Stateside Session Bitter (SSB) recipe critique?

I think the hop schedule looks tasty. I like milds that are hoppier than "typical." Cascade and willamette make a great team.

I will reserve comment on the grain bill because I'm not familiar enough with milds to be sure.

 

The biscuit malt isn't necessary but it isn't out of place, either. The grain bill overall is fairly standard for a bitter. You will get the flavors you're looking for although I don't think you will get enough out of the 15 and 10 minute additions of the same hop to do both. I'd rather do one of those additions and put the rest of the Willamette at knock out.

 

Looks OK, but personally if I were to do this I'd go with a more characterful base malt like a Marris Otter, Golden Promise, Optic, etc. You might not get enough flavor out of the American 2-row with a grist bill this small. But maybe that's what you want. The biscuit should help. Only one way to find out....

 

Cascade is entirely in keeping with British bitter, and Willamette is Fuggles in a fancy suit!
MO is an excellent malt to use though some UK brewers use Pilsner malt in a few bitters.These are very pale and are designed to attract lager drinkers.

 

Your recipe looks fine. Take care.

 

Looks good to me!

I'll recomend that you mash over 155F so the fg stays up. Also, I think GP would be a better choice for the base malt, but that's just a personal preference.

 

I brew something very similar quite often and that will be tasty. I prefer a darker base like a pale ale malt but yours will be fine. The hops you have listed I use together often! They are like Kate Upton, a great pair.

 

Like some others, I'd probably go with a more characterful base malt. It's easy to end up with dishwater with low gravity ales.

 

I like the recipe as it is written. This is a style I brew very often, and I more often than not will use Rahr 2-row with great success. Maris Otter or Golden Promise are great and would add a bit more character, but I like the small addition of biscuit you have in there for a touch of character. Cascade and Willamette love each other, but I have a preferance to bitter with Willamette, just not a fan of cascade for bittering purposes. WLP002 (WY1968) would be my house yeast if I had one.

With under 10% specialty grain, I would mash at a bit higher temp 154°(ish).

 

Looks pretty solid to me, as others have said, I would mash on the high end. Personally I would add a touch more crystal and use Maris Otter if possible.

One thing you might consider is your efficiency. If you get 71% with a 5% beer, you might get a bit higher with this gravity beer. To counter this you could sparge a little less (and avoid tannin extraction at the same time).

 

How much do you like bready/crackery flavors?

 

Just to make sure you are reading those labels correctly, there is pale malt and pale ale malt. Not very different but they are different.

 

I've used biscuit malt and found it to be pretty potent. A half pund of Victory would be nice, though...

 

I wouldn't say it's more or less potent. But it's different. If you like bready/crackery, I don't think that 8 oz of biscuit would be too much in that recipe.

 

Be careful with Biscuit malt. I would say 2-3% is good in a beer like this.

 

Pale ale malt is darker than pale malt or domestic two row. Pale malt is lighter. Domestic two row is even lighter and tends to be blander than the other two but otherwise interchangeable in recipes (if you want/have to). I haven't used pale ale malt but they are different products. It tends to be more expensive but I haven't seen a reason to use it over Maris Otter or similar darker English products.