Perfectly Ordinary Bitter: Grainbill

[brundage]

Hey everyone. I am beginning a quest to brew a fantastic ordinary bitter. Something with a simple but sublime bready, biscuity maliness, a clean but present ester profile with that magic touch of bitterness to balance it out. Serve on cask.

Let's begin at the beginning with the grainbill. What malts do you suggest?

[Junkyard]

Crisp Maris otter is the best choice for base malt. IMO
We like a little honey malt and 120L for some caramel sweetness. We do 4 percent 120L and 6 percent honey malt.

[MatthewS]

Crisp is nice stuff, but I am really digging Thomas Fawcett these days.

Our British Pale is a blend of Maris Otter, Halcyon and Optic with some specialties in there for a biscuit/bready character.

[MikeS]

I personally find Marris Otter to be a little overpowering for an ordinary bitter. I like to add a small proportion of flaked corn (maize) to the grain bill. It's actually very traditional for English brewers to add maize in an ordinary.

Any good pale ale malt, 5-10% maize, <5% of a medium crystal is my starting point. Not too bitter (25-30 calculated IBUs) with plenty of Golding in the late additions (and dry in the cask.) I find 1968 from Wyeast to be a fantastic choice for bitters: quick, drops brite, nice ester profile.

One of my favorite styles, and it's all about the balance. Can be a hard sell these days though...

Cheers- Mike

[brundage]

What do y'all think about Munich malt in the bill? 5% maybe.

[woohokie]

Ours is 95% TF Marris and 5% TF C65, whitbread ale yeast, and the slightest bit of amarillo to liven it up for the American pale ale drinker... It's gone over pretty well in our tasting room. Crushable 3.9% ABV.