NYC ESB - The Second Batch!

It is official! The second batch is in. This batch is an ESB (Extra Special Bitter) and, as I mentioned in previous posts, differs in several respects from the first batch. The recipe contains light malt extract, crystal malt, Briess Toasted malt, Northern Brewer hops for bittering, and Fuggles hops for finishing, plus the requisite water and yeast.

Ingredient differences from the last batch:

• Malt syrup only - no malt powder
• Crystal and Briess grains were cracked rather than whole
• Hops were fresh (whole or plugs), not pellets
  
• Two types of hops, bittering (boiled a long time), and finishing (boiled briefly)
• Liquid yeast culture (Wyeast ale yeast)
  
• NYC tap water (filtered, boiled, then cooled) instead of Poland Spring

The brewing methods differed a bit as well. For example, I used twice the steeping bags for grains and hops. Since the ingredients expand a bit, it is better not to crowd them - that means more surface area available to the boiling brew so more flavor can diffuse into solution.

Also, the grains were in the brew for longer this time. Rather than adding the grains once the water had boiled, I added them to the cold water and heated the grain tea slowly to a boil. It took about 45 minutes (the recipe recommended 20-30 minutes).

The finishing hops are a new beast. I am guessing that they are MUCH stronger that the bittering hops, given how little time they spent in the brew pot. Actually, I tasted a little of the liquid that drained from the Fuggles bag and it was a little astringent.

Unlike the first batch, this time I iced the brewpot immediately before adding it to the water in the fermenter. The idea is to minimize the possibility of introducing impurities. The shorter the time between the end of the brew and the beginning of fermentation, the better. I got two bags of ice, but that may not have been enough!

Once the wort is cool enough (less than 78 deg F), I will sanitize the yeast bag and add the yeast.

I think I see the "break" in the wort as the brewpot cools in the ice bath. I remember that there is a hot break and a cold break, and I think that this is the cold break, meaning that there is some precipitation. This is meant to be a good thing, but I don't know why as yet. More later once the fermentation begins.