Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter Clone Recipe

[molehill]

Well…. It wasn’t all plain sailing but I think I managed to get somewhere near my planned brew day. It started on a negative since I thought I had dark crystal in stock but it transpired it was only crystal malt. I re-visited Beer Engine and changed the grain bill from dark to standard crystal and the only thing that changed was the IBU’s from 35 down to 32. So I added 40g of black crystal to bring it back up to 35 IBU’s… Again, nothing else changed so assume this will have little effect on the end result?

The only other small issue was my mash temperature dropped from 67c down to 65c over the 60 minutes. I did plan to close the lid at 68c but I think I spent 30 seconds too long doughing in. I always cover my mash with a foil blanket, which usually holds the temperature on a 90 minute mash very well with no temp drop, but for some reason this didn’t happen this time, even though it was only a 60 minute mash.

Everything else went to plan, although I finished with 1lt more in the FV and I am now wondering whether this is because I did a 60 minute boil and had not altered the water calculations from my last 90 minute brew, which had a slight effect on final readings.

Results as follows:
pH reading after sparging between 5.2 – 5.4.
Pre boil gravity 1034
Final hops steeped for 30 minutes followed by slow chilling down to 18c.
Runnings from boiler were crystal clear and tasted beautiful.
Post boil gravity 1039 ….. Probably small loss due to additional wort.
Pitched yeast at 18c …… Using my first homemade Sussex 1 slant…. Really pleased!

Considering I had a 12 week Labrador puppy to manage at the same time …. Not a bad day.

Following Orlando’s comment, the FV is sitting in my beer fridge at around 18-19c and will stay there for two weeks, then I will drop temp to 4c for 24 hours then transfer to the bottling bucket and bottle.

If any of you more experienced brewers can offer comments / advice, if my plan sounds flawed….. I would appreciate any comments. I have never used finnings or clearing agents and wondered with the little experience I have using Sussex 1 and the fact it has not previously stuck to the bottom of the bottle, whether it will help solve this issue?

[orlando]

Well done, sounds good to me, don't worry about mash temp drop. I don't see how the malt change affects IBU, that is a measure of bitterness, it should have affected colour. The rest of your plans seem spot on but make sure the hydrometer determines the next step. Two weeks should have you in the clear though.

[Pinto]

I think he probably meant EBC - my brew software lists it

[molehill]

Well done, sounds good to me, don't worry about mash temp drop. I don't see how the malt change affects IBU, that is a measure of bitterness, it should have affected colour. The rest of your plans seem spot on but make sure the hydrometer determines the next step. Two weeks should have you in the clear though.

Your right I was referring to bitterness..... I don't know my IBU's from my EBC's ......Fingers crossed for stage two.

[molehill]

Update....
Bottled 1st brew yesterday after 2 weeks in FV and the Final gravity finished at 1.010 giving an ABV of 3.8%. I guess I had to expect this when I did not reduce the boil % loss from 15% down to 10%. Tasted bloody good all the same and can't wait for a proper taste in 2 or 3 weeks.

Today was a repeat of the previous Harvey's recipe I went with 2 weeks ago apart from this time I reduced the % boil loss down to 11%.... I know.. I wanted a cushion! and the only other different addition was the live yeast as I used the WLP002 this time.

Results as follows:

Doughed in 72c.
Shut lid @ 68c
Finished mash temp @ 65c (going to build a small mash tun, second poor temp on the trot))
1st and 2nd sparging @ 85c for 20 mins then transferred to boiler.
pH reading 5.4
Wort collected 30L
Pre-boil AG 1.034
Post boil AG 1.042
Wort collected in FV 23.5l

Any worries ..... Not really. Everything went to plan, although I was a little concerned with the stepping up of the WLP002 yeast, since it isn't really recommended. I started with adding the yeast to 300ml for 12 hours on stir plate and noticed when I checked it after 12 hours, that it had gone lumpy. I stepped it up to 1.8lt and the lumps dispersed. But when I checked it 24 hours later, it had gone lumpy again. I assume this is to do with the yeast using up the sugars and because it was on a stir plate, couldn't settle out.

I can't wait to see how this turns out as I am sure the Sussex 1 yeast used in the first brew will not settle out properly again and judging by the way the WLP002 dropped and solidified during the cooling down period (so I could take off the used wort) I think its going to be the winner on that score and it will be interesting to judge flavour between the two.... Although everything went better, numbers wise, on the second brew.

[chris172]

Trying this recipe tomorrow.... well, copying the grain and hop bill but have been stepping up an Adnams yeast rescued from a keg of Southwold.

Guessing it wont be a direct match but should make an interesting brew.

[seymour]

Trying this recipe tomorrow.... well, copying the grain and hop bill but have been stepping up an Adnams yeast rescued from a keg of Southwold.
Guessing it wont be a direct match but should make an interesting brew.

Oh man, that sounds like an awesome beer. Happy brewing, and I can't wait to hear how it turns out!

[orlando]

It's a bloody good yeast, brewed a lovely beer in no time and attenuated to 1.008 the last brew I did so careful if you want a bit of body you might adjust your mash temp.

[chris172]

AG#3 All brewed this morning.... Mashed at 67 for 90 mins and just lost 1deg over that time. Second 23l brew with water treatments.

Although had a couple of mishaps.

first... when sparging and after clearing the first 4l of runnings into a 5l jug, I eventually, whilst tipping the first runnings back in the tun, I noticed the tap was open on the boiler! school boy mistake number 1 and lost about 2ltrs over floor.
second... was going to do a 90min boil but after calamity number one I thought best of a 60min boil .... so still annoyed with myself and not thinking threw 0min hops in at 15 to go... I really need to learn to read. So used to putting 15min hops in brews.

anyway... OG should have been 1041... got 1045 even after loosing some high volume runnings, so need to adjust my efficiency. Ended up with 20.5l in FV so considering I boiled the steep hops they didn't absorb too much.

Tastes bloody lovely though and not the 50IBU's beer engine says it should be for boiling the steep hops although I guess when it matures it may bring the bitters out more. No harshness or twangs so the water treatments appear to be working.

looking forward to it myself... this is the second brew with a rescued Adnams yeast and yes it does seem a little 'active'

[molehill]

Well done Chris.... I am it will work out to be an awesome brew.

I am partial to a pint or three of Adnams Bitter myself. I can recall when the wife's parents lived on Mersea Island in Essex. There is a pub just before the Strood (road joining the mainland to the island) that if you timed it right, the tide was to high the cross and you had to wait for the tide to drop again. The Peldon Rose pub used to always be busy when this occurred..... They pulled a real decent pint of Adnams BB! I'm going back a few years now..... at least 20!

[molehill]

I need to get mind head around a couple of points please....

There are various schools of thought on length of fermentation time and temperatures. I have generally left fermentation temperature at 18c-20c for 13 days then crash cooled for 24 hours at 4c-5c, then transferred to a bottling bucket, added 100gm of DME in 300ml of water (sterilised), stirred carefully and left for 30 minutes before bottling. Following bottling, I place the bottles in my beer fridge for a week at 18c. Then store in the house ready for consumption.

Although I am fairly happy with the way it has conditioned, I don't get that loud fizzt you get when you open a commercial bottled ale, but a light fizzt! I don't like gassy beer so this suits me.... But I am wondering whether my method is giving the best results as the last couple of brews haven't dropped out as well as I would hope. I know this maybe due to the high flocculation characteristics of Brewlab's Sussex 1 yeast I have been using..... But would appreciate those more experienced views?

My latest attempt as detailed above.... Having used the Sussex 1 yeast in the first attempt with a poor layer in the FV, while the WLP002 in this batch has a good looking layer at the bottom of the FV, I can only hope thing will work out better. I have changed my methods slightly at this stage of the procedure, which is why I am asking these questions. The batch has been fermenting for 7 days and I have crashed cooled it for 24 hours, thinking that I would leave it for 3 or 4 days at 4c-5c before bottling..... Now I am worried I have done the wrong thing....

[mozza]

In the yeast book (I'm only half way through) it says that many breweries aim for a quick turn around and in doing so they remove yeast in suspension before the cells have a chance to 'clean up' the beer. So if you're not in a rush the recommended practice is to give it as much time as it needs to drop clear naturally

[orlando]

Following on from Mozza's comments I concur completely, it is far better to let the beer completely ferment right out, a rule of thumb is to wait a minimum of 3 x 24 hours of the same hydrometer reading to be sure. Depending upon what yeast you are using longer than this can sometimes be necessary. If you are worried about autolysis there is little evidence of this happening in the short term, more likely to get infected TBH, so be patient. The next comment is on your conditioning phase and the complaint about the lack of "noise" like a commercial bottle of beer when you open one of yours. The reason for that is you are not placing the beer in the "warm" first before refrigerating. Secondary fermentation requires the same temperatures as primary for the yeast to consume the sugar and create the CO2 you're after. Try keeping the beer in a warm place for a minimum of 2 weeks before refrigerating and you will see a dramatic increase in fizz. The way to fine tune how much fizz is to adjust the amount of sugar used for priming, for that I would use an online calculator, somewhere between 60=80g for 25 litres should suffice.

[molehill]

I just died and went to heaven!

Tasted the first batch today since it has been sitting in the bottle for two weeks and although there was a little haze caused I think by using the Sussex 1 yeast...... It tasted like a decent pint of Harvey's Best! Trust me when I say... If you were handed a pint in a Sussex pub, you would swear it was straight from the barrel!

Bottled the second batch today, which was made using the same recipe, but WLP002 yeast and that had settled out nicely. I made up 46 bottles from 23lt and the final AG was 1011 from an original AG 1042... giving an ABV of 4.1%

[orlando]

I just died and went to heaven!

Tasted the first batch today since it has been sitting in the bottle for two weeks and although there was a little haze caused I think by using the Sussex 1 yeast...... It tasted like a decent pint of Harvey's Best! Trust me when I say... If you were handed a pint in a Sussex pub, you would swear it was straight from the barrel!

Bottled the second batch today, which was made using the same recipe, but WLP002 yeast and that had settled out nicely. I made up 46 bottles from 23lt and the final AG was 1011 from an original AG 1042... giving an ABV of 4.1%

Way to go, how encouraging is that . I would have thought that the cloudiness could be sorted out by some cold conditioning. Wish I could taste it myself, it will be another 2 weeks before I'm back in Sussex.