ESB Critique

I put together this ESB recipe awhile back but looking to revise. (This is the revised showing MO in lieu of Pale Malt) and was looking for some additional input. My main question is should I sub out some crystal malt and add in some Munich/Vienna for a bit more bready/bisquity flavor profile. I think this would accentuate the beer a bit more but am not sure. I am revising a recipe that was originally Pale Malt instead of MO. The judging notes stated that while the beer was good (Scored a 35) it was a bit bland for style and could be improved with a bit more bread/biscuit  in the profile. Also not sure the Special roast still needs to be there either? I am looking for a nice bitter that I can put in regular rotation as it is a favorite style of mine.

Recipe: EnglishSpecial Bitter TYPE: All Grain
Style: English Best Bitter
—RECIPE SPECIFICATIONS-----------------------------------------------
SRM: 12.0 SRM SRM RANGE: 5.0-16.0 SRM
IBU: 38.0 IBUs Tinseth IBU RANGE: 25.0-40.0 IBUs
OG: 1.048 SG OG RANGE: 1.040-1.049 SG
FG: 1.012 SG FG RANGE: 1.008-1.012 SG
BU:GU: 0.798 Calories: 155.0 kcal/12oz Est ABV: 4.6 %
EE%: 80.00 % Batch: 6.25 gal      Boil: 8.97 gal BT: 60 Mins

—WATER CHEMISTRY ADDITIONS----------------

Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs Total Hops: 4.75 oz oz.
—MASH/STEEP PROCESS------MASH PH:5.40 ------

-ADD WATER CHEMICALS BEFORE GRAINS!!<<<<<<<
Amt                  Name                                    Type          #        %/IBU       
8 lbs                Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett)  Grain        1        80.0 %       
12.0 oz              Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)    Grain        2        7.5 %       
8.0 oz                Aromatic Malt (Briess) (20.0 SRM)        Grain        3        5.0 %       
8.0 oz                Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)  Grain        4        5.0 %       
4.0 oz                Special Roast (50.0 SRM)                Grain        5        2.5 %

Name              Description                            Step Temperat Step Time   
Mash In          Add 3.75 gal of water at 164.0 F        154.0 F      60 min

Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.93gal, 4.48gal) of 168.0 F water

—BOIL PROCESS-----------------------------
Est Pre_Boil Gravity: 1.038 SG Est OG: 1.048 SG
Amt                  Name                                    Type          #        %/IBU       
2.25 oz              Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop          6        32.6 IBUs   
0.31 tsp              Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)              Fining        7        -           
0.75 oz              Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 10.0 Hop          8        3.9 IBUs     
0.50 oz              Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 5.0  Hop          9        1.4 IBUs     
0.50 oz              Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 0.0  Hop          10      0.0 IBUs

Appreciate the thoughts!

Gary

I’ll be doing this in March: “Back Bench bitter”. three gallons, O G about 1.055, IBUs about 44
3 lbs. Pearl pale ale malt
3 lbs. Optic pale ale malt
8 ozs. carastan 35 crystal malt
4 ozs. British crystal 80 malt
4 ozs. biscuit malt
1/8 oz. back yard goldings @ 5.5% (?) plus
1/8 oz. admiral @ 13.1% to FWH
1/4 oz. b y goldings plus
1/2 oz. admiral for 45 minutes
pinch of irish moss plus
1/8 tsp. nutrient for 15 minutes
1/8 oz. admiral plus
1/2 oz. b y goldings to steep
??? oz.  dry hop
9 grams Munton’s
3 ozs.  corn sugar to prime
mash at 154f for 45 minutes.

Special roast is not needed if you’re using MO. My surefire ESB recipe is simply 93% MO and 7% Dark English Crystal, based on Fuller’s recipe.

If you’re looking for a bit more base malt character you can also stand to bump up your OG a bit. The 1.055 range is a good spot for an ESB.

What brands of MO and Crystal give the flavor you want?

When I see more than one or two specialty malts I always challenge myself to justify each one. It doesn’t mean I won’t use that many bit I definitely give it some thought. What jumps out at me is using biscuit with marris otter  seems unnecessary.

I like 1.055/45IBU for ESB, with 93% Fawcett MO, 7% Simpson’s Medium Crystal (60), WY 1968 (or 1469), mostly EKG. Made this many times and can’t find a lot of reason to change. Simple and good.

So it sounds like in switching from pale malt to the Maris Otter I will get the additional flavors that were lacking in my first go around along with the small percentage of the dark crystal. Plus, bumping up the Og, which means I’ll have to adjust some of the hops then as well to balance things out?

I really like a nice portion of torrified wheat in my ESB. Otherwise, mine look like the others, around 90% English pale malt 5% dark crystal 5% torrified wheat. Replacing some of the base with invert #3 is quite tasty as well. English hops or American derivatives are great. Maybe something noble. Fresh Cluster is great as well. 1469 is my favorite yeast for this.

My ESB recipe:

ESB- Batch 0032
Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)
All Grain (5.00 gal) ABV: 5.36 %
OG: 1.051 SG FG: 1.010 SG
IBUs: 35.4 IBUs Color: 8.6 SRM
By: Charles Villafana

7 lb 8.0 oz - Pale Malt, Maris Ottern(78.9%)
1 lb - Cara-Pils/Dextrine (10.5%)
8.0 oz - Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L(5.3%)
8.0 oz - Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (5.3%)

0.75 oz - Galena 60 min
0.25 oz each fuggles and ekg at 10 min and flame out

S-04

this is what I do, though Crisp on the MO.  Magnum for bittering and then EKG all the way through.

Used 007 on this last run as am trying to grow it up.

Thanks for all the great ideas. I decided to simplify things and went with this:
90% Maris Otter
7% Crystal 120
3% Biscuit

I bumped the hops at 60 to provide 45 IBU and added the dry hops to the flameout/hop stand to 2oz which as I use a CFC comes out to about a 20 minute stand for some nice aroma. The other hop additions I kept the same and still going all EKG.

I decided to add some biscuit in because I wanted a bit more of the flavor imparted to the beer.

I switched up the yeast to 1968 since I like that profile better than the 1028 I had originally. Gonna try and brew this up one day this week after I get a nice starter going, now off to the LHBS today to pick things up!

Cheers, Gary

I use Crisp and Fawcett as well. I use Challenger to bitter and late boil, and a healthy dose of EKGs late and dry. I have also been known to add some Caliente late if I want to up the hops a bit as well.

Torrified wheat is also another great choice. It has a nice nuttiness that is right at home in British ales. I use it pretty much any time I use simple sugars in English beer.

How much torrified wheat? I’ve used that in a couple ales I’ve brewed but didn’t really get any nutty profile out of it, maybe I’ve not used enough?

I’ve used 1/2 lb in bitters and picked up on it. I’ve never used more IIRC.

Went back to notes and had used 6oz with very little impact, will have to try it again sometime perhaps with a bit more

Even @ 8 oz it’s pretty subtle to me - nothing like 8 oz of, say, Biscuit or Victory.  I think it’s a little nutty but with a little ‘popcorny’ character, too. No surprise, it’s made much like popcorn.

I usually use 4-6 ounces in a 3-gallon batch, or about 5-7% of the grist. It’s one of those things that I could never put my finger on until I heard someone else describe the flavor. Now I pick it up pretty easily. It does remind me a bit of puffed wheat cereal, or Honey Smacks minus the sugar.

Would toasting wheat flakes get you to a similar place?

Just wanted to pop in and thank everyone for the input, I simplified the original recipe and made the suggested adjustments, the ESB turned out fantastic!

Looks tasty !