Best Bitter

So here is my second volley into the English Bitters for the month of January (recipe off to the side here). I was pleasantly surprised with my first attempt a few weeks back, it's been in the keg for a week or so and after modifying the carbonation levels and temperature of my kegerator (serving temp of 49 degrees F) it tastes fantastic.

The major changes that I'm undergoing for my "Best Bitter" is the use of non-carbon filtered water..just using good ole lake Michigan water off the tap and boiling it for about 15 minutes to kick the chlorine's out (Chicago city water does not have chloramines), also I'm going to include much lower levels of rye and oats (both for mouthfeel and body) to .10lbs each. AND considering I actually do have a decent amount of medium caramel on hand I'll be using .75lbs and mashing at 155F. Also worth a note is the use of .5lbs of special roast..I'm hoping this will be enough to add somewhat of that roasty/biscuit flavor that I enjoy in bitter. The base malt will remain the same throughout my bitter experiments, Maris Otter is by far my favorite base grain to use.

Outside of that I'll be using Wyeasts Nottingham yeast this time around, I'll be shooting for a complete fermentation by mid week (4 days fermenting) then a quick "forced" carbonation which will hopefully give me a tasty brew ready to drink this weekend for both a day of ice fishing in WI (I'm pumped..have not gone in years..and the last time I did was in my home state of Idaho), and of coarse having it drinkable for the Superbowl will be kick ass.


The gravity will be a bit higher this time around as I am doing a "best" bitter, instead of an ordinary bitter. The progression loosely looks like this:

-ordinary bitter: up to 3.9% alcohol by volume

-best bitter: 4%-5% ABV

-extra special or "special" bitter: 5% +

Granted all of these versions, even "special", could be considered a session beer by our standards of craft beers, and all are very drinkable and great for session drinking..meaning after 3 or 4..or 5 or 6.. during the coarse of the big game or freezing your ass off on a frozen lake in search of some walleye you should still be able to pour another one without soaking your loyal dog (who of coarse follows you to the tap...well mine does anyhow).

Anyhow, I'll be sure to post some feedback on how this brew tastes later in the week. After that I'm thinking I'll be pushing this Nottingham yeast into a strong wheat beer I'd like to do next weekend prior to the game...I've really got the brewing bug lately and am definitely filling up all my cornys in the process (3 of them as of today..could be 4 by next week), I also now have a 2 year tradition of brewing the morning of the big game. I really do feel like I'm dialing in my home brewery and with the temperatures in Chicago being what they are right now controlling the fermentation temps is a snap..and I'm definitely capitalizing on that.

*Brewing update: So what happens when you slap your smack pack the night before, let it sit out for 2 hours, and then realize that you dont have any malt extract left? Well you toss it in the fridge to slow it down and crash the yeast out until the following morning (that is after using some colorful language to express your displeasure with yourself).

How about this-you get a nice early start to your brewday around 5:30am, mash (with a stuck sparge I might add), finally get your runoff and get a fantastic boil going for 1 hour (read 30 minutes left in the boil) BUT realize that your smack pack is still in the fridge? Well you shove that bad boy under your cold weather gear and let your body heat get those little basterds going again.

Cheers!

Brian

English Bitter

I've been craving a nice session beer for some time now, and an English Bitter seemed to fit the bill perfectly. There is just something about having a well balanced brew thats easy to drink that becomes almost a necessity to have on tap...and I've, for too long, been brewing heavier beers (as defined by myself at anything over 5.5% abv). I'm reminded frequently about how nice it is to have a number of pints with a friend, or friends, over some conversation but I seldom relate that experience to home brewing.

I could blame it on all the brewing books I have on being "extreme" or wanting to push on the outer fringes of just what a smack pack of yeast can handle in terms of a starting gravity (read the beginnings of a strong beer before fermentation) but I will take responsibility upon myself.

I think having a strong beer at home, in bottle or keg, is advantageous in that you can experience a great experience in creating your own beer that would fight off the mightiest wild yeasts with it's pure ABV volume AND managing it to be tasty and aged well, is a great joy. The same could be said for, and this is where I choose to focus my brewing currently, for a nice session brew that is enjoyed fresh and frequently. Thats why I chose my current brewing project-brewing up an nice English Bitter.

I dont mean to draw any lines in the sand here as I do believe you should brew both in tandem. It's always a great feeling to brew a lighter beer and later toss a stronger wort on top of it, and again a stronger wort on top afterwards on that yeast cake......exponentially increasing the strength of your beers and again them differently. I will say however that currently I'm very interested in brewing a great session ale that both my friends and wife can enjoy as much as I do. Of coarse thats not to say that I'm not building up this yeast cake for a mighty English Barley Wine...which I am...right after I knock out the English Oyster Stout I've got planned to do next with this yeast.

My recipe was loosely based on Jamils English Bitter recipe, I say loosely because I did take certain liberties with it. For one I did go light on the caramel malt, and introduced some flaked rye in it's place...this is mostly based on my poor brewing calculations and my own wish to not replicate any specific beer that I have not actually tasted. Also you will notice that I experimented with Argentinian Cascade hops for bittering...they have a earthy taste but with a slight twinge of citrus that I believe will add some complexity to this brew.

We'll see how I did with this batch in a few weeks when I tote a few growlers out onto a frozen lake for some ice fishing with some buddies..I'll keep ya posted.

If any of you have any English Bitter recipes that your happy with I would love to hear about them!

Cheers!
Brian