The Quest for the Perfect Bitter

[Cheshire Cat]

I’m planning a Chevallier Bitter comments on the proposed recipe please
22 litres
Water
Ca 100 Mg 16 SO4 228 Na 31 Cl 145 HCO3 80
5000g Chevallier malt
200g Torrified wheat
50g Challenger @ 60m
30g First Gold @ 15m
20g First Gold @ 3m
CML Midland yeast
OG 1052
FG 1011
ABV 5.4%
IBU 62

 

[An Ankoù]

I’m planning a Chevallier Bitter comments on the proposed recipe please
22 litres
Water
Ca 100 Mg 16 SO4 228 Na 31 Cl 145 HCO3 80

50g Challenger @ 60m
30g First Gold @ 15m
20g First Gold @ 3m
CML Midland yeast
OG 1052
FG 1011
ABV 5.4%
IBU 62

The recipe looks a good'n to me, especially since the malt will seem to reduce the very high IBUs to something more reasonable. If you haven't used Chevallier before, though, be prepared for a bit of a shock. It might be better to go 50/50 with another pale malt. In any case, it'll need a longer maturation than otherwise.

 

[peebee]

I’m planning a Chevallier Bitter comments on the proposed recipe please
22 litres
Water
Ca 100 Mg 16 SO4 228 Na 31 Cl 145 HCO3 80
5000g Chevallier malt
200g Torrified wheat
50g Challenger @ 60m
30g First Gold @ 15m
20g First Gold @ 3m
CML Midland yeast
OG 1052
FG 1011
ABV 5.4%
IBU 62

As @An Ankoù said, if you haven't used Chevallier before, be prepared for a bit of a shock. Crisp do not "under-modify" their malts, but you do need to mash it carefully; 90 minute mash, 60 minutes is too short, and perhaps on the cool side, say 64-65C rather than 66-67C or you may have a very high FG. Diluting it 50/50 with another pale malt is a good plan; it will not dilute the flavour of Chevallier barley much!

62 IBUs is very high, especially for an OG1052 beer, but the Chevallier barley may handle it. Whatever you think 200g of torrified wheat will do, the Chevallier barley will completely mask it.

 

[Sadfield]

Chevallier malt, First Gold and bitterness. Winner.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Thanks guys really appreciate your replies. The Torrefied wheat is for head retention only. I've deliberately gone for a high IBU was thinking maybe a 50/50 with pale malt but what the heck. I'm going to order 5kg of Chevallier but I might consider an 11 litres batch.

 

[Dads_Ale]

I’m planning a Chevallier Bitter comments on the proposed recipe please
22 litres
Water
Ca 100 Mg 16 SO4 228 Na 31 Cl 145 HCO3 80
5000g Chevallier malt
200g Torrified wheat
50g Challenger @ 60m
30g First Gold @ 15m
20g First Gold @ 3m
CML Midland yeast
OG 1052
FG 1011
ABV 5.4%
IBU 62

I have only used the CML Midland yeast recently on a Summer Lightening clone and found it came out a bit sweet. I think I did ferment a bit high for this, 19.5, and it finished in 3 days. Also left a lot of yeast scum on the surface. FG was 1013.

 

[moto748]

Hi, nice bike mate still very exotic after all these years

Cheers, Simon! 70k miles on the clock, and still going strong!

 

[An Ankoù]

Hi An,

Would you like to share your favourite bitter recipe to-date and if you can, describe how it falls short.

Sorry @Hazelwood Brewery , just re-reading the thread and realise I got distracted before answering you. In fact that's a brilliiant idea. i'm going to go through my records and give the matter some thought before answering.

 

[Nicks90]

Aye. I was having a moment of paranoia 'cos lots of folk were posting their "Bitter solutions" tainted with (in my mind) crippling high hop rates for a Bitter. So I posted mine with a crippling reminder that "one man's meat is another's poison", or mug of Horlicks if you prefer.

I hate Bitters with IBU rates above 30. Although my last two "Victorian bitters" were 42 and 38 respectively (but were strong at around 6% ABV, and moderated by time and Chevallier barley malt).

Could not agree more.
An English traditional bitter - or even paler summer ale - should have a bitterness ratio no higher than 0.6
So max 30 ibu for a 1.050 brew.

Any higher and it just loses its traditional roots

 

[An Ankoù]

Could not agree more.
An English traditional bitter - or even paler summer ale - should have a bitterness ratio no higher than 0.6
So max 30 ibu for a 1.050 brew.

Any higher and it just loses its traditional roots

Drat. I thought we were on to something there since I don't think I've ever designed a bitter between OG 1040-1050 with a bitterness of less than 30 IBUs.
So of I go to my grandfather's chest and dig out a book of the very, very best, which is Wheeler and Protz "Brew your Own British Real Ale at Home" and look at the Pale Ale and Bitter Section and calculate the ratio by dividing IBUs by the last two digits of the OG. I found that a ratio of 0.6 or less is very much the exception rather than the rule:
Adnams Bitter OG 1036 IBUs 33 ratio 0.92
Archer's Best ratio 0.9
Archer's Golden ratio 0.78
Banks and Taylor's Shefford Bitter 1.05
Bass draught 0.6
Boddington's Best 1.06
Brakspear's Bitter 1.09
Fullers London Pride 0.95
TT Landlord 0.83
Theakston's Best 0.63

and so on and so on.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I just looked at my own recipe...

OG 1042
IBUs 40

Maybe I’ll reduce the bittering addition and see. I’m about ready to brew another batch now.

 

[Sandimas]

Drat. I thought we were on to something there since I don't think I've ever designed a bitter between OG 1040-1050 with a bitterness of less than 30 IBUs.
So of I go to my grandfather's chest and dig out a book of the very, very best, which is Wheeler and Protz "Brew your Own British Real Ale at Home" and look at the Pale Ale and Bitter Section and calculate the ratio by dividing IBUs by the last two digits of the OG. I found that a ratio of 60 or less is very much the exception rather than the rule:

I'm glad you found that as I've gradually been pushing my bitterness up over the last few years and, to my taste, it definitely improves them. I'm not saying that a low IBU doesn't work, it does in some beers, but don't be afraid to go high. I'm planning to go above 40IBU for the first time with a bitter next time: I brew a clone of a local brew (Goffs Jouster) and had some from the brewery over Xmas at the same time I had my clone in the keg (35IBU), the brewery beer was noticeably more bitter.

 

[Sadfield]

Low IBU bitter. And they say Black IPA is an oxymoron.

 

[JockyBrewer]

The past year of pubs largely being closed made me hanker for a decent bitter, and although it's a style I never thought I'd manage to nail I've finally made something that could easily pass for a pub pint.

Looking through the classic BYOBRA book it all seems so simple, with most recipes being around 90% Maris Otter, 10% Crystal, with some also using a little sugar for lightness or black malt for colour adjustment. Hops wise there's nothing magic either - equal charges of Fuggles/Goldings mostly at 60m and another charge at 10m.

So what's the magic that makes it come alive when you get served a hand pulled pint in the pub?

Yeast and water.

My London water source is pretty good for brewing a bitter. Loads of calcium and carbonates, not much else. I'm not going to be brewing a classic Czech Pils with it, but with a bit of CRS I end up with a slightly sulphate balanced liquor. The calcium levels seem to help fill out the beer's flavour profile.

Which leaves yeast, which seems to be the real secret behind a classic bitter. I've not found any dry yeast that produces a satisfactorily estery bitter without also throwing some weird phenols. Whitelabs/Wyeast have a few good core strains that work with a bit of experimentation, but when I really nailed it, it was by growing up yeast from bottle conditioned beers, finding one that complemented the water.

Anyway, here's the recipe:

Special Bitter
IBU 41
OG 1.053
FG 1.010
ABV 5.7%

91% Maris Otter
9% Medium Crystal 130EBC

Challenger 22 IBU @ 60m
WGV 14 IBU @ 60m
WGV 5 IBU @ 10m

Yeast was grown up from bottle dregs of Fullers 1845
Water approx 118ppm Calcium, 130ppm Sulphate, 75ppm Chloride
Carbonate to 1.5 volumes, and pour enthusiastically when serving to knock out some CO2.

My other comment would be to treat this like a hoppy pale ale and keep it as oxygen free as possible once fermentation starts to subside until it is bottled/kegged. Those delicate esters and malt notes you get from a fresh cask in the pub will be the first thing to go to oxidation.

My next step will be to bring this down to more like 4.8% rather than 5.8%.

 

[Hanglow]

I like bitters with an assertive bitterness. If you can mash the beer to have a lower final gravity then you can get away with less IBUs, but by and large I think a 1 to 1 ratio is a good guide for me at least.

One of the best ones Ive brewed over the last few years was the crowd sourced one from Jims, it had a great hoppyness and bitterness to it. I brewed it a bit weaker


85% Maris Otter,
5% Pale Crystal,
5% Caramalt and
5% Torrefied Wheat
...to make OG 50.

Bittering hops Challenger to 50 IBU ,
15 mins from end Progress (40g),
Flame out EKGs (40g).

Own choice of yeast .Optional dry hop with EKGs in cask.

 

[An Ankoù]

Low IBU bitter. And they say Black IPA is an oxymoron.

And IPL is a tautology.

 

[peebee]

Drat. I thought we were on to something there since I don't think I've ever designed a bitter between OG 1040-1050 with a bitterness of less than 30 IBUs.
So of I go to my grandfather's chest and dig out a book of the very, very best, which is Wheeler and Protz "Brew your Own British Real Ale at Home" and look at the Pale Ale and Bitter Section and calculate the ratio by dividing IBUs by the last two digits of the OG. I found that a ratio of 0.6 or less is very much the exception rather than the rule:
Adnams Bitter OG 1036 IBUs 33 ratio 0.92
Archer's Best ratio 0.9
Archer's Golden ratio 0.78
Banks and Taylor's Shefford Bitter 1.05
Bass draught 0.6
Boddington's Best 1.06
Brakspear's Bitter 1.09
Fullers London Pride 0.95
TT Landlord 0.83
Theakston's Best 0.63

and so on and so on.

I didn't align myself with @Nicks90's sentiments because it was in contradiction of my "... another's poison" post. But I was obviously pleased with the backup he provided!

And the list of beers with bitter/gravity ratios you provide is a list of thin, dry, bitter beers in my opinion; except the Bass draught which, along with Marsden's Pedigree, I was bought up on, and looking at the ratio for it .... well, would you look at that! Yes, and I don't care for the widely acclaimed "TT Landlord", but the Theakston's Best was a surprise, only 0.63 ratio but on my list as "thin and dry" so always went for the XB or OP for preference.

So don't give up on the malty sub-30 IBU "Bitters" just because some influential writers happen(ed) to like thin, dry, bitter offerings.

 

[peebee]

And IPL is a tautology.

Okay, I had to look up "tautology"!

 

[jeg3]

I've tried various FG, OG and IBU variations and have two which I like:

Pale ale which tends to finish at about 1.008 and is 4% so aim for OG 1.038-1.04 and IBU 30.

My nicest bitter was OG 1.044, FG 1.010 and IBU 35.

I find with yeast that finishes high (say 1.012 or 1.013) I need to up the bittering IBU to counteract the residual sweetness.

And I never add to many aroma hops, I like the maltiness in a bitter, but it has to derive most of its IBUs from the bittering addition

 

[An Ankoù]

I didn't align myself with @Nicks90's sentiments because it was in contradiction of my "... another's poison" post. But I was obviously pleased with the backup he provided!

And the list of beers with bitter/gravity ratios you provide is a list of thin, dry, bitter beers in my opinion; except the Bass draught which, along with Marsden's Pedigree, I was bought up on, and looking at the ratio for it .... well, would you look at that! Yes, and I don't care for the widely acclaimed "TT Landlord", but the Theakston's Best was a surprise, only 0.63 ratio but on my list as "thin and dry" so always went for the XB or OP for preference.

So don't give up on the malty sub-30 IBU "Bitters" just because some influential writers happen(ed) to like thin, dry, bitter offerings.

I begin to understand. You prefer a malt forward beer and while I'm not looking for thin and dry and watery, like Chiswick Bitter for example I want both malt and bitterness. I wonder too, if people's perceptions of bitterness differ. Truly is it written "One man's Horlicks is another man's Ovaltine!"