The Quest for the Perfect Bitter

[Cheshire Cat]

The Holy Grail

 

[Sadfield]

Casks, keg, pressure barrels, poly bags, bottles and cans are just vessels that can hold carbonated beverages. How you package and dispense from them is what dictates the result. Give or take the intricacies of dimishing shelf life of a vented cask, there's a lot that can be replicated or approximated. The issue with most supermarket/large brewery bottled bitters is they aren't packaged to replicate cask, they're packaged to sit on shelves for a long time at any temperature and be pourable with little care.

 

[Dads_Ale]

I wonder if @Dads_Ale has published his recipe anywhere on the forum.
I bet he uses Pop's malt from Crafty Maltsters.

Sorry only just seen this. On phone At the moment but will put up the recipes later when I get on the computer.
I am still experimenting and have just kegged my latest attempt.

 

[Worf]

Before America was discovered, about 20 years ago, ....

Funny!
I began homebrewing when my British wife gave me an 'English Bitter' kit as a gift 12yrs ago). We got married 37yrs ago & used to travel to England every 4 years or so. I enjoyed the traditional local pub (especially the bitter) and pined at the end of the holiday when we came home to the colonies. Plus I couldn't drink the American crap any more.

Last time we traveled to England (8yrs back?) I was greatly disappointed to find most of the pubs to be way more commercial and missing a lot of the 'local' feel.

In the last 6 yrs brewing, I've turned away from a lot of the 'other' types & come back to bitters. I shall watch this thread with great interest. Thanks, An Ankou

 

[Galena]

Last time we traveled to England (8yrs back?) I was greatly disappointed to find most of the pubs to be way more commercial and missing a lot of the 'local' feel.

You are certainly right about that, such pubs are still out there but they are few and far between at least in my experience.
It is harder for a pub to survive these days selling just good ale and a few snacks. Gastro pubs are where the money is, and in our region which is quite touristy, many pubs have their own campsite attached or are very close to one so are snided out with touroids and *cough* children* until about 9:30 in the evening. Things are a little better in the winter when things quieten down somewhat but tourism lasts all year round nowadays.
I do wonder how much things will change after we come out of lockdown, lots of pubs may disappear for good.

 

[Sandimas]

Late to this thread as don't have a lot of time to spend posting at the moment. Bitters are my thing too, that's pretty much all I've brewed for the past 12 years, maybe an IPA once a year, and I wouldn't even know what a NEIPA is!

Most of my brews are bottled, I did used to keg and the beer was better and more real-ale like, but I've run into some serious infection issues in all my plastic kegs and have now ditched them. I've recently started using the 10L stainless steel mini-kegs with a little CO2 cartridge sold by Dark Farm etc. Going back to bottling, when priming ales use less sugar than usual: I start with half a teaspoon per bottle and then shake some off.

There's loads of good recipes out there but I tend to keep it simple: pale male, 5-10% crystal, hops at 60min and 10min, and maybe a hop steep. Careful with the hop steep with hops like Fuggles it's easy to overdo it. The Graham Wheeler and Greg Hughes books are my go-to for recipes, great one in both: the Wheeler one has clone brews whereas the Hughes book has generic recipes like London Bitter.

Don't be afraid to push the bitterness a bit high, I've tended to brew mostly in the 30-35 IBU range but recently have been pushing it to 40-45 IBU: brews tend to mellow with conditioning and can end up a bit non-descript with a lower IBU.

Finally, keep it simple. These brews are not meant to have multiple malts and hop additions, one of the best bitters I make has just has base malt, 10% crystal, OG 1044ish, and a single 60min hop addition of Fuggles, Target or Challenger bittered to 35 IBU - try it.

 

[NormanHurst]

Late to this thread as don't have a lot of time to spend posting at the moment. Bitters are my thing too, that's pretty much all I've brewed for the past 12 years, maybe an IPA once a year, and I wouldn't even know what a NEIPA is!

Most of my brews are bottled, I did used to keg and the beer was better and more real-ale like, but I've run into some serious infection issues in all my plastic kegs and have now ditched them. I've recently started using the 10L stainless steel mini-kegs with a little CO2 cartridge sold by Dark Farm etc. Going back to bottling, when priming ales use less sugar than usual: I start with half a teaspoon per bottle and then shake some off.

There's loads of good recipes out there but I tend to keep it simple: pale male, 5-10% crystal, hops at 60min and 10min, and maybe a hop steep. Careful with the hop steep with hops like Fuggles it's easy to overdo it. The Graham Wheeler and Greg Hughes books are my go-to for recipes, great one in both: the Wheeler one has clone brews whereas the Hughes book has generic recipes like London Bitter.

Don't be afraid to push the bitterness a bit high, I've tended to brew mostly in the 30-35 IBU range but recently have been pushing it to 40-45 IBU: brews tend to mellow with conditioning and can end up a bit non-descript with a lower IBU.

Finally, keep it simple. These brews are not meant to have multiple malts and hop additions, one of the best bitters I make has just has base malt, 10% crystal, OG 1044ish, and a single 60min hop addition of Fuggles, Target or Challenger bittered to 35 IBU - try it.

What are your go to yeasts? With such simple grain bills and hopping, the yeast (and the water!) play big parts too. I have used Nottingham for example but it lacks the character I want in a bitter.

 

[Sandimas]

What are your go to yeasts? .

Nottingham was my go-to too but recently MJ M36 Liberty Bell has become my favourite. I only use dried yeasts as I found the liquid ones a bit of a faff and expensive.

 

[Galena]

Nottingham was my go-to too but recently MJ M36 Liberty Bell has become my favourite. I only use dried yeasts as I found the liquid ones a bit of a faff and expensive.

A faff, yes but cheaper than dried if you make a starter and overbuild

 

[An Ankoù]

Nottingham was my go-to too but recently MJ M36 Liberty Bell has become my favourite. I only use dried yeasts as I found the liquid ones a bit of a faff and expensive.

I like Liberty Bell, I understand it's a rebrand of their old Burton Union yeast. I've heard it said it's identical to S-04. No way!
I was looking for a medium attenuator some weeks ago and had nothing suitable in my yeast boz except some sachets of Young's Ale Yeast. I've been quite pleased with it and have top cropped and used it with a few other brews. the jury's out as they're not quite ready yet, but I'm optimistic.

 

[Dads_Ale]

I have always found brewing a great bitter on homebrew size equipment is really difficult.
I have tried many different recipes of the past few years and whilst they have generally come out very good they have neve quite hit the spot. I am sure some of this is due to the lack of atmosphere we would normally enjoy a pint of bitter in i.e. a great local pub.
I am also convinced a lot of the flavour is derived from the water source and equipment a brewery uses. We have had several old brewerys close near us in the last few years, Morland, Morrells and Brakspear. Whilst the names remain the beer is now brewed elsewhere and just doesn't taste the same.
I generally only brew bitter in the colder months so as I can make use of my hand pump. As such I have gone through quite a few recipes in the past few months so will have to check through my notes and PMs to see which ones I have sent out and got feedback on.
#My latest brew is part of a series based on Moorhouse Pendle Witches' Brew in the GW books. It is a very basic recipe using Pale, crystal and wheat malts (and some brewing sugar) with fuggles hops. The latest incarnation has used a lighter crystal so am keen to see how it turns out. This one uses Warminster Maris Otter and Beoir yeast from CML.
I will post some of the recipes once I have sorted out which one is which.

 

[Dads_Ale]

This is the recipe for the one that won the December competition and was the best one I sent @Oneflewover for the Secret Santa.

This one was part of a series of trials using some of the BEIRM yeasts from Crossmyloof and definitely proves that sometimes a very simple recipe is often the best as this one is really simple.

Quantities are for a final volume in the FV of 27litres

Pale malt (marris otter) - 3.6 kg
Crystal malt 45L (113 EBC) - 220 g
Crystal malt - 65L (150 EBC) - 220 g
Wheat malt - 200 g

Mash 67c for 90 mins

EKG - 28 g - 60 mins
EKG - 21 g - 30 mins
EKG - 25 g - 10 mins
Irish Moss - 3 g - 10 mins
EKG - 26 g - 0 mins

Yeast - BEoIR (two sachets)

OG - 1042
FG - 1011

This is the competition feedback
Silly old sod
Aroma : 10/12
Hoppy with lots of grapefruit and hints of orange
Appearance 2/3
Golden with a shortlisting head. Opaque but that may be down to chill haze.
Mouth feel: 4/5
Medium light with just enough carbonation
Flavour: 19/20
Dry with lots of hop flavour which mirrors the aroma
Overall 9/10
Stunning pint. Id certainly pay to have this in a pub. Id love to try a stronger version of 5.5- 6% which I may make since you've added the recipe
Total 44/50

 

[Nicks90]

A perfect pint of bitter is like your favourite underwear.
Everyones is different and once you're forced to throw them away, new ones never feel the same again.

For me, the perfect bitter is black sheep from cask. End of.

 

[An Ankoù]

A perfect pint of bitter is like your favourite underwear.
Everyones is different and once you're forced to throw them away, new ones never feel the same again.

For me, the perfect bitter is black sheep from cask. End of.

Just looked up Black Sheep Best Bitter at the brewery website. It sounds lovely. I've never actually tasted it though. I've had bottled Riggwelter and have even brewed an interpretation a couple of times.

 

[Clint]

I had a Silly old Sod in the swap with the CML beior yeast and yes,it did stand out and I could pick up a very likeable taste which I put down to yeast. My Guinness clone has been done with the same... roll on Friday!!

 

[An Ankoù]

Silly Old Sod looks like one worth trying then. I've got Wyeast Scottish and Irish lurking in the fridge so I might give one of those a whirl or on the other hand I might trouble CML.

 

[Dads_Ale]

Silly Old Sod looks like one worth trying then. I've got Wyeast Scottish and Irish lurking in the fridge so I might give one of those a whirl or on the other hand I might trouble CML.

The Beoir ferment our really quickly and packs down tight in the FV. It behaves a bit like S04, one minute there is a Krause, next minute it has gone. FG is a bit higher than S04, for me has been finishing at 1014. I brewed the latest on Saturday and kegged it today.

 

[Oneflewover]

The Beoir ferment our really quickly and packs down tight in the FV. It behaves a bit like S04, one minute there is a Krause, next minute it has gone. FG is a bit higher than S04, for me has been finishing at 1014. I brewed the latest on Saturday and kegged it today.

Hi - what about your water?

 

[Dads_Ale]

Hi - what about your water?

Water is tap water (Thames Water). I add 50ml CRS per 45l and about 1 cambden tablet (I use powder). 13g of DWB to the mash per 25l final volume. The values are based on a Murphy water report.

 

[jeg3]

I'm a bitter head as well. My favourite beers from yesteryear were M&B Brew XI when I lived in Brum and Bass when I lived in Derby. On cask they were really drinkable.

I've made some good bitters over the years, the difference for me between HB and drinking bitter in a pub is the fact that bitter needs to be drawn from the cask with a handpull.

My go to now are Bathams, Holdens Golden Glow and Old Hooky. Bathams and Golden Glow are pale and have an unusual almost sour taste to them that I find makes them delicious. Old Hooky is quite malty and got me back into Best Bitters.