Have perused the old posts, and now am wondering if any of you would please share your delicious ESB recipes.
My club Missouri Assoc of Serious Homebrewers (MASH) is having an (MASH-only) ESB comp in May, and I wanna kick everyone’s @$$es.
Please post your best ESB recipes (I’m an all-grainer) for my perusal. Thanks, brah’s.
I recently made NB’s extra special bitter (ag) kit and it came out really nice; good flavor, mild hop aroma, a reall session. I also dry hopped an ounce of crystal. If I were to approach this one again, I’d change up the us-04 though. Pull NB’s sheet on it and start from there.
I brewed a ESB with a pound and a half of victory malt and I really enjoyed it.
I’m also in search of a good ESB. Idealy one similar to Nestucca ESB from pelican brewery.
heres the description from Pelican. I want to do something similar, but i might have to make my own recipe.
"With a grain bill featuring Golden Promise malt as well as Melanoidin and caramel malts, the malt character has a pronounced toasty, biscuit-like flavor. Northwest-grown Fuggle and Goldings hops are responsible for the pronounced floral, herbal hop flavor and aroma. And to top things off, Nestucca ESB gets a massive dose of Fuggle and Goldings hops added as dry hops during maturation.
This year’s version of Nestucca ESB has the alcohol content intentionally dialed back to 5.4% by volume for enhanced balance and drinkability. This drinkability, combined with a robust balance of flavors, makes Nestucca ESB perfect for those hardy souls who brave the brisk, windy weather to watch a glorious sunset on the patio, or cook up an early-season barbecue wearing raingear!"
85% Maris Otter, 8% Crisp Dark Crystal 75l, 5% Crisp Extra Dark Crystal 120l, 2% Crisp Pale Chocolate 225l. Toast 1/2 of the Maris Otter at 350 for 20 minutes(secret ingredient), stirring every 5 minutes. 34 IBU EKG. Mash at 152. WLP002. Gold Medal Winner.
sounds great. care to share where you got the recipe?
Def an interesting combo. I’m interested as well. ESB is a good "everybody"beer. Mine gets better by the day.
A couple of years ago I added some victory malt to my ordinary bitter recipe and it was way better.
My best ESBs have been just UK Pale Malt (Maris Otter, Golden Promise, etc.), about 8 ounces of Simpson’s or Thomas Fawcett Dark Crystal and 4-8 ounces of Torrified wheat, a mix of EKG, Stryian Goldings and/or US Kents and 1028. Very simple, very authentic, very good.
On the crystal, the Simpson’s version is the 70-80 (very good) and on the Thomas Fawcett, it’s called Dark Crystal #1 (even better). If you want the exact recipe, I’ll post it.
looks great ken. what is the OG and FG?
What exactly does the torrified wheat do for you besides possibly enhancing the head retention? I post on a UK homebrewing board all the time and those guys don’t seem to be able to formulate a recipe without adding it. Maybe I’m just old and stuck in my ways but I’ve been doing this hobby for more than a couple of decades and I have never used it myself, am I missing something that I really should try? In the quantities those guys are using it, I would be very surprised if it really did anything to the flavor of the beer but hey, it’s not like I am the seat of all knowlege or anything.
[quote=“Ken Lenard”]My best ESBs have been just UK Pale Malt (Maris Otter, Golden Promise, etc.), about 8 ounces of Simpson’s or Thomas Fawcett Dark Crystal and 4-8 ounces of Torrified wheat, a mix of EKG, Stryian Goldings and/or US Kents and 1028. Very simple, very authentic, very good.
On the crystal, the Simpson’s version is the 70-80 (very good) and on the Thomas Fawcett, it’s called Dark Crystal #1 (even better). If you want the exact recipe, I’ll post it.[/quote]
I would love the recipe, Ken. Like some others, an ESB is on my short list, and I happen to have some Thomas Fawcett Dark Crystal #1, which I agree is a little better than Simpson’s.
Cheers,
Kyle
This one came out particularly well. I brought the keg over to a NYE party and it was drained in about 3 hours. The funny thing was that there was an exec from Pabst there (I have known him for awhile) and he had a big spread of their beers at the party which NO ONE drank until this ESB was gone.
[b]ESB
8.50 lbs UK Pale Malt (Pauls, Muntons, Maris Otter, Golden Promise)
8 ounces Thomas Fawcett Dark Crystal #1 or Simpsons British Crystal 70-80L
8 ounces Torrified Wheat
1.25 ounces US Kent pellets @ 4.9% for 60 mins (6.1 AAU)
1 ounce Styrian Golding pellets 3.8% for 15
1 ounce Styrian Golding pellets 3.8% for 5
Wyeast 1028 London Ale
OG: 1.054, FG: 1.014, IBU: 37, SRM: 10, ABV: 5.2%[/b]
Mash 151-152° for 60-90 mins. I usually add some gypsum to a beer like this to boost the sulfates. The torrified wheat is to soften the beer a little, give it a little body and help with head formation and stability. Not sure what the deal is but they use it so I use it. I see it in A LOT of British beers. Cheers.
As good as gold, thank you Brother Lenard.
This is one of my favorite styles and I will use 1028, 1099, 1968 and a few others depending on my mood. Also, you could add more hops, maybe lower the crystal and boost the gravity to make a nice English Pale Ale or lower the gravity and adjust it to your liking to make an ordinary bitter, best/special bitter or ESB. I also ferment these beers low in the range (maybe 60° - 65°) by using a swamp cooler if I think ambient temps are going to rise. This gives the beer a cleaner flavor. I will also cut the water sometimes to lower the bicarbonate and then add back some gypsum (2-3 grams in the mash for 5 gallons) to boost the sulfates. A really nice, generally accepted style. At this party, everyone seemed to have a glass of this beer. For homebrewers, this is a little beer but for beer-drinking mortals, this isn’t exactly a gateway beer. Good luck and cheers.
+1 to Ken’s recipe looking great! Wish that pint was in my hand right now! I have an ESB on my short list and this recipe just jumped to the top! Thanks Ken.
thanks ken! it looks rather close to what i wanted to make. going to use golden promise. your recipe has been added to my list
:cheers:
Cheers guys. Good luck with the beer and post back when you’ve sampled it.
I’ve used it in beers where I’m basing them on the Real Ale Almanac. I’m not sure what it adds, either, but that’s been my reasoning. I should omit it the next time I brew one of those and see if I can tell the difference.
I’ve used it in beers where I’m basing them on the Real Ale Almanac. I’m not sure what it adds, either, but that’s been my reasoning. I should omit it the next time I brew one of those and see if I can tell the difference.[/quote]
This might be something where you wouldn’t be able to tell unless you knew the style well or had experimented with it a few times. I have posted recipes like the one above and had people say, I have domestic 2-row, Crystal 60 and normal malted wheat, will this work?… and it would definitely work, no quesion. I’ve had people email me to say that they made it that way and it was great and I have no doubt that it was. But I could tell the difference in using a British Pale Malt (I think it’s got a little more depth to it), the various types of British Crystal and the torrified wheat. I’ve never made a beer in this style with UK Pale Malt, British Crystal and normal wheat malt so I can’t really say if the TW makes a HUGE difference but if the recipe calls for it and I can get it, why not? Cheers Beerheads.
