Home Brew Forum

I brewed Bitter Ted's Mr Harry (with some modifications).

http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2483

I did not have Wyeast 1968 (London ESB) so made due with Wyeast 1275 (Thames Valley).

I used a variety of crystal. The recipe called for a pound of cyrstal: bI used 1/2 medium, 1/4 dark crystal and a 1/4 extra dark crystal. The goal was to create the raisin and nutty flavor that is described in the tasting notes and how I remember it at the brewery tour. If you get the chance to take the Fullers tour do so - for the tasting afterwards if nothing else. Tasting notes never made more sense to me than they did while supping the Fullers line in the Hock Cellar.

Also went all Challenger for hops (as it was what I had on hand).

Hit my mash temp within a degree and it cooled less than a degree during my 90 minute mash.

Got my boil a little more under control. Was boiling off 20% at one time. Was down to my estimated boil off of 12% (will start shooting for 10%).

Mash and Boil were uneventful (did an after work brew - never again as I finished at midnight and had to be in to work for a 7:30 am meeting.

Continued summer difficulty getting my wort chilled. I spent too much water trying to get the last few degrees.

Ended up with efficiency of 78.7% (priors: 83, 82, 73, 74, 75, 80). Am hoping for a bit more consistency in time. I forumlate my recipes based on 75%.

Whirlfloc did the trick again. I have tried to take some pics of my last few brews but my mobile phone/camera doesn't do the clarity justice. I get much more break material in my kettle after cooling than I used to and have been happy with the beer clarity in the end.

Bubbling away nicely with a nice protective head in the FV (although mine tends to be thinner than most and more watery than others as seen on Jim's Forum).

Fermenting now at 19.8C.

Taste of my hydro sample made me wonder if I overdid the quest for nuttiness - time will tell.

Sorry no pics - we should be getting our proper camera back anyday now and will take a few snaps then.

Great efficiency What I've done a couple of times for an after work brew is to mash one night and boil the next, keeping the wort in a sealed fermenter overnight. There is little risk of contamination, nothing can survive a 60minute boil. Interesting recipe, I'm still working to get an ESB clone right.

Frothy

I knew somebody would notice my BT's recipe was nothing like his! I had to use what was on hand and didn't think of this brew the last time I stocked up. The good news is a homebrew shop is opening up in town on October 1st.

How cool are you trying to go, depending on what you read you can pitch up to 30 deg c (86 deg f I believe) or even slightly higher as long as you pull the temperature down once fermentation starts so there's no need to chase rainbows. It helps cut down the lag time.

Chasing rainbows fits what I was doing to a T - one of those things when you realize too late that your not accomplishing anything. Like Frothy's plate chiller my IC works great when my mains temps are 15F degress colder. You would think by the end of the summer it would have dawned on me that you can only cool so much with 24C water!

The wife brought the proper camera back tonight. They couldn't fix it so she got an upgrade of some sorts that she is happy with.

I brewed Bitter Ted's Mr Harry (with some modifications).

Some modifications!!
Actually the recipe was thrown together based on info I found on a spreadsheet I have and whatever other info I could find! So modifications are fine, now you'll have something to work off of for future batches of that beer.
Looking forward to pics! Good job!

I suspect it will get closer to your suggestions in future batches (1968 and hop selection in particular). I also think it will end up with more medium cyrstal in the future but will know more in about a few weeks!

Glad to hear you had a good brew day IL

Vossy1 wrote:Glad to hear you had a good brew day IL

In your defense, the 2 states are right next to each other!!

Iowa Lad has never known someobody from IL to acknowledge they were right next to IA. They are usually blissfully unaware of the land of pigs and corn or at least pretend to be.

Yes, our yokel neighbour isn't brought up much round here

Tried a sample and was more than a little disappointed in my first taste. Drank a bottled effort tasted a bit harsh. Upped the carbonation up to nearer 2 volumes to appease family who drinks the beer and think it leaves a harshness that I find off putting. My grist was about 5% crystal, 2.5% dark crystal and 2.5% extra dark cyrstal. I wouldn't think that would give me the harshness. Maybe it is still a little green. When I degas (pour a couple times between glasses) the harshness is still there. I am a batch sparger and my mash ph was in the 5.2 ballpark (as near as I can tell using my economy strips). I use 5.2 stabilizer.

Not suprisingly using Wyeast 1275 rather than 1968 dried the beer out too much - not the maltyness I was hoping for.

Maybe I shouldn't have mucked with BT's suggestions so much!

Hope my fellow forumites/neighbors in IL are enjoying our respite before winter hits!

Sorry to hear it's still a bit harsh! Maybe a tad more time will help.

Hope my fellow forumites/neighbors in IL are enjoying our respite before winter hits!

Yeah, totally enjoying it! I recently had surgery on my knee and have been enjoying the weather quite a bit!

It's still 82F out here today...actually too hot!

I haven't had the pleasure of trying Mr. Harry. But a local brewpub used to brew a seasonal ale on license from Fuller's, called Doc's ESB. It was awesome. I'm trying to hit close to the mark on it--malty, not too bitter and not a lot of hop flavor/aroma, but biscuity.

Grain bill looks like this so far:

10 lbs. Optic Pale
.75 lb. Medium Crystal (55L)
.375 lb. Aromatic malt
.25 Special Roast

It's a starting point, if nothing else. Any tips in general for brewing a strong bitter that's quite malty?

monk