Ordinary Bitter recipe

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leedsbrew

Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by leedsbrew » Tue Oct 29, 2013 1:10 pm

I have recently turned my attention back to good, sessionable, cask style british ale! Having spent most of the past couple of years brewing and drinking mostly US and new world hopped ales I have renewed my love of a great british cask ale!

With this in mind I want to brew up a few batched! I plan on starting with the following recipe some time this week!

5 Gallons
OG 1.040
FG 1.011
ABV 3.9%
IBU 28
Colour 11 SRM

Pale ale malt 89%
Medium crystal 7%
Torrified wheat 2.8%
Black malt 1.2%

Bramling cross 60 mins. 21IBU. (25g)
Bramling cross 15 mins. 5 IBU. (25g)
Goldings. 15 mins. 2 IBU. (10g)
Goldings. 80oC. Steep. 20g
Goldings. Dry hop. 20g

SafAle 04


A nod towards Theakstons Black Bull, an old favourite from growing up around Masham/Richmond and the associated dales!

Thinking of mashing in at 65oC for a medium body. Maybe a touch of calcium chloride in the mash as well.

Any thoughts chaps!


Cheers


LB

leedsbrew

Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by leedsbrew » Tue Oct 29, 2013 1:39 pm

I'm hoping that the little bit if black malt will not only add to the colour but also add just a tiny touch of dry roast the the malt finish!

Dave S
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Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by Dave S » Tue Oct 29, 2013 2:20 pm

Sounds very quaffable =P~
Best wishes

Dave

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orlando
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Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by orlando » Tue Oct 29, 2013 2:28 pm

leedsbrew wrote: Thinking of mashing in at 65oC for a medium body. Maybe a touch of calcium chloride in the mash as well.

Well you've been around a lot longer than me but I would of thought 65 would give you something a little drier and finish a little lower than 1.011, depends on yeast of course and It's a long time ago I used SO4 but seem to remember it was a reasonably high attenuator. I'm intrigued by the touch of calcium chloride too, is your water low in chloride? I would be looking to have a sulphate/chloride ratio biased towards the former to really give the hops a chance. If you really are after a malt forward beer fair enough but I would then mash a little higher. No criticism intended just an observation and one borne out of my tastes. No right or wrong here and the recipe looks right on the money for me.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

Nigel1969

Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by Nigel1969 » Tue Oct 29, 2013 2:42 pm

I'm thinking along the same lines. I seem to be heading back to good old English ale, insted of American IPA's. Going to crack on with this recipe tomorrow. I might even video it.

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orlando
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Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by orlando » Tue Oct 29, 2013 2:55 pm

Nigel1969 wrote:I'm thinking along the same lines. I seem to be heading back to good old English ale, insted of American IPA's. Going to crack on with this recipe tomorrow. I might even video it.
I was attracted to the thread for the same reason, currently have a mild and a bitter (based on Gales) in the fermentors right now. Summer saw mostly blondes, ambers and very pales but no real classic bitters, so have resolved to have at least one on tap for the Winter.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

Dave S
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Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by Dave S » Tue Oct 29, 2013 3:16 pm

orlando wrote:
Nigel1969 wrote:I'm thinking along the same lines. I seem to be heading back to good old English ale, insted of American IPA's. Going to crack on with this recipe tomorrow. I might even video it.
I was attracted to the thread for the same reason, currently have a mild and a bitter (based on Gales) in the fermentors right now. Summer saw mostly blondes, ambers and very pales but no real classic bitters, so have resolved to have at least one on tap for the Winter.
Yes I must admit, bitters are my favorite as well.
Best wishes

Dave

leedsbrew

Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by leedsbrew » Tue Oct 29, 2013 3:50 pm

Having a look back at my past S04 fermentations I'm pretty consistently getting 75% so maybe it would go a touch lower!

Water wise, I want to add a little CaCl to boost the malt perception as I think the hops will be fine with the dry hop addition! My water is quite soft with about 24ppm calcium sulphate 35ppm and 20ppm chloride

Thoughts?

leedsbrew

Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by leedsbrew » Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:04 pm

Having a look back at my past S04 fermentations I'm pretty consistently getting 75% so maybe it would go a touch lower!

Water wise, I want to add a little CaCl to boost the malt perception as I think the hops will be fine with the dry hop addition! My water is very soft with about 24ppm calcium sulphate 35ppm and 20ppm chloride

Thoughts?

leedsbrew

Post by leedsbrew » Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:06 pm

Double post

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lee1
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Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by lee1 » Tue Oct 29, 2013 8:46 pm

nice looking beer leeds might try this 1 myself =D>
soon be dead thank beer for that no pain where im going :-)

leedsbrew

Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by leedsbrew » Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:05 pm

Well the HLT is on for this one.

I am going for a 67oC mash to really try and keep some body in it (thanks orlando). I'm sticking with my CaCl2 addition, 5g in the mash.

Ben711200

Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by Ben711200 » Wed Oct 30, 2013 1:22 pm

i love a well made classic English bitter. it's so easy to forget the more traditional stuff when so many 'craft' ale producers focus on US and new world hops, as well as availability of those getting so good in recent years.

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orlando
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Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by orlando » Wed Oct 30, 2013 2:27 pm

Ben711200 wrote:i love a well made classic English bitter. it's so easy to forget the more traditional stuff when so many 'craft' ale producers focus on US and new world hops, as well as availability of those getting so good in recent years.
I don't blame brewers wanting to push boundaries and limits, everyone likes a change, and it's understandable home brewers want to see what all the fuss is about but a well brewed classic english bitter is the pinnacle of the brewing art for me.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

Ben711200

Re: Ordinary Bitter recipe

Post by Ben711200 » Wed Oct 30, 2013 3:54 pm

orlando wrote:
Ben711200 wrote:i love a well made classic English bitter. it's so easy to forget the more traditional stuff when so many 'craft' ale producers focus on US and new world hops, as well as availability of those getting so good in recent years.
I don't blame brewers wanting to push boundaries and limits, everyone likes a change, and it's understandable home brewers want to see what all the fuss is about but a well brewed classic english bitter is the pinnacle of the brewing art for me.
absolutely. much better worded than i put it :-)

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