it seems. I’ll be brewing one more time trying for OSH on Monday with it though.
I brewed a 95% Crisp MO and 5% Simpson’s Heritage (Crystal MO) Pale Ale with Kent Goldings last weekend looking for the same flavors I think you are. I’ll keg this and cold crash/condition it next weekend for a couple weeks then carb and tap it. I am really looking forward to this one.
I had to rush this to the glass due to an unexpected run on the pipeline so I did not get to keep it as cold as long as I’d like before bringing it to serving/carbing temp. It is a malty beer with a nice hoppy finish. Very refreshing though a bit cloudy because of the rush. …but I’ve read that’s not unusual for a MO beer. I like it!
