CS1 - Oli and Mike's Bitter (B1 and B2)

[Mike]

Session Bitter recipe from Brewing Classic Styles. Brewed at Olis place with chilly-bin mashtun and 100L boil kettle. Pre boil wort yielded high gravity and so upped projected volume from 45L to 50L so as to not be to high OG for style. Missed our boil off volume by a fair margin (10L I think) and so instead of 50L of Session Bitter we ended up with 40L of Best Bitter at 4.7%. Split into two fermenters, B1 (Plastic) and B2 (glass). Fermented in the same fermentation fridge with STC1000 probe attached to B2, at 19C. I'm sure Oli can fill in anything I've missed/messed up.

[Paul Finney]

Yeah, i feel like this yeast needs about 4-5 weeks for some reason. I have done both my ESB, and both my ordinary bitters and all have ended up over carbed. Zane said it may be because the yeast falls out early so a swirl now and then may help it.

Anyways, to the tasting notes on B1

Poured over carbed. As discussed, this yeast seems to do this unless closely monitored.

The head settled down and was really good. The head stayed on the glass throughout the drink, and looked great.

I poured this straight from the fridge so my initial notes are based on it probably being too cold.

The hops smell was noble, with nice inviting aroma.

The first taste was a bit thin, although the roasted malts came through on the back end. I also noticed a slight filminess on my lips, maybe a sign of too much diacetyl? (again i came across this in my beers with this yeast)

I then had a pizza and came back to this afterwards when it had warmed up.

Once warmed up this beer really came good. The malts, and the hop flavour really came through and became much more drinkable.

For a session bitter i would say the 4.7% is getting to the high side. I would add a bit more roasted, or crystal in to give it a bit more body and you would be onto a winner. Shame about the carbing as you have to really cool it to get it poured properly.

Would be interested to see you rebrew it with a few alterations as bitters is what i love.

Am just about to try the B2 so will see how they compare

[Mike]

How would you judge it as a "Best Bitter" paul?

[Paul Finney]

Hi Mike,

 

I would say from the apperance it is lacking a bit in the special malts. I think the aroma, flavour of the hops is bang on, although the ABV is a bit too high.

The bitterness is also a bit low. The workings seem about right, but the perception is not quite there, so maybe an extra 10g.

So, i would say alter the grain bill slightly to give some more malt flavour. Increase the bittering hops slightly, and lower the carb and you'll be sweet.

It is still a good beer to drink though, just slightly out of style like my Ordinary is.

[oliver]

Cheers for the tips Paul :)

[oliver]

Ah interesting, bout 2ish weeks before cold crashing according to my notes (which weren't too great on this one :p). Might de-gas a sample from a bottle and take a gravity reading - compare with the FG reading in my notes. 

[Paul Finney]

B2.

Very similar to B1, no noticable difference.

If anything the head retention was not as good, although both poured with too much head. Maybe it was my jug after having the first one in it.

Again a hint of diacetyl (i hope i am spelling this correctly, i can't be bothered to google it!) but not overpowering.

So like the B1, a nice bitter. Probably just in need with a bit of a tweak, but a good first effort. The yeast is a bit troublesome, so maybe we both need to work with it a bit more to find out how it reacts

[oliver]

Cool, cheers for the detailed feedback - I've put down another bitter with a similar recipe using WLP002. I'll have to put down a third sometime with some of your ideas. I've heard Jamil say the english crystal/specialty malts are very rich compared to the american ones, not sure how NZ malts compare. I'm hoping the switch to 002 alone will bring out the malts a bit more + increase the body. Will hook you up with a bottle when it carbs - see what you think. If that doesn't work I reckon I'll try mash a little higher, maybe boost the crystal + the bittering a little?

[Paul Finney]

Yeah, i think the next time i do my ordinary i will hike the temp a bit too to try and lever some more body into it. When you have such a low gravity beer you need to rinse as much out of the malts as possible.

 

[Ralph]

For the B2

Gusher! Way overcarbed? Does not really taste infected… I would guess it was bottled with too much residual sugar in the brew.

Yeasty notes  on the nose with some fruity esters and a little earthy/spicy hop.

Nice copper colour, huge head that dies back to a coarse thin head. Colour and head seem spot on for a bitter.

Some strange flavour that I am having trouble describing in initial taste, might be the EKG? I have not brewed with them much. Goes through to a toffee/caramel then the hop bite finishes it off. An earthy aftertaste hangs around for a long time afterwards (again EKG?).

Medium sort of mouthfeel, seems appropriate for style.

Did you guys adjust your water? Gypsum (CaSO4)? I am getting some sulphur type notes? 

[Mike]

No salts added to water according to my memory.

Foamy/overcarbed seems to be the norm for this beer, you're the first gusher we've seen though from the swap, so I'm guessing your one may have taken a knock (it doesn't tend to travel well :P). In saying that I took my last 500ml to a friends yesterday and didn't get a gusher, just a slow rising foam from the bottle, and very very foamy in jug. Too much residual sugar seems to be the problem yea, I'm guessing the WLP007 flocced out too soon and then the carbonation sugar woke it back up again. 

I got a slightly musty flavour in the 500ml I had yesterday, this might be the flavour you describe? It does seem like it blends with/is similar to a really earthy hop note, but it wasn't as noticeable previously to my reckoning. I didn't taste it in any of the other bottles, so I'm guessing it's developed in the last couple weeks. Make of that what you will. 

[Ralph]

Ok, the slight sulphur note may be from the yeast or something.

Yeh, ok foam rising out the top of the bottle rather than a gusher is a better description! It has been sitting in my 10 deg freezer since I bought it home from the case swap.

The flavour could be described as musty/earthy.

[Mike]

Yea that's what I got. The yeast could have thrown out some weird flavours, maybe it was underpitched, hence the low apparent initial attenuation and fermentation in the bottles - leading to over carbonation. Or maybe there was a slight infection/something else that is developing in the beer, as the mustiness was not present before. Pretty much all of it is drank now though!