Step mash house bitter - views on recipe?

[Subsonic]

I am going to try a step mash house bitter on Saturday and would appreciate views on my recipe, I don't use beer tools or anything I have my own homemade spreadhseet to calculate everything from grain to water required for my little micro brewery! its a 40 litre batch aiming at 1045 with my 73% efficiency
7.25kg Maris otter, 0.6Kg crystal malt. Mash at 50c for 40 minutes then step up to 67/68 for remainder (20 minutes odd). Fuggles(4.2%) 3.7oz for 60 minutes and 1oz for 6 minutes to give approx 29IBU. Nottingham yeast btw.
I am still looking to find my perfect 'house bitter'. I found a similar recipe on the interenet albeit that had 250g of brown sugar added as well. I want a pure Fuggles or Goldings beer (I am in Kent) and have masses of these so any views on hopping appreciated. BTW - I like a perfumed bitter. Cheers Subsonic.

[steve_flack]

A step mash with a protein rest on a bitter made with those malts is a waste of time. There's not much protein in MO pale malt to start with and 40 minutes is far far too long anyway. You'll likely destroy any head retention you might otherwise get.

There's a time and place for step mashes but this isn't it.

[Subsonic]

Thanks, its the first time I have ever seen a step mash in a bitter (never done one either). I can do it as I have the setup for it, but would prefer not to. So thanks, I will leave it out.

[mysterio]

Step mashing is not only unnecessary but non-traditional for British bitters, I don't think you'll find any commercial breweries here that do it..

If you like hop aroma in your beer I would move that last hop addition right at the end while you're chilling the wort.

[Subsonic]

Cheers Mysterio, the original recipe source was American which may explain the weird step mash. I had never come across a step mash bitter myself. I am going ahead tomorrow without the step mash and taking your advice of using the last hop addition at flameout / chill stage. Will let you know how it pans out.

[floydmeddler]

Dry hop 50g of Fuggles during 2nd fermentation. Read recently too, that adding the first hops to the wort as you are collecting it gives great hoppy character too. Will defs be trying that next time.

Oh, add 100g of Molasses sugar to the boil as well. It gave my bitter a fantastic taste!

Cheers