Propellor ESB clone

[LTownLiquorPig]

Where do we stand on this one? Any new information come to light, man?

[mckay75]

Sorry...no new info...I've been obsessed with IPA's lately...so haven't ventured into making this one again.

[B.A.]

Why replicate a Propellor ESB? They do it well, go buy a six pack and think of a variation on an ESB you would like to brew.

[spears104]

Developing a clone recipe yourself is a great learning experience. I probably learned the most when I was trying to clone Propeller ESB. Having a consistent example to compare your end result to really helps you see how changes to recipe change the end result.

I have made probably a dozen iterations of ESB's, some targeting to be similar to propeller, some not. If I were to try to do this again I would probably use:

10% crystal 30
6% crystal 120
1% chocolate
1 % amber
remainder pale malt.

I have never used Ringwood ale yeast. I have a pack int he fridge now so i will definitely use it in the next batch.

Cheers!

Jason

[sleepyjamie]

Rubbertoes propeller esb clone is pretty
Close

[RubberToe]

Here's my recipe. I hesitate to call it a clone because I did a couple of things that I know to be different. I used WYeast 1968 London ESB while Propeller uses ringwood. They also use some wheat or flaked wheat but I used flaked barley (only because that is what I do). My brew came out a bit darker than the image rendered in Beersmith but that might be bullshit anyway; what I brewed is likely a touch darker than Propeller although it's really close.

It has that real ESB yeast character and that's something I was aiming for with this brew. I used a 1.5L starter and pitched at 65F, letting the temp rise to 68F where I held it for the remainder of a 3 week primary, crash, keg.

There are a couple of things I'd like to do differently next time... I think it could be a little more bitter. I'll move the first wort hopping to a standard 60 minute addition next time as that might do it. I would also like to try the ringwood yeast.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 28.0 l
Post Boil Volume: 24.0 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 22.0 l
Bottling Volume: 20.0 l
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 16.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 42.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 77.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 80.5 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
31.0 l ESB 1 Water 1 -
4.00 g Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 2 -
3.00 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 3 -
3.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 4 -
2.00 g Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 5 -
4400.0 g Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 6 86.3 %
300.0 g Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 7 5.9 %
200.0 g Barley, Flaked (Briess) (1.7 SRM) Grain 8 3.9 %
120.0 g Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 9 2.4 %
80.0 g Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 10 1.6 %
18.0 g Warrior [15.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 11 34.5 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 12 -
25.0 g Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 13 7.9 IBUs
15.0 g Willamette [5.50 %] - Aroma Steep 10.0 m Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) [124. Yeast 15 -
Mash Schedule: BIAB, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 5100.0 g
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Saccharification Add 31.0 l of water at 69.8 C 66.7 C 75 min

[spears104]

How was it determined that there is wheat in Propeller ESB? Now that I think of it that could explain what has been missing in my recipes.

[RubberToe]

IIRC one of the brewers said they use a little wheat for head retention. I'm not sure where I read that but I think it was here somewhere.

[mr x]

If you guys are using wheat or anything else for head retention, you have other problems that need to be addressed. Propeller included.

[LTownLiquorPig]

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out what malts/hops contribute what flavours/characteristics, and making some clones of beers I like seems a lot more fun than makinga bunch of SMASH recipes.

[derek]

If you guys are using wheat or anything else for head retention, you have other problems that need to be addressed. Propeller included.

Why? It's pretty traditional.

I typically use 100g of wheat in a 40l batch. I've just been using it because it's in all the English ale recipes, but it certainly seems to improve head retention.

[TimG]

This is a bit off topic.. but does anybody know if the chocolate malt I was likely to get from a group buy (like 2 years ago, ha) was SRM 350 or SRM 450??

Thanks!

[sleepyjamie]

I think it's 350


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[sleepyjamie]

I have pale chocolate malt that's 200


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[RubberToe]

This is a bit off topic.. but does anybody know if the chocolate malt I was likely to get from a group buy (like 2 years ago, ha) was SRM 350 or SRM 450??

Thanks!

I think the stuff we were getting was really dark like 450 or 500.

[sutepan]

I have tried to clone this a couple times. Closest I came used Ringwood, and some melanoiden malt in the grain bill....I think i made a post about it on here a while back...