USA brewer looking for that "best" english bitter

[sandimas]

I'd switch the Fuggles and Goldings round, some people find Fuggles a bit "earthy" as a late hop and classic English bitters tend to have Fuggles for bittering and Goldings for flavour.

[homebrewdude76]

I'd switch the Fuggles and Goldings round, some people find Fuggles a bit "earthy" as a late hop and classic English bitters tend to have Fuggles for bittering and Goldings for flavour.

Should I just do all EKG then? Skip.the fuggles?

[homebrewdude76]

I am attaching a recipe for a 10gal batch

Thoughts?

Is there really any need to overcomplicate the grainbill?
Pale and crystal around 90/10 is enough and maybe some wheat for a frothy head.

Ha! Remmember I am from the USA! More is better!

[Hanglow]

I think the most important thing is yeast and proper fermentation control tbf - then quality english ingredients, although I'm sure US ingredients are also quality but they are different - you can keep it really simple with just marris otter, a bit of english crystal and maybe some torrified wheat.

Adnams Extra was a great brew that had a load of fuggles in it, it's fine to use fuggles late imo

[Rookie]

I'd switch the Fuggles and Goldings round, some people find Fuggles a bit "earthy" as a late hop and classic English bitters tend to have Fuggles for bittering and Goldings for flavour.

Should I just do all EKG then? Skip.the fuggles?

I would, but my favorite hop is EKG.

[homebrewdude76]

Planning on brewing this tomorrow.
I have rather neutral water, looking to see what I should do for an addition.

Planning on all EKG hops.
Pellet in the boil
Leaf in the hopback while I recirculate/chill
And leaf to dry hop also.

Planning on splitting the 10gal batch in 2. Bought two yeasts I have never used.

Mangrove Jack M36 Liberty Bell Ale.
Will ferment and force carb keg this one for quicker drinking.

Lallemand CBC-1
Will ferment that attempt to "cask condition" this one.
I need to look into a Spundig valve.
I typically use gellatin finiings. Any issue with this?

[orlando]

Planning on brewing this tomorrow.
I have rather neutral water, looking to see what I should do for an addition.

Planning on all EKG hops.
Pellet in the boil
Leaf in the hopback while I recirculate/chill
And leaf to dry hop also.

Planning on splitting the 10gal batch in 2. Bought two yeasts I have never used.

Mangrove Jack M36 Liberty Bell Ale.
Will ferment and force carb keg this one for quicker drinking.

Lallemand CBC-1
Will ferment that attempt to "cask condition" this one.
I need to look into a Spundig valve.
I typically use gellatin finiings. Any issue with this?

Looks fine. Haven't used either of those yeasts but have had poor experiences with MJ. Gelatine is a good fining material if you don't move the cask afterwards. Isinglass is better if you do but requires experiment to get the amount used right.

[homebrewdude76]

The Mangrove Jack yeast actually had a premium price....

We will see how it turns out.

I typically ferment on the cool side. So I am thinking this should be ok.

[orlando]

The Mangrove Jack yeast actually had a premium price....

We will see how it turns out.

I typically ferment on the cool side. So I am thinking this should be ok.

Keep us posted.

[Mattpc]

Besides, I bet they have used substitute hops from Zee Jermans at some point.

Needs must and all that.

I really doubt that a brewery as large as Fuller's would not have their hop supply tied up years in advance.
Besides you could possibly get away with subbing the bittering hop but not the late additions.

Err yes I think they might have a thing called a hop contract. Just a hunch...


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[scuppeteer]

Might be a bit late to the party, but this is a recipe I gathered together after an afternoons research of brewing records from the Kent County library. It may be a little on the weak side for most Americans. But you wanted a Great English best and everyone who has tried it loved it.

We once had a fantastic brewery in Kent called Fremlins and this is my example of their beer called BB. The recipe is an amalgamation of records I looked at spanning over 80 years.

Converted to lbs for hopefully ease of replication and is equivalent to 10.5 US gallons.

Pale Malt - 12lb 2oz
Crystal (140) - 7oz
Flaked Maize - 3.5oz
Black Malt - 3.5oz

HOPS
Northdown (8.5%AA) - 1oz @ 60mins
Fuggle (4.5%AA) - 2.5oz @ 1 min
Golding (4.7%AA) - 2.5oz @ 1 min

60 min single stage mash.

Malt to liquor ratio: 1 to 2.5

OG 1038
FG 1010
ABV: 3.6%

I used the yeast strain from work which also has fantastic heritage but if you can get a British ale or similar you wouldn't be far off.

Enjoy.

[Barley Water]

Well first the disclaimers: I am not British (Texan actually) so I can't claim to know what is authentic but I really like English beer and in my opinion Fuller's products are what is served in heaven. Given that, I have learned a few things over the three decades I have been messing with the hobby;
I think British stuff should have a bisquet taste to it (Marris Otter will give you that). I have also been known to throw a little bisquet malt into the grist just to jack that up a bit.
Although not absolutely required, some caramel flavors are really nice (I like to use British crystal just 'cause I think it tastes better). I also frequently boil down some of the first runnings just to accentuate that.
I figure as long as you need to ferment with something, I say use something that will add flavor and interest. I like WLP02 (Fuller' strain) for lower gravity beers (because it is not all that attenuative). If I want something dryer I like WLP07. Both will give you some esters (depending on fermentation temperature) and a touch of diacetyl (which tastes great with the above mentioned caramel flavors by the way). Also as an added bonus both these strains work and drop out really quickly making nice clear beer fast. I have recently started experimenting with British dry yeast however I need to do more empirical testing before I draw any hard conclusions (but it is so far promising).
British hops tend to be more earthy as versus say American hops many of which have a citrus, grapefruit, pine tree aspect to them. Both are nice but seems like it you want traditional British beer it would be best to use British hops. I have used EKG, Fuggles, Challenger, Target, Northdown and Strian Goldings (and likely several more that I don't remember) with good results.
Finally, I have a very old copy of that Graham/Wheeler book where I get recipe ideas from. I know those guys are Gods over in the UK beer scene so I assume the recipes will produce authentic results. I suppose I must confess that I have taken certain "liberties" with the formulations in those books but you can make some really tasty creations using that as a reference.
Hopefully in the next year and a half (after I marry my daughter off and pay the dowry) I will get a chance to travel to the UK and sample all those great ales in their own land.

[scuppeteer]

Can't but help correct you on a couple of things BW.

Its spelt BISCUIT! We're English not French!

And Styrians are from Slovenia.

I certainly agree with your perception of our hops though. We gave away too many from the extensive breeding program in the early part of last century because they were deemed unsuitable for English beers. But times change and now one of the best is Bullion, only grown by one farmer here but they are head and shoulders over the American one. Some farmers and brewers are now looking again at those discarded varieties in the National Hop collection. Whilst we may not be able to grow the really high alpha ones, save Admiral, there are some really interesting ones yet to be trialled. But we are very good at what we do on both sides of the pond. Punchy go to America, subtle go to England.

As for the Graham Wheeler book it is a good starter, though with more information now readily available I do question some of the recipes. I really struggled to find anything sensible when looking for my Fremlins beer. So glad I made the effort and did the research myself.

If you do manage to make it over sometime. Aim for early August, then you can go to the Great British Beer festival in London and try ales from all over the country in one place. Its a 4 day festival so stay somewhere close by.

[jaroporter]

Can't but help correct you on a couple of things BW.

..and there was me thinking you were going to say something about messrs Graham and Wheeler

actually in fairness, using American or European hops is not exactly untraditional for British brewing in itself, so long as you're not medicining your best bitter with chinook..

[homebrewdude76]

Just an update on the bitter. The second Keg is half way gone now.
In one word, "disappointment"

I am 90% sure I had bad EKG hops. They were whole leaf and the bag marked 2016.
They have no Aroma... And per my software I was on the high end of bitter scale, the beer has no bitter.
I have 3oz in a 5gal keg now, no aroma.
Never had a beer like this...

Due to the bitterness issue, I did not cask condition these. I just forced carbed and "invited people over"

And for the Mangrove Jack M36 Liberty Bell Ale yeast. I don't like it. Way too fruity considering I fermented at 65F
Lallemand CBC-1 yeast was rather impressive, I would use this one again.