Recipe Advice Thread

[denimglen]

Thought it might be handy to have a thread for some of the more advanced brewers to give some advice on recipes.

Let's see how it goes eh...

[jt]

Yea, probably double.

Didn't clear very well going into the fermenter.

tasting in about three weeks ?

[jt]

The aged S05 is doing fine. Down from 1033 to 1008 when I took a sample last night and added the dry hop. I was surprised at the sample, quite mellow or at least not as overtly hoppy as I thought it would be from the amount of hops and the aroma from the fermenter. Could be the 15% caramalt and maybe most of those hops all being so late ?

[MrC]

jt - How many IBUs did you go for given that you brewed a smaller version?

[jt]

From memory the OG:BU ratio is the same, so as I have a whack more cara/crystal may mute it a bit. The aroma from the hops was awesome when I popped the lid, just didn't carry through in the beer. Mind you, it was only the hydromter sample and it was early days

OG 1033 and IBU 41  - being 26 IBU from the Super Alpha at 60, 9 BU Sauvin and 6 BU motueka at 10 minutes. i didn't count the 0 minute as any BU

Saturday is sample day, the North Welly Takeaway RIS and the Analogue Pale Ale, notes on Sunday maybe

[jt]

Hey, nearly four weeks conditioning and the hops inhere are great, wish I had the patience to do this all the time.

Sadly my malt isn't matching the hops, but I'm impressed with the hop combination, might even do it at a giddy 1040 sometime and see if that adds to the malt

[Paul Fraser]

Sorry for late reply - computer has been at the doc's. Thanks for all the advice fellas and what a true gent you are Stu. I've got recipe loaded into beersmith now so i'll be looking at giving it a crack in 2 weeks time. It's going to be by far the biggest amount of hops i've used before so looking forward to it.

[Dan]

Hi

Im new to this site and have been extract brewing for about 3 years. I normally brew Lagers/pils in winter and pale ales in summer. But this summer have decided to try an Irish Stout. The only stout I have done before was a Brewcraft kit "Irish Stout" back when I just made kits.

 

These days I like to use NZ hops etc and Im not so sure what NZ hops would be best and what additions etc.

Based on what I have read so far here is my first crack at an extract recipe:

 

• 3kg Blackrock light LME

• 250g crystal 60

• 250g Roasted barley

• 250g chocolate malt

 

• 25g pacific gem @ 60

• 10g green bullet @ 30

• 10g green bullet @ 15
• (are aroma hop additions used for stouts??)

 

This would give a total IBU of approx 50 (is this too high for an Irish stout??)

 

• Safale 04 yeast

 

Any hints or advise appreciated. Cheers

[Scarrfie]

With the chocolate malt it really becomes more of a sweet stout if I am correct, but I only started with grain this year. Here are the BJCP guidelines anyway.

I put 10g of NZ Styrians into a partial grain and it came out alright, although I think you will find that leaving to mature well will subdue the hops. Either of those hops will be alright as I have used Green Bullet and was just reading up on PG today, I just put down an ESB using it.

I still think what you propose will taste alright:) have you thought about using a coopers stout as the base? That is what I have done and after a couple of months in the bottle it was pretty damn good. That was a partial grain though.

[jt]

Might also be a bit sweet with 250g of crystal too, but that's a personal taste thing as I prefer dryer stouts.

If you can handle 750 g of grains as a steep, why not consider a partial mash, some pale malt, roast and flaked barley?

[Liam Callaghan]

Hey Dan,  500g of dark malts (roasted and chocolate) might be a bit bitter for a single 25 litre batch.  They are pretty strong flavours and bitterness from the grain can be overpowering.  The crystal will add good body and some residual sweetness which is good.  I would be tempted to increase the crystal and reduce the dark malts. You could also try and small addition (200g or so) of oats.  Some of the best stouts I have ever tasted have had quite a lump of oats in them. 

Not usual to have aroma hops in a stout I believe, I don't make them though, I am a porter drinker and they are quite different.

[Dan]

Hi guys,

Thanks to all for the good advice. Think I will drop back to 250g dark malt.

Interesting call re oats. Do you need special brewing oats or will bog standard rolled oats from the supermarket do??

Am generally interested in IT's idea re partial mash. I use a 16L pot for steeping/ boiling etc but dont have a Lauter Tun etc to do the full grain job. Can I do a partial mash with just a pot?? Is there a good thread I can read on partial mashing as Im keen to try it.

Cheers

[Scarrfie]

Look up Boil in the Bag, or BIAB. There are plenty of threads around on that. 

Get some Voile from a fabric supplier (Spot Light) for around $10 per metre. I made up my own bag and actually use that inside a chilli bin. You can also turn up your hot water heater to full the night before you do a mash for all the hot water you will need. You don't even need a flash mash tun at all, even a plastic bucket will do as if you are doing a big enough mash it holds the heat. Heck we will have you doing full mash in not time.

For rolled oats "How to Brew" has a good section on it. Basically you want instant oats as they are steamed and are less prone to gelling. I still wasn't sure so basically made porridge and added that to the mash.

Edit: 16L would be ample for a partial mash. I use a 26L for full mashing and end up with around 19-20L bottled.