Crisp Session Bitter

[Fr_Marc]

I intend to brew a quaffable yet flavourful ale for consumption this summer and came across the recipe for Crisp's Session Bitter (https://crispmalt.com/recipes/homebrew-session-bitter/). Has anyone here brewed this recipe before and has some comments on it?
I am also looking for suggestions on best matching substitutes for Crisp malts, as I cannot (easyly) buy them here in Germany. I have access to English malts from Thomas Fawcett, Simpsons and Warminster. Also the whole range of Weyermann and Bestmalz.
Yeast suggestions are also welcome - would West Yorkshire work with this recipe?
Thanks for your help!

Marc

[MashBag]

quaffable yet flavourful ale for consumption this summer

So what style do you like, a hoppy green soup, a brown biscuity bitter. I ask because a summer time ale for me is something in the middle? No too dark (almost lager) hoppy, but doesn't need mowing?

That shrikes me a session beer but not summery ale?

[PeeBee]

"Crisp's Session Beer"? Looks like a low-alcohol, low-hopped, sort of ... session beer?

Not sure about the "Cara-malt". Adding "body" to a 100% malt UK beer seems unnecessary? Just swap it for more Pale. Roast Barley is just adding a bit of colour at those levels, replace it with whatever you use for colour (or nothing). Use any of the listed English Malts or go with the continental ones but be careful as what they might call "pale malt" is what we'd call something else. But for Pale, something in the 5.0-6.5 EBC range (that hasn't been named crystal this or cara that). Your choice of yeast will be fine, but do remember that the "West Yorkshire" strain (by WYeast?) can get quite lively!

Hops: What a collection Crisp recommend! Go with them or the "traditional" English hops (such as "East Kent Goldings", especially for late additions).

It's a pretty standard British beer. Looking at my next one, OG1.040, IBU 22, 93% Pale Malt, 4% Crystal Malt, 3% Sugar - ooo, that's different - EKG for late hops, otherwise Fuggles, bit of colouring (I'll be using darker sugars and some black caramel colouring) ... not much different to your recipe!


[EDIT: Cara-malt, rather than "Carapils" with which it gets confused with over here, is EBC 30 so might add more than just a bit of caramel flavour. You might choose to replace it with the lighter type of Munich Malt?]

[MashBag]

I agree with you. It just looked a little dull imo.

Actually wondered what the op was aiming for?

[PeeBee]

I agree with you. It just looked a little dull imo. ...

But what's dull with it? Are you writing off all these SMASH recipes too?

[Rookie]

I intend to brew a quaffable yet flavourful ale for consumption this summer and came across the recipe for Crisp's Session Bitter (https://crispmalt.com/recipes/homebrew-session-bitter/). Has anyone here brewed this recipe before and has some comments on it?
I am also looking for suggestions on best matching substitutes for Crisp malts, as I cannot (easyly) buy them here in Germany. I have access to English malts from Thomas Fawcett, Simpsons and Warminster. Also the whole range of Weyermann and Bestmalz.
Yeast suggestions are also welcome - would West Yorkshire work with this recipe?
Thanks for your help!

Marc

Looks like a good one. Any of the British malts would work.

[guypettigrew]

Nice looking recipe. Where would you get the Flyer hops from?

My guess is any good base malt would do. Thomas Fawcett's as good as any. As PeeBee suggests, you might want to replace the Caramalt. It could give too heavy a taste/feel to the finished beer. But it might be fine. I'm sure the people at Crisp know what they are doing!

Anyway, if it's not exactly what you're after, you can always tweak the recipe for the future.

Enjoy!

Guy

[PeeBee]

... As PeeBee suggests, you might want to replace the Caramalt. It could give too heavy a taste/feel to the finished beer. ...

Yeah, irony isn't it. The Crisp recipe adds Caramalt for "body", the very similar recipe I sketched out (Wadworth 6X clone) adds sugar to dilute what could be excessive body!

[Fr_Marc]

So what style do you like, a hoppy green soup, a brown biscuity bitter. I ask because a summer time ale for me is something in the middle?

That's exactly what I am looking for: something in the middle... but without being "dull".

[Fr_Marc]

It's a pretty standard British beer. Looking at my next one, OG1.040, IBU 22, 93% Pale Malt, 4% Crystal Malt, 3% Sugar - ooo, that's different - EKG for late hops, otherwise Fuggles, bit of colouring (I'll be using darker sugars and some black caramel colouring) ... not much different to your recipe!

Pretty standard British beer sounds good to me. A lot of the recipes in the "Pale Ale and Bitter" section of Graham Wheelers book appeal to me - and they don't seem to be far off from the Crisp Session Bitter.

[Fr_Marc]

The Crisp recipe adds Caramalt for "body", the very similar recipe I sketched out (Wadworth 6X clone) adds sugar to dilute what could be excessive body!

Just looked up the Wadworth 6X recipe in Graham Wheelers book. Sounds delicious. What type of sugar are you planning to use for colouring? Right now I am enjoying a beautiful rich ale which I brewed using your "Invert Sugar No. 3 Emulation". It's a treat!

[drjim]

I've spent the last couple of years as a novice grain brewer making bitter from crisp pale ale malt, a bit of wheat (or weetabix/aldi weet bisks) golden syrup/sugar, and about 100g/23L of crisp dark crystal for colour. Hops have mainly been goldings/fuggles but I'm currently on a Centennial at start, Goldings/centennial 15min recipe and it's lovely. Just had 3 pints tonight as it happens! I also did a banging SMASH with crisp pale malt and a load of simcoe which went through the handpump nicely.

I reckon if you've got some hops of almost any sort, some grain that's about right and an idea you will make bitter.

[PeeBee]

The Crisp recipe adds Caramalt for "body", the very similar recipe I sketched out (Wadworth 6X clone) adds sugar to dilute what could be excessive body!

Just looked up the Wadworth 6X recipe in Graham Wheelers book. Sounds delicious. What type of sugar are you planning to use for colouring? Right now I am enjoying a beautiful rich ale which I brewed using your "Invert Sugar No. 3 Emulation". It's a treat!

Here go (went through it not long ago): viewtopic.php?f=5&t=84062

The recipe I posted uses Invert No:2, but I began to suspect No.3 was more likely. But I never found any clues as to whether 6X did use Invert Sugar, for how long, and what they use now. Or whether they use black caramel colouring (but that is very likely). Hints came from Graham's books and Ron Pattinson's translations of Wadworth's XXXX variations.

But 6X is a dark amber colour, and while very much a British session beer isn't one of the Summer "golden ales" you get now. I like the history around it because it looks very much like 6X was originally an "Edwardian" Mild Ale (X-Ale). I suspect a lot of English/British "bitter" (dependant on geographical areas) morphed from Mild Ale rather than a "Pale Ale": Look at the IBU ratings, many "Bitters" ("Amber Ales" now) have IBUs in the 20s, maybe low 30s, but in other areas are nearer 40-50 IBUs. This isn't one of my cloud-cuckoo-land observations, I've read it from others too. IBUs in the 20s suggest the beer was not intended to be kept long (and therefore drunk "mild") as opposed to the early pale ales.


Thanks for the feedback about my Invert Sugar emulations! It's good to know they are being used. I do worry that "my" take on Invert Sugars would be side-lined in favour of the plainly daft popularist ideas of boiling sugar syrups for hours to caramelise them. I did base my "emulations" on historical research and, thanks to F00b&r (the Administrator of this site), direct comparison with the Ragus Brewers Invert Sugars.

[Fr_Marc]

But 6X is a dark amber colour, and while very much a British session beer isn't one of the Summer "golden ales" you get now.

Therefore I will stick with the "Crisp Session Bitter" (or a slight variation thereof) for this particular brew, as I am aiming for something dark golden, perhaps with the slightest hint of copper.
I may well substitute Crisp's Cara malt with Best Biscuit malt, which seems close enough and performed well in an gold-ish ale last year.

Thanks for the feedback about my Invert Sugar emulations! It's good to know they are being used.

Thank you for putting all the work and effort in finding a way to emulate Invert Sugar in such an easy way! Admittedly, I have never brewed with commercial Brewer's Invert, thence lacking a direct comparison. But the ale brewed with your "No. 3 Emulation" (a user upper inspired by Orfys Hobgoblin Clone) came out terrific!

[PeeBee]

I've spent the last couple of years as a novice grain brewer making bitter from crisp pale ale malt, a bit of wheat (or weetabix/aldi weet bisks) golden syrup/sugar, and about 100g/23L of crisp dark crystal for colour. Hops have mainly been goldings/fuggles but I'm currently on a Centennial at start, Goldings/centennial 15min recipe and it's lovely. Just had 3 pints tonight as it happens! I also did a banging SMASH with crisp pale malt and a load of simcoe which went through the handpump nicely.

I reckon if you've got some hops of almost any sort, some grain that's about right and an idea you will make bitter.

Hey! Your talk of "Centennial" hops reminds me of the "Crisis Beer" I was mucking about with three years ago (at the beginning of "that" crisis). Keg of Summery beer in less than ten days (well carbonated, cold, quite unlike my normal beer). Reminds me to get more on, I've run out of beers ... disaster!

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=82353 (Note: I may do things a bit differently now ... I have a habit of changing my ideas fairly regularly!).