Special Hearth – ESB – 5l All Grain Recipe Kit

This 5 litre recipe kit features everything you need to home brew a delicious, rich and indulgent ESB (Extra Special Bitter) full of malt character, touches of raisin and dried fruits as well as subtle notes of blackberry and earthy notes from the use of wonderful British Bramling Cross Hops.

Expect a beer which is full of character, warming, complex and yet very drinkable. Perfect to sit and savour on a cold winters evening around warm fire.

Check out the video instructions or our step by step blog post to guide you from brew day to bottle!

Looking for some equipment to brew this beer at home in your own kitchen? Take a look at our bespoke Kitchen Brewer equipment bundles, featuring everything you need to brew this beer yourself.

About the Kitchen Brewer Range

Brewing 20l batches of beer just isn’t convenient for everyone. We also know that many of you would love to experience the joy of making your own all grain beer at home but space doesn’t permit. That’s why we’ve put together the Kitchen Brewer range. Featuring great recipes that come from our most popular bigger recipe kits and all the equipment you will need to make great tasting beer at home, using all grain, just like the pros. All these beer kits have been prepared and developed to work with the common method for stove top brewing, brew in the bag. The grain is crushed slightly finer to allow for maximum efficiency when mashing.

Ingredients Included

Dingemans Aromatic Malt
Simpsons Malt – DRC (Double Roast Crystal)
Simpsons Malt – Low Colour Maris Otter
Bramling Cross T90 Pellets (28 grams)
WHC Dried Yeast – British Pub Ale (Bond) – 11g Packet (1 pack)

Method

Beer Style (main): British Ales
Beer Style (sub): Extra Special Bitter
Batch Size: 5L
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV %: 5.6
IBU: 38
Mash efficiency: 70

THE MASH
Temperature °C (Step 1): 66
Length (mins) (Step 1): 60

Mash notes: Add 8L strike water to your brewing kettle and heat to around 68c, after adding the grain the temperature will drop and you may need to heat again to 66c. Hold as close to 66c as possible for the full hour of the mash

THE BOIL
Boil time (mins): 30

Hop / kettle additions and timing:

15g Bramling Cross @ 30mins
8g Bramling Cross @ 10 mins
5g Bramling Cross @ flameout (once you turn off your heat to the boil)

Yeast: WHC British Pub Ale (Bond)
Fermentation temperature/steps: 18-20c for 7-14 days, until fermentation has completed. Following fermentation leave the beer to sit for 48 hours before packaging to allow for a Diacetyl rest. If possible, cold crash the beer to 4c for a few days before packaging. This style lends itself brilliantly to being bottle conditioned, once bottled and carbonated it will improve with a further few weeks conditioning time in the bottle.