Yesterday(10-27-2007), I made my fifth brew. This brew is special, because it is my first non-kit beer. Not only is it a non-kit beer, but I completely made up the recipe myself! I had some ESB yeast leftover from not using it in the IPA I made and I wanted to make a Christmas style beer. I looked online for some recipes that might match what I wanted, but alas I could not find any, so I decided to make my own!
I wanted a nice dark beer, with lots of stout flavor, and some seasonal spice lingering in there as well. I went with Simpson’s Dark Crystal as the grain to steep with. It had a very nice dark, almost coffee smell to it. For malt, I used some Munich malt, which is supposed to be a great for “seasonal beers”. I also used some Briess Amber dry malt extract to add a little complexity to the beer hopefully.
I used plenty of hops with 3 different kinds, Saaz, Kent Goldings, and Fuggle. These are what will give that “ESB” tag I hope. We will find out for sure if it turns out that way. I also used a little mulling spices to add a little flavor in the beer. I won’t be adding any to the secondary though, I just want to have a small hint of spice in the beer, nothing overpowering.
The complete list of ingredients is here:
Specialty Grains
* 1 lb. Simpson’s Dark Crystal
Fermentables
* 6.3 lbs. NB Munich Malt
* 1 lbs. Briess Amber Dry Malt Extract
Boil Additions
* 1 oz. Saaz (60 min)
* .5 oz. Mulling Spices (60 min)
* 1 oz. Kent Goldings Hops (30 min)
* 1 oz. Fuggle Hops (10 min)
* 1 oz. Saaz (0 min)
Yeast
* Wyeast #1968 London ESB Yeast.
The original gravity turned out to be 1064. I have nothing to really compare it to, but it was within the range I was expecting. After it sits in the primary fermenter for a week, I will probably put it in the secondary for 3 weeks, then bottle condition, and have it ready for the holiday break!
