Butty Bach ESB

[starseeker]

I was up in north Wales for a few nights last week and discovered Butty Bach from the Wye valley brewery ,i really enjoyed a few pints of this so when i got home i looked up the brewery and they were calling this a ESB .
As it happens i was also given the Greg Hughes home brew book a few days ago and i see there is a ESB recipe in there that seems to have similar hops and grain to Butty as far as i can find out from the Wye valley website .
So i was wondering if anybody has brewed the Greg Hughes ESB and is it similar to Butty or can anybody give me a recipe which will give me something like Butty Bach (It was lovely !)
Cheers all

 

[Arrakus]

Sorry, I can’t help with your questions.....but I too would like to see a good Butty Bach recipe

 

[The Baron]

Has it got a honey taste if so use some honey malt but not too much as it can come in rather strong in taste

 

[RichardM]

Sorry, I can’t help with your questions.....but I too would like to see a good Butty Bach recipe

Me too. Butty Bach and Wye Valley's other main beer, HPA, are both very good.
I made an attempt at HPA a couple of year's ago, which turned out pretty good.

 

[marshbrewer]

I would guess it's pale malt plus a bit of crystal with fuggles and Goldings. Then a neutral yeast ( you can recover the proper yeast from bottles of Butty, and I have in the past, but while it is an excellent performing yeast, I wouldn't say it's particularly characteristic flavour wise)

 

[RichardM]

There's a clone recipe here Honey Ale (Butty Bach clone) Beer 26a - All Grain Extra Special/Strong Bitter (ESB) Homebrew Beer Recipe - Brewer's Friend I have no idea how close it is.
The Wye Valley web site says

We brew it using Maris Otter and Crystal malts together with locally grown Fuggles, Goldings and Bramling Cross hops.

 

[The Baron]

Thats the one I looked at when I asked if it had honey in it but no honey is mentioned in the descriptors by the brewers

 

[starseeker]

I am brewing the Greg Hughes ESB this weekend ,i am using so4 yeast ,but as this has quite a high attenuation and butty bach has a lovely residual sweetness ,i thought i would do the mash at 68 degrees or so to hopefully keep it a bit sweeter .
This is my first AG brew so who knows :)

 

[Clint]

I done the GH ESB. A couple of times but I'm sure I swapped or subbed something....my brew book is 15 ft away so can't reach it..I added flaked barley..

 

[Sandimas]

Didn't spot this thread earlier, Butty Bach is my local beer and I've done the brewery tour, this is my attempt at the recipe which I think is pretty close: I've made it 3 or 4 times.

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.046 (°P): 11.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.52 %
Colour (SRM): 6.7 (EBC): 13.1
Bitterness (IBU): 43.4 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 68

Grain Bill
----------------
4.500 kg Maris Otter Malt (91.84%)
0.150 kg Flaked Maize (3.06%)
0.150 kg Wheat Malt (3.06%)
0.100 kg Crystal 60 standard (2.04%)

Hop Bill
----------------
41.0 g East Kent Golding Leaf (4.84% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.8 g/L)
41.0 g Fuggles Leaf (3.3% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.8 g/L)
32.0 g Bramling Cross Leaf (5% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
32.0 g Bramling Cross Leaf (5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)

 

[moto748]

Does flaked maize = Corn Flakes?

BTW, darrellm, kudos to your stout recipe, had a taster the other night, coming along great!

 

[jeg3]

Does flaked maize = Corn Flakes?

I've used cornflakes before, not Kelloggs - they're more expensive than flaked maize by weight - the cheapest you can get.

I haven't used maize or cornflakes very often though, so don't know whether there's any difference.

The only minor concern may be that cornflakes are fortified and there may be minerals in them that could affect the water profile...?

 

[Sandimas]

I just got some flaked maize from the LHBS: not really sure why I put it in TBH, might have been a use up! Don't think it's essential, leave it out of you don't have it.

Thanks for the praise of my stout recipe, been brewing 11 years and only recently have I started to be really happy with most of my recipes: think I'm finally getting the hang of it now.

 

[Galena]

Flaked maize is quite common in British Ales I believe, I am putting is my Old Hooky Clone tomorrow, it increases the fermentable sugar level while adding very little to flavour or colour according to Greg Hughes. Never tried cornflakes though

 

[Cwrw666]

Butty Bach gives me horendous indegestion - can't even get a whole pint down before it starts. My daughter worked at the pub and said it's a really common reaction to it.
BTW it's nothing like GH ESB.

 

[Galena]

I used to drink quite a lot of Butty Bach when I worked in Wales regularly, I can't say I noticed any honey notes, a nice pint though I did prefer the HSB

 

[Galena]

The brewery say
"Butty Bach is a Welsh term meaning ‘little friend’ – and this charmingly smooth premium ale has certainly made more than a few friendships in its time. We brew it using Maris Otter and Crystal malts together with locally grown Fuggles, Goldings and Bramling Cross hops. With such fine ingredients, no wonder it remains a firm favourite."
Probably enough to start working on a recipe

 

[starseeker]

Didn't spot this thread earlier, Butty Bach is my local beer and I've done the brewery tour, this is my attempt at the recipe which I think is pretty close: I've made it 3 or 4 times.

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.046 (°P): 11.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.52 %
Colour (SRM): 6.7 (EBC): 13.1
Bitterness (IBU): 43.4 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 68

Grain Bill
----------------
4.500 kg Maris Otter Malt (91.84%)
0.150 kg Flaked Maize (3.06%)
0.150 kg Wheat Malt (3.06%)
0.100 kg Crystal 60 standard (2.04%)

Hop Bill
----------------
41.0 g East Kent Golding Leaf (4.84% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.8 g/L)
41.0 g Fuggles Leaf (3.3% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.8 g/L)
32.0 g Bramling Cross Leaf (5% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
32.0 g Bramling Cross Leaf (5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.4 g/L)

This is one for my next grain order , could you also let us know which yeast you used please ?

 

[marshbrewer]

The only minor concern may be that cornflakes are fortified and there may be minerals in them that could affect the water profile...?

Lidl's cheapest cornflakes, 50p for 500g, list only flaked maize and nothing else in their ingredients. All the others I have looked at, including Aldi s cheapest, list things like iron. I've used the Lidl ones loads of times without issue, so they might be worth a try if you don't have a LHBS and need some in a hurry.

 

[moto748]

Lidl's cheapest cornflakes, 50p for 500g, list only flaked maize and nothing else in their ingredients. All the others I have looked at, including Aldi s cheapest, list things like iron. I've used the Lidl ones loads of times without issue, so they might be worth a try if you don't have a LHBS and need some in a hurry.

Thanks! Lidl are going to be my next port of call, it's just down the road from me.