English Pale Ale

Beer Recipes
1

So I’m looking for a good all-grain English Pale Ale recipe, or at least some tips to help build my own. I’m looking for something closer to Bass Ale than a Fuller’s ESB. I saw an old Bass clone recipe from BYO, but when I see Flaked Maize in an English Ale recipe it makes me suspicious. Even if that is a true clone, that’s not the direction I want to go with my own recipe.

I’m looking for a dry pale ale recipe to showcase some UK hops. I know Bass isn’t super hoppy, but I think that is a good ballpark to get started with. Some specific questions I had:

Base malt - Some sort of English Pale Ale malt - Anyone have any preferences between MO, Optic or any other pale ale malt?

Crystal - I want a little bit of English crystal character, but not as much as a Fullers-style ESB. I’m thinking about 5% of an 80L English Dark Crystal.

Victory/Biscuit - This says “English ale” to my palate. I’m thinking 6oz for a 3 gallon batch.

Roast Barley - one thing I do agree with the BYO clone recipe on is a touch of roastiness. I’m thinking of 1-2 oz of 300L Roast Barley added late in the mash.

Yeast - Any strong preferences to a particular strain? Leaning towards WLP007, but S-04, WLP002 and WLP023 come to mind also. Any other options I should consider?

Hops - Whatever UK hop styles I have on hand, mainly late additions. First up will be Challenger + Phoenix. I may pick up a third variety to add along, but I want to stay away from the typical EKG and/or Fuggles for the first round.

As always, thanks in advance. I’m looking forward to everyone’s ideas and experiences with this style.

2

I like WY1968/WLP002 for English pale ales/bitters. I think it is the defining flavor for the style, even above malt and hops choices. That being said, Maris Otter is another important element, and if you use it, you can probably skip the biscuit/victory malt addition. Finally, I like to get the roasted element from extra dark crystal malt (120+), but a touch of roasted barley will probably do the trick as well.

3

Agree on WY1968 and Maris Otter.  These are the base for my Fullers London Pride clone (I know you’re not looking for Fullers).  I think MO is crucial for an English ale.  I also agree that if you go with MO you could probably do away with Victory, but it also won’t hurt to include it.

I use Northdown hops (along with Fuggles and EKG).  I believe they are very similar to Fuggles, so maybe you want to stay away from these, too.

1968 is one of my current favorite yeasts.  It simply makes good beer better.

4

Here’s a thread with a good recipe from Jeff.
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=11209.msg139369#msg139369

I make one using almost all Maris Otter with some black malt for color and about 10% sugar to dry it out.  Styrian Goldings work well and the yeast Jeff uses is spot on for a Bitter.

5

Here’s my recipe:

Earl’s ESB

All Grain Recipe
Brewer: bluesman
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Style: Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale) ( 8C)
Color: 11.1 SRM
Bitterness: 57.4 IBUs
Boil Time: 90 min
Est OG: 1.064 (15.5° P)
Mash Profile: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Est FG: 1.016 SG (4.0° P)
ABV: 6.3%

Ingredients

10 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
0.8 oz Northern Brewer [10.4%] - Boil 60 min
1.5 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.0%] - Boil 25 min
1.0 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.0%] - Boil 15 min
1.0 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.0%] - Boil 10 min
English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)

Notes
Mashed in @ 154. and mash for 60 minutes
Sparge @ 168.°F 
O.G=1.060 actual
SILVER MEDAL WINNER 2010 NHC!

6

I can vouch for this one.  It was very good.  The EKGs really give it good English hop character.

7

But the OP is trying to stay away from EKG. And Fuggle.

Both of which, I believe, are almost required for a good English ale.

8

+1  At least an ale with classic hop character (i.e. Fuller’s)

9

You can make very true to style English pale ale with all Challenger hops.

I like Crisp MO, or Warminster MO.

As for specialty grains, just some medium crystal, or some carastan ~35L are good. A little torrified wheat works well.

You want a pale ale water profile. See Brunwater.

Most of the English yeast are good choices. I like 002/1968, 1469, 1275 for bitters and pale ales.

Some kettle sugars will help dry it out if you wish. I use turbinado if I have it. Lyles Golden syrup works well.

10

This is on my list to use.  As well as their treacle for my old ale.

11

Here’s the Bass Ale in Clone Brews by Tess and Mark Szamatulski…

OG = 1.052-1.053
IBU = 37
AVB: 5%

Mash @ 150 degrees for 90 minutes
9 lb British 2-row pale
14 oz 55L British Crystal

90 minute boil
90 minute 3/4 oz of Northdown (English Northern Brewer for a substitute)
15 minute 1/4 oz of Challenger
10 minute 1/2 oz of Northdown
1 minute 1/4 oz of Northdown

WYeast 1098 British Ale (First Choice)
WYeast 1028 London Ale (Second Choice)

Now I haven’t brewed any recipes out of this book. I really just bought it as a guideline to help me create recipes when I first starting making them.

12

How about a UK based forum for some homebrew recipes?
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=5&sid=c6d022d47627acd9dc033e2e8bcda7a8

13

Here is a nice simple and tasty ESB.

94.6% Pale Malt (UK)
5.4% Crystal 120
Target at 90 (35ish IBU’s)
Saaz at flame out
Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley or Wyeast 1968

152 mash
1.055 OG
10 SRM

14

+1 to everything hopfenundmalz says. His Landlord clone is very tasty. Here’s what I’ve been using for an ESB:
OG: 1.054
83% Golden Promise
5% English Crystal 80L
5% Amber Malt
3% Torrified Wheat
3% American 6-row

Hops (I use different varieties all the time. Glacier, EKG, Styrian Goldings, Fuggles, First Gold, Brewer’s Gold. Looking forward to trying out Phoenix)
Bitter to 20 ibus
1oz 15 min
1.25 oz 5 min

Yeast: Wyeast 1469. I like S-04 at low temps (and with a touch of oak). WLP 002 is great as well.

When I start brewing again in the Fall I am going to use a mix of MO and Pils for this to see how I like it.

15

thanks for the shout out, Jeff!

16

Some great ideas here so far. I think I’ve been swung back to WLP002/1968 for my yeast choice, with some Lyle’s golden syrup to help dry it out a bit.

As far as EKG/Fuggle goes, I’m sure they will work their way into future versions of the recipe, but I just want to play around with some UK hop varieties that are new to me right now. I’m kind of looking for an English equivalent of my standard APA/AIPA recipes for playing with English hops.

17

I most recently used all first gold for a ordinary bitter, I thought it turned out very good.

18

All you really need IMO is a good floor malted MO like Thomas Fawcett and some nice East Kent Goldings, or Challenger or even Target. But you really need the EKGs. Just sayin. WLP002 or its equivalent. Use at least 2 oz per 5 gallons dry hops. Don’t overcarbonate. And if you use any MO for god’s sake stay away from victory or you will over do it. Victory is kinda like a cheap replacement for MO. Just go all MO. Add 5% crystal if you must. But no more.

19

But if you don’t want Fullers taste, why use Fullers yeast?
Personally I use 007 for my British beers. It’s drier, I love the flavour and I’ve never had a stuck ferment with it unlike 002. 002 makes great beer, it’s just not my preferred choice.

20

I have tried them all and I keep going back to 1028 for my British style beers.