Brew Your Own British Real Ale...Crystal?

Beer Recipes
1

I don’t think this book indicates exactly which crystal malts (Lovibond?) to use in the recipes.

Does anyone know for certain what crystal malts are typically used in bitters, pales, and milds, by the Brit breweries?
I’m not so much interested in what homebrewers are personally using, but what the British breweries are actually using.

2

I can’t remember where I read it now but there was an article somewhere that said the most important ingredient was the English malt, specifically Maris Otter - and that some brewers don’t use any crystal. Or when they do they use MO and a touch of crystal. I have found the British crystal to give a more authentic “British” taste than other crystal malts. I know you just said you aren’t interested in what “homebrewers” are using, but to my taste and my experience the Medium British crystal seems to work best in, say, Ordinary Bitter. And Maris Otter, of course.

3

All sorts.

Warminster is a popular maltings - look at their product list: http://www.warminster-malt.co.uk/products.html

I agree with majorvices - if you use a good floor malted Maris Otter pale malt, you don’t need too much crystal.

Ant Hayes
Tonbridge, Kent

4

Medium Crystal is what you typically want, but the color range from malster to malster can be different for British Crystal.  Find one you like and stick with it.

That book doesn’t say anything about yeast selection, which is the most important ingredient.

Ant and Majorvices advice on base malt should also be followed.  I like Crisp Maris Otter as a base for most British Ales.  Golden Promise is also a good malt variety.

5

The Brewing network has a couple of good shows in “Can you brew it?” on Fuller’s ESB and London Pride.

6

Here’s a quote from Graham Wheeler himself, halfway down the page. Complete with some typical ratings from British maltsters
80L is a good guess, but it can vary, as he points out
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11206&p=138477

Divide EBC by 2 (1.97, to be exact) to get Lovibond
http://www.specialtymalts.com/maltster/faq_brewing.html

7

Thanks for all the info from everyone.  Is the CYBI team able to pull off a Fuller’s ESB clone?  I’d be surprised.
As for British crystal, I’ve always like Fawcett 65-70L.  I’ve noticed Jamil uses 120L in his bitter recipe.

8

Big Brew 2008 had a recipe for Chiswick Bitter that was pretty close to spot on (I seem to remember that John Keeling had a hand in it). Site Not Found

Now knowing that Chiswick, London Pride, ESB and Golden Pride are partigyled from the same mash and having a look at www.fullers.co.uk for gravities - you should not struggle to make your own ESB clone.

Ant Hayes
Tonbridge, Kent

9

Big Brew looks great, I had no idea there was that much hopping in these beers. Thanks for adding that to the wiki

10

Thanks for the info Ant, and all.

In spite of all the info available online from Fullers, not to mention an interview with the Fullers head brewer, the CYBI team bombed it.  Wrong crystal, wrong hops, no partigyle.  I’m not sure why they bothered, really.