I finally brewed after a long break over the holidays. It was a beautiful day to brew considering it is January 19th, no wind, sunny with temps in the high 60s. I decided to brew an Extra Special Bitters (ESB) style 8C (English Pale Ale), so I could enter it in an upcoming competition and mark off another category. I have brewed and entered beers in 13 style categories and 20 subcategories for judging.

Dibbs ESB is my first attempt at brewing and formulating a recipe for an ESB 8C. It should be a malt forward beer with enough hop to balance out the crystal malt sweetness. I used 11 lb Maris Otter an English pale malt for the base malt, then added 1/2 lb of Crystal 120, Medium English (55 L), and Biscuit malts. I used Norther Brewer hops for bittering and East Kent Goldings for flavor and aroma additions. The yeast was SafAle English Ale DCL/Fermentis (S-04). The gravities were spot on and we were about a half gallon short on the boil.

It was a very basic beer to brew with out much challenge. My new setup with a pump and plate chiller make brewing allot easier and should yield better beers.