Hey gang – since we have been doing some homebrew swapping over the past few years, we had an idea to get more people involved. The silly idea is to come up with a community brew plan.

We are putting out this recipe and date in hopes that you will join us in this endeavor. Here’s the video with the official announcement.

And now, the details:

We decided on a Best Bitter recipe. This English Ale style is fairly simple in its ingredient list but tough to master in its flavor profile since there is a certain hoppy/mineral taste that comes from the water profile and fermentation process.

Recipe:
Brew Dudes Best Bitter

Brew Date:
Sunday, May 7th, 2017 (National Homebrew Day)

Grain Bill:
95% Maris Otter Malt
5% English Crystal Malt – 60° L
(My plan for a 5 gallon batch is 9 pounds of Maris Otter and 0.5 pounds of Crystal Malt)

Hops:
1.25 ounces of East Kent Goldings at 60 mins (5% AA)
.5 ounces of East Kent Goldings at 15 mins (5% AA)
.5 ounces of East Kent Goldings at 0 mins (5% AA)

Recommended Yeast Strains:
White Labs WLP005 British Ale
White Labs WLP013 London Ale
Wyeast 1968 London ESB
Wyeast 1028 London Ale
Fermentis Safale S-04

Mash:
60 mins at 150° F (65° C)

Fermentation:
2 weeks at 68° F (20° C)

Packaging:
Keg or bottle to 1.5 to 2 volumes of CO2

Predicted Outcomes:
(based on 72% mash efficiency)
Original Gravity: 1.045
Terminal Gravity: 1.010
Color: 11.08 °SRM
Bitterness: 32.9 IBU
Alcohol (%volume): 4.6 %

Metric conversions:

5 Gallons = 18.9 Liters
9 Pounds = 4.08 Kgs
0.5 Pounds = 0.23 Kgs
1.25 ounces = 35.4 Grams
.5 ounce = 14.1 Grams
150° F = 65.5° C
68° F = 20° C

Ok – pretty straightforward and hopefully not too boring but the real challenge for us will be to nail the brewing salts and fermentation temperature so that I can get the minerally-hoppy aftertaste that I have in my memory from my time tipping back a few pints in a London pub. I am looking for other homebrewers who want to do the research and see if we can create the proper water chemistry for this brew and win an award or two.

If you would like to join in on the community brew fun, contact us using our email address.

Comments are welcome and suggestions are welcome for how we handle some of the logistics.

Brew on!