elkdog is absolutely right.
If you’re going for true British style ESB, some sugar or grain adjunct (or both) is absolutely appropriate. For my ESB I generally use a combination of muscovado sugar and corn grits or poha, as well as just a trace amount of oats and wheat (to enhance the head potential).
And I heartily agree that if you like your ESB at cellar temps or thereabouts, the somewhat lighter body is definitely going to be a good thing, with all of the flavors and hop character being enhanced at non-frozen drinking temps.
But of course, it all boils down to individual taste. No judgements here…I always bottle some off for the fridge and keep a few frozen mugs on hand for guests who truly prefer it served that way.
:cheers:
Man, all this talk of ESB is making me thirsty. I have an Innkeeper kit all ready to go, with WY1469. Who has brewed that one?
6 lb Golden Promise
0.25 lb British Extra Dark Crystal
1 lb corn sugar
1 oz Fuggles @ 60
1 oz EKG @ 45
1 oz Styrian Goldings @ 5
I scaled this down to 3 gallons. One thing that kind of bothers me about NB’s recipes is that they don’t ever state the aa’s of their hops. I suppose this is so they don’t have to continually update the recipe sheets, but I wonder how much the bitterness could shift as aa’s fluctuate from crop to crop?
Agreed on both counts (though the beer still sounds tasty). I like that Extra Dark Crystal in a bitter. Nice deeper note for the colder months. Should end up nice and crisp, with just a hint of caramel, and plenty of delicious yeast character.
Those are some of the best ones. My personal favorite is Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale, which is actually an ESB. It has a distinctive bread pudding sort of flavor that I love. Not always the easiest to find but it is worth seeking out.
Redhook is indeed a ho-hum beer IMHO. Not exactly an ESB but an Americanized bastardization. If you want the good stuff, you pretty much need to stick with British imports. I don’t believe I have tasted an American version that wasn’t better categorized as an APA unless perhaps they truly stuck with 100% English hops and malts. Ack… I might be a bit of a style nazi, but somebody’s got to do it. :mrgreen:
I’m sure the secret is the English Crystal malt. They probably use a lot of dark crystal, or perhaps a range of a lot of different color crystal, to get complex caramel candy flavors and a bit of sweetness. Got to be the English stuff, though – Briess need not apply.
+1000. English base malt, English crystal, English yeast (or at least a malt-forward, somewhat low attenuating strain). The yeast strain affects the impact of the crystal. If you use wlp002/wy1098, you’ll perceive it more strongly, whereas more attenuative strains don’t accentuate it as much.
Fermentation management makes a difference too. The brits use somewhat elaborate temperature profiles, and not just to keep themselves busy. Good info here (including Fuller’s patrigyle, which makes their beers really hard to clone): http://byo.com/equipment/item/2318-full … -of-london
There really is a beauty to a balanced bitter that only a few American beers are trying to get. Left Hand Sawtooth, Highland Gaelic , Red Hook years back before they were assimilated, and Sam Adams Boston Ale come to mind as hitting that same niche as an ESB, and all of those beers are more or less dinosaurs of the American craft beer movement, from way back in the 20th century. A couple breweries, like 21st Amendment, have produced something in this range, but I haven’t had a newer beer that struck that same elegant balance. Balanced (a subjective term) malty sessionable ales aren’t very trendy these days like belgian/hoppy/sour beers are, but that’s only more reason to make your own. There’s a lot to be said for a flavorful beer you can have a few of without palate fatigue or inebriation taking over. It’s as much a craft as any other style. Ok, I’m preaching to choir here. Sorry.
[quote=“elkdog”]
There really is a beauty to a balanced bitter that only a few American beers are trying to get. Left Hand Sawtooth, Highland Gaelic , Red Hook years back before they were assimilated, and Sam Adams Boston Ale come to mind as hitting that same niche as an ESB, and all of those beers are more or less dinosaurs of the American craft beer movement, from way back in the 20th century. A couple breweries, like 21st Amendment, have produced something in this range, but I haven’t had a newer beer that struck that same elegant balance. Balanced (a subjective term) malty sessionable ales aren’t very trendy these days like belgian/hoppy/sour beers are, but that’s only more reason to make your own. There’s a lot to be said for a flavorful beer you can have a few of without palate fatigue or inebriation taking over. It’s as much a craft as any other style. Ok, I’m preaching to choir here. Sorry.[/quote]
Goose Island’s 25th Anniversary beer was a wonderful ESB. It really put me in the mind of the fresh Fullers ESB I had in London. There may still be some of GI’s around, but it’s a few months old now.
[quote=“BrewingRover”][quote=“elkdog”]
There really is a beauty to a balanced bitter that only a few American beers are trying to get. Left Hand Sawtooth, Highland Gaelic , Red Hook years back before they were assimilated, and Sam Adams Boston Ale come to mind as hitting that same niche as an ESB, and all of those beers are more or less dinosaurs of the American craft beer movement, from way back in the 20th century. A couple breweries, like 21st Amendment, have produced something in this range, but I haven’t had a newer beer that struck that same elegant balance. Balanced (a subjective term) malty sessionable ales aren’t very trendy these days like belgian/hoppy/sour beers are, but that’s only more reason to make your own. There’s a lot to be said for a flavorful beer you can have a few of without palate fatigue or inebriation taking over. It’s as much a craft as any other style. Ok, I’m preaching to choir here. Sorry.[/quote]
Goose Island’s 25th Anniversary beer was a wonderful ESB. It really put me in the mind of the fresh Fullers ESB I had in London. There may still be some of GI’s around, but it’s a few months old now.[/quote]
+2 on the Goose Island. I think they called it an Imperial ESB. Anyway, a friend who works at a distributor asked me if I wanted some for free and gave me two cases a month ago. I didn’t know it was an ESB at the time but was really pleased when I found out. It is pretty tasty stuff, not quite a SS but very solid brew.
I’ve been away from this thread for a few days, but here’s a few things I wanted to touch on:
Red Hook ESB - I haven’t had this in years, but it used to be pretty good back in the day. About 2 or 3 years ago (around the same time they changed their bottles), every beer I tried from them was a butter-bomb. Have they fixed their diacetyl problem? I’ve been wanting to pick up some of their ESB, but I’m super-sensitive to diacetyl so I’ve sworn off Red Hook as of late.
Someone made a comment about fresh Fullers, and I have to say it is quite a different beer depending on how fresh it is. The hops drop off quickly and more caramel starts to show up as it ages. I actually like it both ways, but if you ever get a chance to taste an older and newer one side-by-side it is quite remarkable.
I’ve never thought about using sugar in an ESB. I guess I’ve always gone for a full, rich maltiness in mine. But that would probably be an excellent idea in a more hop-forward version of the style. I have some Challenger hops laying around that smell amazing - I think there’s an ESB with their name on them in my future. I’ll probably use Lyle’s Golden Syrup for my simple sugar, just for the sake of authenticity more than anything else.
This is a great thread. It has certainly been eye-opening seeing a lot of different preferences for a style I pretty much only viewed from one perspective.
Just tried Furthermore Proper last night. Good things going on with the malt. I don’t think the hopping’s entirely to style - couldn’t quite place my finger on it, but I’m sure there’s something American in there - but it works. Nice beer to let sit around and warm up until the waiter starts asking you if something’s wrong with it.
I’ve been doing larger BIAB partials lately and use Briess Golden Light LME to make up the remainder of my beer. But were I to water down my ESB that I used Marris Otter and British crystal malt to make it more authentic I’m afraid using Briess will likely bring it down a notch.
I see I could get a Munich LME, but 50% Munich and 50% pilsen would seem to take it far away from what I want, that golden light would probably be much better.
I see they also offer some Muntons LME, but I’m not familiar with them. Extra light and light Jerry.
So now it has me considering doing another mini mash in a ~5 qt stock pot and using just MO to keep it going in the right direction. But I’m afraid that won’t be enough to make up the difference.
Muntons is British. I’d go with that. Although if you already have Briess LME that will work. We aren’t bad-mouthing all Briess stuff but the British crystal is pretty special. You can also use 10% plain table sugar as mentioned before.
I figured it may help keep it more authentic, but I’m not keen on what the differences might be.
For me to use the Muntons I’d deal with my LHBS, and I have no idea how fresh it is. I generally just buy my grains from them, and any small amounts of LME if I’ve changed my recipe up a bit after I’ve purchased my ingredients. I’m well known for that on small batches that become medium or large batches…
