Post #3 made 15 years ago
by Ralph
Hi hashie,
this is actually batch #26 (not a typo, that's 'twenty- six'! And that's only since I started counting them- there were a few before the official #1)! The Landlord is my house ale, ever since I was lucky enough to land the right yeast (1469PC) nearly a year ago it is what I've brewed most of the time, or variants thereof. I have only just started using spec malts again, was doing it as 100% base malt with decoction and caramelising wort but while I learnt a lot about base malt characteristics I didn't get the malt profile I was after so went back to using the spec malt. In this recipe I'm adding a dribble of aromatic, I have a bit to use up and I prefer it over melanoidin but in the long run it will not be included.
I've been happy with 2g/L late kettle hops, a Landlord has to have some late Styrian spiciness IMO, obviously this wouldn't suit all ESBs, but a Landlord it does. Only sometimes will add some more during fermentation, I'm not completely sold on dry hopping either, in this one a larger, flame- out addition is quite OK instead, but I've also topped up the late component when it was found wanting, a dose of hops tea a day or two before bottling.
Beachbum made a version with just 60 minute hops additions IIRC, might've even won a prize with it? So, I guess there's no right or wrong answer, just might take a few goes at it to find the method that suits your own tastes.
Actually, as an aside, and I don't want to name- drop, but the Landlord originator and keeper of much Landlord wisdom over at AHB (Dr S) came to the same conclusion I did about the malt bill, compared to his original with GP, munich and choc malt (which is quite an OK brew in its own right), the 3% caraaroma version is just brilliant and it also needs more late Styrian. We both reached that point independently though, but an amazing coincidence and did my own confidence the world of good!
I find the 10% sugar quite useful in limiting the overt graininess, thins it out ever so slightly and balances it well. I find 100% malt ESBs can become too malt- dominant, particularly mashed low for a dry ESB, at least the way I do them. I am not sure if it was supposed to be 10% of the grain bill as sugar or 10% of the fermentables in the wort, but for me 10% of the grain bill works well but also ensures that I can still magically wring a 23L fermenter- full from just the 19L stockpot. The batch I did yesterday should yield 24L of 1.055 (17L of 1.078), which is perfect and leaves a bit left over for a couple of starters.
[center]Give me a beer and I will move the world. Archimedes[/center]