British Brewer

Recipe Update (Chiswick ESB version 1) – 5 out of 10

I finally cracked the first bottle of version 1.0 of my Fullers ESB clone I started back in early December. I am a little disappointed. The brew went well with the OG being spot on and the primary fermentation proceeded without a hitch leading to an almost clear ale with great taste potential when transfered into the secondary. The FG was perfect with the yeast attenuation at 77%, the highest point in the range provided by the supplier.

But during the secondary something happened.  The colour appears to be just a little darker when compared to the original ESB.  But the finsihed beer could be clearer, its actually not that bad, but I look for really bright, crystal clear ales in all my recipes. Given the ale shows no signs of infection I am putting this down to a little over zealous use of the Burton Salts in the water treatment.  This has happened to me before and something I shall put down to experience. Clarity may also improve with age so I will be sure to hold back a few bottles for comparison. The carbonation was way off too, the finished ale is almost flat.  But all of these little gripes still does not explain the taste.

The flavour is overly sweet and malty, not dry and balanced like the original.  Again I will hold a few back to if aging brings out a more balanced hop/malt taste.  These issues would suggest a reduction in the 120L Crystal to say a 60L and potentially the use of Black Malt altogether, hopefully taking take care of the overly malty sweet flavour. The lack of malt/hop balance could also suggest an issue with the hops. In this brew the hops were a substitute, I used Perle instead of Challenger and Northdown so I guess I need to rethink the substitution or wait until my supplier gets some Challenger and Northdown hops in stock.

The carbonation I will need to work on as it is the one area of brewing I am inconsistent on.  Right now I simply mix powdered sugar into the secondary and bottle.  The issue is dissolving the sugar.  To do so requires rigorous stirring risking aeration of the wort in the process, something I do not wish to do.  I am going to try carbonation tabs and the process of dissolving sugar/DME in boiling water and adding to the bottling bucket prior to racking. Lets see which process works best and delivers consistent, predictable levels of carbonation.

Thats it for now, so far my clones are 1-3. The Kentish was a hit, the Abbott was okay but not a Greene King and the Fullers ESB has room for improvement.  I have high hopes for the Wadworth 6X which will be bottled later today so I will keep you posted.