Hoping I can get some help classifying this one…Beer Smith has it as an ESB. So my knee jerk reaction is to class it as an 23 with ESB as the underlying style. Upon tasting it prior to the cold crash I was not too impressed. Not really any off flavors but just well boring. But it appears that an ESB is just a boring style - just my opinion…maybe the best bet is to just save the 7 bucks for submission…!
What is your take on this beer style?
(5 gallon batch)
5.0 lb Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt
1.0 lb Sugar in the RawAny
1.0 lb Victory® Malt Briess
0.75 lb Bairds Crystal Pale
0.5 lb Aromatic
1.0 Lb Dandelions 60.0 min Boil
Hops
Amount Hop Time Use Form AA
1.0 oz Cascade 15 min
2.0 oz Mt. Hood 2 min
The dandelions throw me for a loop. Not sure what they add as far as quality of bittering but it looks a lot like a Pale Ale though English or American would probably have to be based on taste cause you’re using English malts with American hops. Though 1lb of sugar to 7lbs of malt is going to be one very dry beer.
Actually I went back and looked at my notes I posted this from memory looks like I used CTZ @ 60 one Oz and 1 oz of Williamette @ 15 not sure that changes things…
I imagine the fact that it was boring probably was from too high a simple sugar to malt ratio. I would try brewing it without the sugar and keep everything else the same and see if you like it more. I don’t even think about adding sugar till I am in the 1.060 OG or higher. You’ll thin out the beer and mute the maltiness. With that grain bill I wouldn’t be shocked if the FG was 1.005 or lower. Too dry for my tastes. My opinion though, YMMV
What were the OG and FG readings? What yeast did you use? What temp did you ferment at? What water did you use and how did you treat it?
In principle, I don’t agree that the simple sugar is out of place in an AG bitter. I’ve brewed several best bitters with as much as 13 oz or sugar, but never more than 10% of the overall grain bill.
Personally I would not use so many specialty malts in a bitter. Seems to me that the overall flavor would get muddled.
It may seem counterintuitive, but fewer malts/adjuncts in your grain bill might yield less boring results. Your ingredients might shine more if you used fewer of them. Put all the colors of play dough together, and you get grey.
I prefer an English yeast for the style myself. Using English yeast makes most beers interesting, but that’s me, opinions vary. Except for Wyeast London ale, that mutes hop presence IME.
Yeah…the Sugar was prob not a good decision. I have not carb’d it up yet but will soon. It did seem thin so you nailed it on that one, also not malty. OG was 1.048 and FG was 1.007.
The Yeast I used was Denny’s 1450… I did not get much from the dandelions basically I am not getting anything earthy etc. Of course I have never eaten dandelions flat out either so not sure what they really taste like.
So I guess what everyone is saying is pass on submitting drink if I can dump if I got to??
TB
[quote=“burdbrew”]KSBS asks many good questions.
It may seem counterintuitive, but fewer malts/adjuncts in your grain bill might yield less boring results. Your ingredients might shine more if you used fewer of them. Put all the colors of play dough together, and you get grey.
I prefer an English yeast for the style myself. Using English yeast makes most beers interesting, but that’s me, opinions vary. Except for Wyeast London ale, that mutes hop presence IME.
Water? The kind that comes out of the tap, Wyeast 1450, Fermented at 62 degrees…
[quote=“kcbeersnob”]What were the OG and FG readings? What yeast did you use? What temp did you ferment at? What water did you use and how did you treat it?
In principle, I don’t agree that the simple sugar is out of place in an AG bitter. I’ve brewed several best bitters with as much as 13 oz or sugar, but never more than 10% of the overall grain bill.
Personally I would not use so many specialty malts in a bitter. Seems to me that the overall flavor would get muddled.[/quote]
If you are all grain brewing with chlorinated water, you can do better. Filter it or use campden tablets and your beer will improve immediately.
There is a lot that goes into brewing water. It’s not as important when you are learning, but when you get your process stable, consider learning your water. Ward Labs can tell you what you have. Hard water creates challenges in most brewing situations. The acidity of your mash is a pretty important measure that can be adjusted. Not stuff to worry about as you’re getting your chops, but thinking about water will really help you improve your beer.
I guess the water aspect is something that I have been putting off. Do you have an issue with a charcoal filter hooked to a garden hose? Since in the near future I will be getting my brew system outside and on one level…going with a pump.
[quote=“tbilderback”]I guess the water aspect is something that I have been putting off. Do you have an issue with a charcoal filter hooked to a garden hose? Since in the near future I will be getting my brew system outside and on one level…going with a pump.
Thanks![/quote]
My understanding is you should never use a garden hose for brewing water. The rubber taste that comes from that will not go away.
[quote=“mattnaik”][quote=“tbilderback”]I guess the water aspect is something that I have been putting off. Do you have an issue with a charcoal filter hooked to a garden hose? Since in the near future I will be getting my brew system outside and on one level…going with a pump.
Thanks![/quote]
My understanding is you should never use a garden hose for brewing water. The rubber taste that comes from that will not go away.[/quote]
Correct. Use a hose that states it is for drinking water. They aren’t generally that expensive.
Charcoal filter will do the trick. A medium flow is wise (slow enough to let the filter do its thing).
Also, I would suggest the campden over the charcoal filter. Campden tablets are very cheap and each tab treats 20 gallons of water. I also may be wrong on this but I don’t think charcoal filters work for chloramine and only work on chlorine (someone correct me if I’m wrong on this). Campden work on both chlorine or chloramine, so you’re covered no matter what your city uses.
Hard to classify this without tasting it, but if you submit it with an underlying English category, you should get dinged for not having sufficient English yeast derived character if the judges are any good. If the Dandelions don’t stand out, you’ll get dinged for that in category 23.
The style guideline does not require a specific style to be declared for Cat 23. Does the specific comp require it?
What’s your purpose for submitting to a comp? You looking for a medal or just for objective feedback?
