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I love Old Speckled Hen, and though I'm not necessarily trying to clone it I do want something fairly similar.

I ordered two 454g cans of Lyle's Golden Syrup from your side of the pond and received them last month, and now I'm working on an ESB recipe.

I read the link given in my OSH thread from some time back which went to a recipe that was brewed. In it the boil was 90 mins. I don't like using too much top off water and so I'll be doing my standard 70 min boil.

I also noted the flavor and aroma times were 15 and 5 mins. My standard is 21 and 7 which I'll also stick with as these are thought to be the peak times for flavor and aroma additions according to a chart I've seen.

I also noted the Lyle's syrup was added at 5 mins. Any reason why I couldn't/shouldn't add this at flameout?

In my calculator I added invert sugar which showed 1* Lovibond. Is this about what Lyle's is or does it add more color? It also shows 46 ppg of sugars. Is that right also?

I'm not familiar with the EBC color spectrum, but judging that the Maris Otter was 5 point something and the crystal was 200 and something I'm guessing the crystal malt used was something like 120* Lovibond. Is that right?

The British crystal I can get is from Bairds and my choices are 50/60, 70/80, and 135/165. I'm guessing the variations are due to the time they are malted? I've talked to a maltster here in the US and depending on the ambient temp the malted grains have a range of color due to weather. Of the malts which would you use?

The 135/165 seems like it might be a bit too much, but then I'm certainly not familiar with true ESB's and the way to properly make them. For my pales I combine crystal 20 with 60. I don't use anything above 80 unless it's a brown or stout.

How do these each compare as far as the caramel type flavors they'll impart at such a level?

The Maris Otter is all supplied by Crisp, though the grains cab also be had by Fawcett.

I often suffer from head retention problems, and so I've added a bit of flaked barley, though I'd have no issues swapping it for carafoam or carapils.

This is the 5.5 gal (20.8 L) partial mash/partial boil recipe I have so far:

3 lbs (1.36 kg) Maris Otter LME (FO)
3.5 lbs (1.59 kg) Maris Otter
1 lb (.454 kg) crystal 50/60
0.75 lb (.34 kg) flaked barley
1 lb (.454 kg) Lyle's Golden Syrup (FO)
1 oz (28.4 g) Northern Brewer @ 70 mins
0.75 oz (21.3 g) East Kent Goldings @ 21 mins
0.25 oz (7.1 g) EKG @ 7 mins
S-04

For those who aren't familiar FO stands for Flame Out.

I also noted the mash temp was 147* F (64* C). I'm thinking of 65.6* C (150* F).

I generally ferment at 64* F (17.8* C) for 7 days and let it rise to room temp (~73* F/22.8* C) for another 14 days.

According to specs an ESB should be carbed to 1.7 vols, but I like a bit of carbonation, and what I get in a bottle seems much higher than 1.7 vols as well. My last was set at 1.9 vols, but I'm thinking of 2.0 vols. Once bottled they sit another 3 weeks at room temp and then go to the fridge for 7 days if I can stand waiting longer than 3.

Anything anyone would care to share? Any critique?
 
I'm no ESB or brewing expert, but I see nothing wrong with your planned recipe. 200 ebc is around 100 SRM, I think, you can check.on a brewing calculator, like Brewmate. I'd go lower than 100 rather than higher, most English breweries would use Crystal 60-80 SRM I think. Syrup at flamout is fine.

There are more knowledgeable brewers than me around, who may be able to give better advice.
 
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