So I'm looking for a good all-grain English Pale Ale recipe, or at least some tips to help build my own. I'm looking for something closer to Bass Ale than a Fuller's ESB. I saw an old Bass clone recipe from BYO, but when I see Flaked Maize in an English Ale recipe it makes me suspicious. Even if that is a true clone, that's not the direction I want to go with my own recipe.
I'm looking for a dry pale ale recipe to showcase some UK hops. I know Bass isn't super hoppy, but I think that is a good ballpark to get started with. Some specific questions I had:
Base malt - Some sort of English Pale Ale malt - Anyone have any preferences between MO, Optic or any other pale ale malt?
Crystal - I want a little bit of English crystal character, but not as much as a Fullers-style ESB. I'm thinking about 5% of an 80L English Dark Crystal.
Victory/Biscuit - This says "English ale" to my palate. I'm thinking 6oz for a 3 gallon batch.
Roast Barley - one thing I do agree with the BYO clone recipe on is a touch of roastiness. I'm thinking of 1-2 oz of 300L Roast Barley added late in the mash.
Yeast - Any strong preferences to a particular strain? Leaning towards WLP007, but S-04, WLP002 and WLP023 come to mind also. Any other options I should consider?
Hops - Whatever UK hop styles I have on hand, mainly late additions. First up will be Challenger + Phoenix. I may pick up a third variety to add along, but I want to stay away from the typical EKG and/or Fuggles for the first round.
As always, thanks in advance. I'm looking forward to everyone's ideas and experiences with this style.