I mentioned that I had brought a keg of beer over to a New Year's Eve party that was a real hit. This was the first time I made this particular recipe although I make quite a few bitters/EPAs so this was just a different version. I futzed with the water (50% RO, 50% filtered tap) and added some CaCl and gypsum and everything just fell so perfectly in line with this beer. It was crystal clear and a deep red/amber color and the balance, flavor, aroma and head stability were just perfect. The keg lasted about 3 hours and at one point I looked around the house and everyone that was drinking beer was drinking mine.
Cantankerous Landlord ESB
8.50 lbs UK Pale Malt (Maris Otter, GP, etc)
8 ounces Thomas Fawcett & Sons Dark Crystal #1
8 ounces Torrified Wheat
1.25 ounces Kent Golding pellets 4.9% for 60 mins
1 ounce Styrian Golding pellets 3.8% for 15 mins
1 ounce Styrian Golding pellets 3.8% for 5 mins
Wyeast 1028 London Ale Yeast
OG: 1.054, FG: 1.014, IBU: 37, SRM: 10, ABV: 5.2%
I know there are a lot of English Ale yeast strains out there and you should feel free to use one that you
like fancy. I'm into "clean" beers so the 1028 worked well here for me because it's very neutral but still has some of that great bready & minerally profile to it and it attenuates a little better than 1968. I mashed at 151-152° for 75 minutes which may be a smidge higher than this style would call for but the higher attenuation of the 1028 plus the 2.5 grams of gypsum I added to the mash would suggest a little higher mash temp to get just enough sweetness into the flavor. I mentioned the NYE story in
THIS thread. I have all of the ingredients to make this again and once my run of 1056 beers is complete, I'm getting Cantankerous! Cheers.
