Oblivious Best Bitter

[oblivious]

Hopefully brewing this tomorrow, any comments would be welcome


Best Bitter O.G. 1.044, 23L

Maris Otter 3.99kg (86.2%)
Crystal malt 105L 272g (6%)
Crystal malt 55L 90g( (1.8%)
Flaked maize 272g (6%)


Hop’s IBU’S 36.6

E.K.G. 50.4g 60min (4.1% AA)
E.K.G. 33.6g 10min (4.1% AA)
E.K.G. 16.8g 2min (4.1% AA)
Bramblings cross. 16.8g 2min (7% AA)

Dry hopping, a combination of E.K.G and Brambling cross, possibly 14g of each


Yeast

WLP002

[prodigal2]

Looks good to my inexperienced eyes Ob. I must say EKG and BX are a great combo that sit so well together.

Out of interest what is the reasoning behind the 2 differing crystals?

[oblivious]

Looks good to my inexperienced eyes Ob. I must say EKG and BX are a great combo that sit so well together.

Out of interest what is the reasoning behind the 2 differing crystals?

just that i have them

But i am thinking of removing the lower colored one

[oblivious]

I would have thought I just an addition layer to the beer?

Like using chocolate and black patent in porters they are both roasted malts, but combined will create something a little different than each on their own.

[Barley Water]

I think that crystal malts can add a slightly different taste depending on how dark they are roasted. In this particular case, I would expect that the 55L crystal will add a somewhat caramel/light toffee flavor while the darker crystal will add a slight roasty flavor as well as some plumb or dark currant flavors. Many Belgian formulations have more than one type of crystal, you see it especially in the dubbels and strong dark ales (which are some of my favorites). I have also seen articles where the great Jamil himself advises the use of more than one crystal malt. I have only tried one of his recipies but it came out pretty well. His advice seems to make good common sense so I put alot of stock in his suggestions.

I have also noticed a difference between the American crystal malts and the British stuff. Maybe it's just me but I think that you get a better toffee/caramel taste from the British crystal which is a flavor I really like in an ale. The Germans also make some interesting crystal malts, some of which have the Munich malt character which is also a favorite.

Anyhow, anytime you start adding ingredients to make a beer more complex, sometimes you do so at the expense of drinkability. That is neither good nor bad, it just depends on what you are trying to do with that particular beer. With the current formulation and given the yeast being used, I would expect a beer with a fairly sweet malt backbone since a fair amount of crystal is being used along with a yeast that is not particularly attenuative. Since the O.G. is on the high side (at least by your standards on that side of the pond) I would think this beer would be a better winter brew rather than one you would want to slam down by the gallon. If I were making a bitter in the middle of the summer though, I would then go with the simple formulation so the beer would go down really easy.

[oblivious]

For this brew I think I will remove the lower crystal to see what the contribution of a higher crystal malt has upon the flavor

[mysterio]

Many Belgian formulations have more than one type of crystal, you see it especially in the dubbels

Isn't this one of the things that homebrewers have taken to doing? I'm sure most of the trappist dubbels rely on dark sugars for colour rather than crystal malts.

[iowalad]

I think most American crystal/caramel malt is from six row while the British is from two row.

Oblivious,
If you want to see if your getting different flavors from the two types of crystal you may want to lighten up on the hop additions to let the malt come a bit more. I am curious how two crystals work out as well.

Although after a reread of your post maybe your more interested in the hops than the malt.

I used American 120L and British 77L in a brew this fall. It came out a bit nutty for my tastes and none of the raisiny flavors I was hoping from with the 77L. It is something I will experiment with some more.

[Barley Water]

Yes, I think you are correct. Actually though the reason we/they do it is because we don't have the sugars available that those good ol boys in the abbey have (and only God knows what those guys do with the sugars once they get them into the brewhouse, those monks are a tricky lot). The sugars they use are heavily carmalized so they add both flavor and color. It's not the color so much as the carmalized/fruity/almost rummy taste we are looking for. I would never use crystal malt just to make a color adjustment because it does so many other things to the taste and mouthfeel of the beer. One thing you must admit though is that those abby beers are nothing if not complex.

[steve_flack]

I would have thought you'd need a darker malt than that if you were after raison. For example Special B is often credited with having raison flavours and that is about as dark a crystal you can get.

[iowalad]

Steve,
Shows how little I know about my darker crystal.

[oblivious]

I.

Oblivious,
If you want to see if your getting different flavors from the two types of crystal you may want to lighten up on the hop additions to let the malt come a bit more. I am curious how two crystals work out as well.

Yea, i find that WLP002 produces a very malty beer, so i think i will keep the hops to stop it becoming too sweet and 36 IBU's in not out side the range of a best bitter

[oblivious]

Brewed this last night, ended up with O.G. of 1.049-1.050, looks like my efficiency increased in this brew, interestingly ProMash said this increased in efficiency should have little effect upon extract rate from the hops.

[oblivious]

Kegeed this to night F.O. 1.015 at around 4.7%

[oblivious]

Will we be getting a picture of the finished beer ?

yea, i give it another few hours to condition