The Ordinary Bitter Recipe
- Color: Amber
- Alcohol: 3.7%
- Bitterness: Pronounced
- Brewing Time: 5h
- Quantity: 20L
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients :
- 3kg of Maris Otter
- 200g of Flaked Barley
- 200g of Flaked Corn
- 150g of Caramunich I
- 80g of Special W
- 20g of EKG Hops
- 30g of EKG Hops
- 20g of Chinook Hops
- 1 packet of Safale US-05
- Total Water Volume: 30L (preferably Sulfate > Chloride = 2.5)
Want to brew this recipe ?
Brew our Ordinary Bitter Recipe :
Step 1 :
In your brewing kettle, heat 14 liters of water to 72°C and add the crushed grains.
Stir well to soak all the malt and don’t hesitate to crush the lumps against the walls of the kettle.
Mix until the temperature drops to 67°C and maintain it for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, heat 16 liters of water to 75°C.
Step 2 :
If possible, perform a mash out for 10 minutes at 75°C.
Step 3 :
Then proceed to filtration and rinsing.
Step 4 :
Heat your wort to proceed with a 60-minute boil.
Add your first 20 grams of hops at the start of the timer.
5 minutes before the end, add the second dose of EKG.
Finally, once the boil is finished, add the Chinook to the kettle and wait for 20 minutes.
Step 5 :
Cool the wort to 18°C and transfer it to the fermenter, not forgetting the yeast.
Your initial gravity should be around 1.037.
Ferment at 18°C for 4 weeks. Then raise the temperature to 22-23°C for the final week.
The final gravity should be around 1.009.
Step 6 :
Add 4g/l of sugar at bottling. We are only looking for the “ghost bubble” in most English styles.
Conclusion :
This recipe is openly inspired by the superb Ordinary Bitter from the English brewery Anspach & Hobday. The Maris Otter will bring its beautiful biscuity aromas that will perfectly match the caramelized touches of the crystal malts. The proteins from the flaked barley will give a nice texture and an ideal head retention for the low carbonation of the beer. Finally, the corn will add a nice clarity.
The interesting twist in this recipe lies in the use of Chinook off-flame. Its resinous notes will blend wonderfully with the herbal aromas of East Kent Goldings and will also boost the caramelized flavors of the malts. Finally, the use of an American yeast rather than an English one will bring a nice crispness to the beer.
The result is a very pleasant revisited bitter, with a nice character for its 3.7% !
