First Recipe: Beginner Brewer Best Bitter

If you've been following this blog, you'll now that we've covered what equipment to get; the nice-to-haves; and some basic brewing techniques.

Now, it's time for your first brew. If you've brewed kits before, you'll have a head start, but this form of extract brewing is different, with a few more steps than you're used to.

For our first beer, we'll be brewing a style called Best Bitter. It's an English Pale Ale with a pleasant, herbaceous flavour and a slightly fruity finish.

The reason I've picked this style is because it's relatively easy to find some reference beers here in South Africa to compare your own creation to.

Some tasty examples to look out for are:
- Marston's Pedigree Bitter
- Thwaites Lancaster Bomber Ale
- Mitchell's Bosuns Bitter
- Darling Native Ale
- Drayman's Goblin Bitter

Beginner Brewer Best Bitter Recipe.

To brew this recipe you will need:

23 litres of sterilised, boiled water (or use bottled)
280 grams Caramel/Crystal Malt (crushed)
2 kg          Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)
340 grams Lyle's Golden Syrup (don't substitute with sugar--believe me!)
64 grams Fuggles Hops [4.50 %]
21 grams  East Kent Goldings Hops [5.00 %]
1 tsp          Irish Moss
1 pkg        Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast (Lallemand) (Alternative: Use Fermentis S-04)
Necessary cleaning and sanitising agents.


Some technical notes:

- OG (Original Gravity): 1.045
- FG (Final Gravity): 1.011
- ABV (Alcohol content): 4.4 %
- IBUs (Bitterness): 32


Next Time: We'll be brewing the recipe. I'll post a step-by-step guide on exactly how to brew your first beer. Can't wait!

{Photo credits: mfajardo}