BeerBorg

I want to brew an ESB, and I want to try to clone the recipe "Full Special Bitter" by the local brewery Against the Grain. Here is the description they give.

Those Brits have made a few good ales here and
there. This is our take on an aggressive English Bitter.
A good base of highly modified English malt forms the
canvas for the subtle interplay of wheat, rye, and
caramel malts. The main show, though, is the
dominant English hop character. A blend of English
Phoenix, First Goldings, and East Kent Goldings really
highlight the stereotypical flavors of English hops.
Look for grassy, bitter, earthy, and slightly spicy notes
in a hop profile that spends more time on the tongue
than the nose.

ABV: 5.0% IBU: 48.6 OG: 12.5P

My question would be, what is a highly modified English malt? Would that just be something like Marris Otter? Also, I'm assuming the additions of the wheat, rye, and caramel malts would be small additions with at least 75-80% of the grain bill being from the base malt? As for the hops, I am assuming Phoenix would be the bittering addition, maybe first gold for flavor, and EKG for aroma? Any help would be appreciated, still trying to get the hang of recipe formulation

I dont know the beer but that is a great description to start with. And yes Marris Otter would be a fine choice. That would probably make up the bulk of the grist. The Wheat is there probably for some body and creaminess to the beer. At the rate of say 5% or so. The Rye adds a unique character and also adds mouthfeel. To taste the Rye you might need upwards of 10-15%. As far as the Crystal malt it depends on how much Character you taste in the beer. A mid crystal malt is probably your best bet anywhere from 5% and up. Ive seen come basic recipes use more.

English hops are great. Sounds like you have those understood well. I would shoot to get 3/4 of your IBUs from the bittering addition. But I also like late additions and a dry hop. That all depends on what you really want. Is it just a bitter beer or is it also malty and have hop flavor and aroma?

A mash temp of 152* is probably a happy medium. Depends on yeast choice but I really like S04 in my Bitters.

MadBrewer gives good advice. I think you have a good handle on it to play with, just don't expect it to be "the same" the first time. The trick is to understand what the components bring to the flavor profile. I might be able to estimate the rye *if I drank some*. But I've never seen that beer. Since it says "slightly spicy" I'd go conservative the first time, maybe 10%? I think 20%+ would make it noticeably spicy and give it a noticeable "rye beer" character. The wheat is probably restrained too, just a little bit for body/head retention.

Now if you drink that beer and you think "this has rye in it" I'd use more.

What I would do personally before I spent a lot of time mashing would be to brew an easy mode beer just to get a comparison point before spending a lot of time trying to nail down quantities. I would pick up a 3# can of Briess Rye Extract and use enough of it straight up to make beer with the hops and say 1/2#or 3/4# of wheat DME in a 2.5 gallon batch. The wheat DME will be something along the lines of 60% wheat/40% pale malt. The Briess stuff is 70% pale malt, 20% rye, 10% Crystal. It will make good beer regardless, and you can then compare it and see if you think it's "too much rye" or "too little rye" or needs more crystal sweetness, or needs more caramel flavor (the Briess is 20L, so it will be more sweet, less caramel then say 60L). You can spend only an hour and then base your "real try" on the results by using the %ages in the extract and taste to come up with the %ages you wish to use in the real try. If the body seems right then mash around 152-154. If it seems too much, then mash lower. I'd use maris otter in the real thing, but the difference is subtle. IE if you just seem to be missing a subtle bready/biscuit flavor, that's the base malt difference.

It has been a few weeks since I last had this beer, but I do recall the English hops being very present. To be honest, before reading the description, I never would have known there was wheat in it, so I will keep that to 5%. As far as the rye, as they mention there is a slight spiciness, be it from the hops or the rye I can't decide. But I think your suggestions of about 10% rye malt sounds good. Not much crystal character comes through so I was thinking something around 7-8%. I think 152 sounds like a good mash temp, as this beer isn't too dry, but the mouth feel certainly isn't as thick as beers I have mashed at 154. As far as yeast, I have S-04 on hand so that will be the pick. I appreciate the advice, and Mashani I'm just going to go ahead with a full 5 gal mash first try and see what comes of it! That's normally what I do with my beers and clones, could be reckless but I like the thrill of it. I ran the numbers through BrewersFriend and here is what it looks like. I will be doing this recipe once my keg of Gose is kicked, shouldn't be too long

OG 1.052 IBU 48.04 SRM 9.66 (this looks spot on to what the actual beer color is)
8 lb United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale 78%
1 lb American - Rye 9.8%
0.75 lb United Kingdom - Crystal 60L 7.3%
0.5 lb American - White Wheat 4.9%
1 oz Phoenix Boil 60 min
0.45 oz First Gold Boil 20 min
0.5 oz East Kent Goldings Boil 1 min
Mash at 152 for 60 mins/Ferment with S-04 at 65F