Just curious as to what you all thought of this recipe idea. I’ve never really made my own recipe and just downloaded beersmith and did a little research to come up with this five gallon ESB.
8# Pale Malt US 2row- base
1.5# Victory Malt- light toasted/biscuit flavor
1# Flaked Corn- saw someone suggest this to keep light body but to add gravity
.5# Crystal 60- just for a little color
1oz challenger at 60
1 oz Kent Goldings at 15
1oz Kent Goldings at 5
(read that these are good english ale hops, just really guessed on when to toss them in)
Looks good… the only suggestion I’ll make is that London Ale will attenuate your beer fairly well. So if I were to use that yeast, I would add more crystal and/or mash at a higher temp. Your ingredients look great if you were to use a lower attenuating yeast like 1968 London ESB. If you are going with 1028 London, then I’d make sure the beer doesn’t end up too dry.
The other suggestion I’d make is to ditch the Victory+2-row and use an English Malt like Maris Otter.
I am not sure if 1.5lbs of Victory is too much or not. I’ve never used that much.
If you have not purchased your ingredients yet, I would go with Maris Otter over 2 Row. I have not used biscuit in an English pale ale, but I like about 5% in a Belgian Pale ale. 15% sounds like a lot. Your recipe as it is should make a good English Pale ale, but if you are looking for Fuller’s ESB, you need to boost the gravity to 1.055 and use 1/2 Lb of flaked maize. Up your base malt to get your gravity and 10% crystal to add richness.
I love the London (1028), but London ESB (1968) is supposedly Fuller’s yeast. It will ferment fully if you pitch enough yeast. I brewed a barley wine last year that went from 1.100 to 1.020 using London ESB.
This is one of my favorite styles and I just made 3 different (but similar) recipes with 1028. I agree… use a good English/UK pale malt, not domestic 2-row. Also, if possible, see if you can find (at the very least), something called British Crystal 55L or better yet, Thomas Fawcett & Sons Dark Crystal II. It has a great amber-red color and really lends an authentic character. When I make a beer like this, I go with English base malt, the Thomas Fawcett dark crystal (maybe 12-14 ounces in 5 gallons) and some torrified wheat. Hops look good and 60, 15 and 5 is what I use. Check out this beer made with that Crystal…
thanks for the input everyone. I got a little impatient and wanted to just see what happens so I went with my original guess. I’ll probably take your suggestions into account next time to measure the difference
