[dzlater]

As I posted earlier I made a batch of this and I'm really liking it. It got lots of good feedback at the brew club meeting too.
I have been trying to brew an English bitter/pale ale for a while and have not been thrilled with my results.
I got to thinking what if I used this grain bill but used EKG or another English hop, and WLP 007 Dry English Ale Yeast ?
Think it would be good? Would it make sense to do the late hop additions or move them to a more traditional 60, 30 min schedule?

[bonjour]

As I posted earlier I made a batch of this and I'm really liking it. It got lots of good feedback at the brew club meeting too.
I have been trying to brew an English bitter/pale ale for a while and have not been thrilled with my results.
I got to thinking what if I used this grain bill but used EKG or another English hop, and WLP 007 Dry English Ale Yeast ?
Think it would be good? Would it make sense to do the late hop additions or move them to a more traditional 60, 30 min schedule?

Depends on what you are trying to change.  Late hops are about increasing the hop flavor and aroma.  Moving them to earlier lessens this impact,  not a bad thing, just different results.  Late hopping a bitter will shift the flavor profile away from the traditional, not a bad thing unless you are trying to brew to style for awards.

Why aren't you thrilled with your results?  That will help us understand what you are trying to accomplish. 

[jaybeerman]

I have been trying to brew an English bitter/pale ale for a while and have not been thrilled with my results.
I got to thinking what if I used this grain bill but used EKG or another English hop, and WLP 007 Dry English Ale Yeast ?
Think it would be good? Would it make sense to do the late hop additions or move them to a more traditional 60, 30 min schedule?

First of all, nice recipe fred.  As far as the EKG - yes it can be great. Earlier this year I brewed an perle/ekg late hop beer that turned out fantastic, before that I did a amarillo/ekg late hop that I liked even better.  My grain bill was slightly lighter with one pound of grits swapped in but otherwise about the same  as fred's.

[dzlater]

As I posted earlier I made a batch of this and I'm really liking it. It got lots of good feedback at the brew club meeting too.
I have been trying to brew an English bitter/pale ale for a while and have not been thrilled with my results.
I got to thinking what if I used this grain bill but used EKG or another English hop, and WLP 007 Dry English Ale Yeast ?
Think it would be good? Would it make sense to do the late hop additions or move them to a more traditional 60, 30 min schedule?

Depends on what you are trying to change.  Late hops are about increasing the hop flavor and aroma.  Moving them to earlier lessens this impact,  not a bad thing, just different results.  Late hopping a bitter will shift the flavor profile away from the traditional, not a bad thing unless you are trying to brew to style for awards.

Why aren't you thrilled with your results?  That will help us understand what you are trying to accomplish. 

I was thinking about this last night. I think my recipes are generally sound, so I was trying to come up with what the problem might be.
I had cask ale bitter at the local brewpub, that I really liked , and I am also a fan of Tetlys,and Boddingtons in the widget cans.
I decided to do the old syringe trick on a pint of my latest batch of bitter, and it made a big difference.
Still not perfect but a definite improvement. I never realized how much a difference carb levels could have on actual taste of a beer.
I really liked the maltiness of Fred's recipe. Also many of my beers seem kind of watery but this one was kind of thick.
I read (I think in Designing Great Beers) that for English Bitters one wants to keep the hop additions towards the beginning of the boil and to avoid large late hop additions. That was my thought on moving them earlier in the boil.
Another thing in DGB it says to mash thick on these styles 1qrt per lb. I usually batch sparge and just split my volume in two equal additions, mash and sparge. Would a thicker mash add anything?

[denny]

Another thing in DGB it says to mash thick on these styles 1qrt per lb. I usually batch sparge and just split my volume in two equal additions, mash and sparge. Would a thicker mash add anything?

Despite theoretically making a difference, my experience is that if it does, it's unnoticeable.

[madscientist]

Been kicking around the idea of an all-amarillo beer.  I might try an Amarillo Blonde Ale.  Just did my 11-11-11 Pale Ale with Amarillo, Cascade, and Simcoe, it's bubbling away