APA + Best Bitter Recipe's Wanted

[Uncle Joshua]

I'm after brewing a best bitter plus an APA next week. I want something that comes out 4.5%. Using up some of the Chocolate malt would be good too.


Malts
Mo - loads
Wheat malt - 500g
Crystal malt - 11kg
Torrefied wheat - 500g
Amber malt - 500g
Caramatt - 500g
Chocolate - 150g

Hops
Magnum - 48g
Citra - 100g
Challenger - 91g
Northdown - 100g
Amarillo - 100g
Centennial - 100g
Goldings - 11g
Progress- 56g
First gold - 100g
Styria goldings - 90g
Saaz - 100g
Target - 90g
Fuggles - 78g

Yeasts
Us-05
S - 04
Gervin English Ale
X TZB

[seymour]

SEYMOUR USHERISH BEST BITTER

This recipe borrows aspects of an 1885 Scottish IPA recipe (Ushers IP) which included fine-ground roasted malt in the boil, loads of late aroma hops, came out copper-coloured, and was described as "suicidally drinkable."

6 US Gallons = 5 Imperial Gallons = 22.7 Litres

GRAINBILL
81.7% = 8.5 lbs = 4 kg, Maris Otter
7.4% = .77 lbs = 350 g, Amber Malt
7.4% = .77 lbs = 350 g, CaraMalt
2.4% = .25 lb = 115 g, Torrified Wheat
1% = .11 lb = 50 g, Chocolate Malt, micronized in a coffee grinder and added to boil kettle

MASH for 90 min at 153°F/67°C, add a pinch of calcium carbonate.

HOPS
.88 oz = 25 g, Challenger, 90 min
2.47 oz = 70 g, Fuggles, 15 min
1.76 oz = 50 g, Citra, dry hops added to secondary fermentor

BOIL for 90 min. Add a pinch of gypsum at the beginning. Add wort chiller and Irish Moss at 15 min remaining.

YEAST
X TZB/S-33/Edme, ferment at 68°F/20°C

STATS assuming 75% mash efficiency and 75% yeast attenuation:
OG: 1048
FG: 1012
ABV: 4.6%
IBU: 41
COLOUR: 13°SRM/26°EBC

[BitterTed]

Seymour, have you made that beer? Damn it looks f'ing delicious!

[far9410]

Wot no oats Seymour??

[barney]

Bloody hell Seymour, thats nearly the same recipe as my latest Mild.

I am hopeful for that now.

[seymour]

Seymour, have you made that beer? Damn it looks f'ing delicious!

I haven't brewed this exact recipe, but it contains several aspects I've been tinkering with. Overall, I'd say it's a fine-tuned recipe based upon my personal findings, backed by historical evidence, with minor tweaks taking Mick's inventory into consideration. But as you can see, there are no unfortunate trade-offs, he has lots of great ingredients to pick from.

Wot no oats Seymour??

My reputation precedes me. You jest, but my actual recipe calls for steel-cut oats instead. I substituted the torrified wheat because it was listed in Mick's OP.

Bloody hell Seymour, thats nearly the same recipe as my latest Mild. I am hopeful for that now.

That's funny, isn't it?! Yeah, it's often eerie how similar our brewing philosophies are. It was you that first pointed out the Usher's recipes to me, but even so, it's a strange coincidence! Please keep me posted on how your mild turns out.

[Uncle Joshua]

This is now sat in my FV.

[seymour]

This is now sat in my FV.

Awesome. Post a picture if you can, I'd love to see how dark it came out for you.

[Barley Water]

Sometimes when I read threads like this it makes me appreciate how lucky I am. It looks like most of you guys order your stuff via the mail (I suppose you would call it the post) or at the very least have to travel long distances to purchase ingredients. Because of that many of you seem to have a little of this and a little of that and you adjust your recipies to accomidate what you have in stock. I live within about 10 minutes of a fully stocked homebrew store which has anything I can think of using. I generally purchase my yeast in advance so I can make an appropriate starter without making a special trip. I then come up with my recipe and buy the exact quantities of everything I need a day or two before I brew so I know it's fresh since the store is pretty busy so everything turns over pretty fast.

Right now I have 20lbs of American pils malt which is great because I got it for free but on the other hand I find it constraining because it limits what I can brew (as domestic two row just isn't as flavorful as good British or continential base malts). Oh well, my solution to that issue is to make an APA, California Common and I guess a CAP. I find it much easier to schedule brews based on the yeast rather than base malt type. I usually will do a couple of lagers then a couple of ales using the same yeast, it's cheaper and I can avoid making a starter for the second beer with the same yeast; a real advantage especially when making lagers. Oh wrell, life is good, at least my cost per batch drops qickly when the base malt is free.

[Barley Water]

Sometimes when I read threads like this it makes me appreciate how lucky I am. It looks like most of you guys order your stuff via the mail (I suppose you would call it the post) or at the very least have to travel long distances to purchase ingredients. Because of that many of you seem to have a little of this and a little of that and you adjust your recipies to accomidate what you have in stock. I live within about 10 minutes of a fully stocked homebrew store which has anything I can think of using. I generally purchase my yeast in advance so I can make an appropriate starter without making a special trip. I then come up with my recipe and buy the exact quantities of everything I need a day or two before I brew so I know it's fresh since the store is pretty busy so everything turns over pretty fast.

Right now I have 20lbs of American pils malt which is great because I got it for free but on the other hand I find it constraining because it limits what I can brew (as domestic two row just isn't as flavorful as good British or continential base malts). Oh well, my solution to that issue is to make an APA, California Common and I guess a CAP. I find it much easier to schedule brews based on the yeast rather than base malt type. I usually will do a couple of lagers then a couple of ales using the same yeast, it's cheaper and I can avoid making a starter for the second beer with the same yeast; a real advantage especially when making lagers. Oh wrell, life is good, at least my cost per batch drops qickly when the base malt is free.

[Uncle Joshua]

This is now sat in my FV.

Awesome. Post a picture if you can, I'd love to see how dark it came out for you.

I didn't take any brewday photo's but will post up pics when it is ready.

[Uncle Joshua]

This seems to have fermented out at 1018, I gave it a stir yesterday but it hasn't shifted. Any idea's what I should do?

[seymour]

That's a little odd, but certainly salvageable. Raise the temp a degree or two if you can. S-33/Edme's ideal range goes all the way up to 75°F/23.9°C, believe it or not. I can't remember if you have temperature control, but if you don't, try moving the fermentor to a warmer place, perhaps near a heat vent or radiator for awhile. Gently swirl the fermentor once a day for several days, and I predict it'll keep dropping, slowly but surely.

[Uncle Joshua]

Cheers Seymour.

I have temperature control in the form of fish tank heaters.

[seymour]

That'll work!