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PDF version #27:  Ambeardextrous Bitter (Ordinary Bitter)

• Dark ordinary bitter, based on information from p. 272 Real Ale Almanac, Beartown Brewery, UK.

Chris Swingley 
7-Mar-2004

Recipe (for 5 gallons final volume)

4.0	pounds	(47%)	Crisp Maris Otter Pale Malt
3.25	pounds	(38%)	Dingemans Pilsner Malt
13.0	ounces	(10%)	Flaked Wheat
5.0	ounces	(4%)	Amber Malt (Dingemans Pilsner, baked 45 minutes @ 225 F, 30 minutes @ 300 F)
1.0	ounce	(1%)	Briess Roast Barley (300L)
1.25	ounces		Fuggles whole hops, 4.5% AA (60 minutes)
1.0	ounce		Fuggles whole hops, 4.5% AA (first wort hop)
1.0	ounce		Goldings whole hops, 4.3% AA (dry hopped in secondary)

• White Labs WLP023 Burton Ale Yeast, pitched at 72°F
• Starter: 2 quart starter, built up from slant (20 ml, 50 ml, 500 ml, 2 quarts)

Water

• Fox Spring water
• 8.5 quarts mash water treated with:
• • 5.0 grams Gypsum.
  • 0.5 grams Canning salt.
  • 0.33 ml 88% lactic acid.
• 24 quarts sparge water treated with:
• • 5.5 ml 88% lactic acid.

Mash

• 8.5 quarts water @ 169°F, grist ratio of 1.0 quarts:pound @ 154°F (Held 120 minutes)

Sparge

• 26 quarts water @ 178°F, drain

Boil

• Boiled 7.5 gallons for 75 minutes to yield 5.5 gallons wort

Fermentation

• Primary: glass, 7 days, 66°F
• Secondary: glass, 20 days, 60°F

Packaging

• Bottled with 82 grams dextrose
• Conditioned for 3 weeks
• Ready to drink on 24-Apr-2004

Properties

Starting Gravity: 1.038	Final Gravity: 1.006
Original Extract: 9.5°plato	Apparent Extract: 1.54°plato
	Real Extract: 3.03°plato
Alcohol: 4.2% by volume	(3.3% by weight)
Apparent Attenuation: 83.8%	Mash Efficiency: 71%
Bitterness: 29 IBU	Color: 10 SRM
BU:SG: 0.76	BV: 1.96

Tasting Notes

• 24-Apr-2004 (7 weeks) -- Light color and body, nice head, easy to drink. Bitterness seems a bit rough and not very hoppy -- more like cidery.
• 19-Jun-2004 (15 weeks) -- Bitterness mellowed some, but the hoppiness is still quite sharp. I'll bet I went a bit overboard on the gypsum and wound up with more sulfate than I would have liked. Maybe it's better not to come all that close to Burton-on-Trent's 600+ ppm sulfate. It's still a nice beer, refreshing and very drinkable.