So I decided to brew an Extra Special Bitter (ESB) with fruity hop profile that has a strong malty backbone. I’m starting of with a 3 gallon recipe to test it out and will step it up as I make small adjustments.

Extra Special Bitter (ESB)

Malt

70% – Vienna

28% – Munich

2% – Special B (for a touch of color)

Hops

0.2 oz / gal – Northern Brewer @ 60 minutes

0.2 oz / gal – Motueka @ 15 minutes

0.3 oz / gal – El Dorado @ 0 minutes

Yeast

Danstar Nottingham Dry

SG / FG / ABV

1.050 / 1.011 / 5%











Process and Overnight

my efficiency did not go well. I’m attributing this to a larger percentage of Munich malt, which was closer to 40%. I’ve adjusted the above recipe.

The Nottingham kicked off of course! I plan to bottle this at around 1.5-2 weeks.

2 Weeks

Bottled at a final gravity of 1.011, giving it an ABV of 5%. The uncarbed ESB has a mild fruity hop aroma and no noticeable harsh bitterness. Pretty spot on for (American) commercial ESBs I’ve had. I’ll have a final tasting notes up in a few days time.

3 Weeks

Drinking time! There is a crisp but very light fruity hop aroma, which is what I was looking for. There is just enough bitterness to balance the heavy malt backbone added by the munich malt. The color is a nice amber. I’m happy with this recipe as it stands now, so I won’t be making any further changes.

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