I've made a couple of batches of perfectly passable English Bitters with 95% Maris Otter, 5% Crystal, and East Kent Goldings or similar hop. Safale 04 would be the more appropriate yeast for the style. I'll post a recipe tomorrow unless someone else has a better one before then.

How is the freshness of your available ingredients?

Hi Graham,

I'll preface this recipe by saying I'm quite new to BIAB and this forum, but I have been brewing beer (and drinking it) for a while now...

I've already cranked out a few batches of this, and it seems to be a fairly forgiving recipe (I don't always hit my volumes, still tastes good).

This one shows up as half Maris Otter and half Golden Promise, but this was only due to the home brew shop being low on the MO. Feel free to use all Maris Otter. I alternate using Pale Crystal Malt and Dark Crystal, which adds a lovely golden hue.

I've brewed this with EKG and Willamette. Both taste good, and are true to style. Alc/vol is probably a little low for it to be a proper special bitter, but it makes a good session beer at that strength.

The lightly unusual numbers ie 2023g of grain are from they way I used BIABacus to tranfer the recipe. You can safely round them off.

Anyway, I hope it works well for you, and I hope the more experienced BIABers approve. Good luck on your quest to avoid peroni!

Oh, and re. the yeast - it will have a best before date on the sachet which will give you a decent idea of it's freshness, providing it's been reasonably handled. I'm sure you wont have a problem.

EDIT - I meant to say, probably best not to worry about the Gypsum until you look into water chemistry a bit more. I also found the original source for this recipe: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f64/special" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... mp-141251/

THE RECIPE!
(I call it Brisbane Bitter, for alliterative reasons)

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[center]Brisbanes Best Bitter (Pale) - Batch 1[/center]

Recipe Overview

Brewer: Dski
Style: Extra Special Bitter
Source Recipe Link:

Original Gravity (OG): 1.052
IBU's (Tinseth): 40
Bitterness to Gravity Ratio: 0.77
Colour:
ABV%: 5.03

Efficiency into Kettle (EIK): 81.6 %
Efficiency into Fermentor (EIF): 73.5 %

Note: This is a Pure BIAB (Full Volume Mash)

Times and Temperatures
Mash: 90 mins at 66 C = 150.8 F
Boil: 90 min
Ferment: 14 days at 19 C = 66.2 F

Volumes & Gravities
Total Water Needed (TWN): 28.12 L = 7.43 G
Volume into Kettle (VIK): 26.44 L = 6.98 G @ 1.041
End of Boil Volume - Ambient (EOBV-A): 19.98 L = 5.28 G @ 1.052
Volume into Fermentor (VIF): 18 L = 4.76 G @ 1.052
Volume into Packaging (VIP): 16.67 L = 4.4 G @ 1.013 assuming apparent attenuation of 75 %

The Grain Bill (Also includes extracts, sugars and adjuncts)
47.1% Golden Promise (5.9 EBC = 3 SRM) 2023 grams = 4.46 pounds
47.1% Maris Otter 2023 grams = 4.46 pounds
5.9% Crystal Pale 253 grams = 0.56 pounds

The Hop Bill (Based on Tinseth Formula)
33.7 IBU Willamette Pellets (5.5%AA) 49.2 grams = 1.734 ounces at 60 mins
6.1 IBU Willamette Pellets (5.5%AA) 14.7 grams = 0.52 ounces at 20 mins
0.1 IBU Willamette Pellets (5.5%AA) 4.9 grams = 0.173 ounces at 1 mins

Mash Steps
Mash Type: Pure BIAB (Full Volume Mash) for 90 mins at 66 C = 150.8 F

Miscellaneous Ingredients
10 Gypsum (Mash)
Irish moss (Boil 10) Mins

Chilling & Hop Management Methods
Hopsock Used: Y
Chilling Method: No chill

Fermentation& Conditioning
Fermention: Craftbrewer English Ale (Dry) for 14 days at 19 C = 66.2 F
Secondary Used: n
Crash-Chilled: n
Filtered: n
Req. Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Condition for 14 days.

Torrified wheat is in the list in your original post.

Crystal will also help with head retention. If you want to add wheat, 5-10% of the grain budget is normal for head retention.

Good luck with it.