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...

[Dougal]

Am putting together a Red Rye recipe:

1.060, 38 IBU, 13.2 SRM
Mash at 67C, add CaCl and Gypsum to 100ppm Calcium

Gladfield Ale Malt 4.200 kg 65.6 %
Flaked Rye 1.000 kg 15.6 %
Munich Malt 0.450 kg 7.0 %
CaraAmber 0.300 kg 4.7 %
CaraAroma 0.250 kg 3.9 %
Medium Crystal 0.200 kg 3.1 %

US Columbus(Tomahawk) 14.2 % 9 g @ 60
US Willamette 4.5 % 15 g @ 30
US Willamette 4.5 % 20 g @ 15
NZ B Saaz (Motueka) 7.1 % 7 g @ 10
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 14.2 % 7 g @ 10
NZ B Saaz (Motueka) 7.1 % 14 g @ 5
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 14.2 % 7 g @ 5
NZ B Saaz (Motueka) 7.1 % 20 g @ flame out
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 14.2 % 20 g @ flame out

Wyeast 1272 @19C

Two points I'm not sure about. Is the medium crystal appropriate, or even needed? Also, is the late Columbus likely to clash with the Motueka? Could another combo work better? Was thinking about dry hopping with Amarillo perhaps...

[Barbara Joppa]

Here is a question for all of you:
I brewed an IPA. I had received a couple free smack packs of yeast when we did the tour of Steam Brewing (Thanks again!) so I didn't buy my usual reliable SO5. I didn't realize until brew day that the yeast was a lager yeast, not an ale yeast. Oh, well... I use it anyway and adjust my temperature

OG = 1.070

So it has been fermenting nicely for almost 4 weeks now and it's time to bottle (I do not have a keg) and here is the question:
There is an awful lot of floating stuff making the beer very cloudy. Should I cold crash for a couple days at 4C to precipitate all the crud, then bottle normally with a small addition of dextrose?
OR
Should I just bottle without the cold crash and end up with chunky beer?

I am worried about losing all the yeast in the precipitation so I end up with flat beer.
Advice please!

[denimglen]

"There is an awful lot of floating stuff making the beer very cloudy. Should I cold crash for a couple days at 4C to precipitate all the crud, then bottle normally with a small addition of dextrose?"

Yup.

Chuck 'er in the fridge overnight, the next day mix up 1.5 tsp of unflavoured gelatin in 150mL hot tap water. Let it sit for about 20 minutes then put it on the stove, as soon as it looks like it's about to boil take it off. Let it cool a few degrees and add to the fermenter. Leave it a day or two and then bottle as normal.

It's very unlikely that you won't have enough yeast to carbonate, unless you're running through like a 2 micron filter, over about 12%abv or have secondaried for months.

[MrC]

Brewing with Oak Chips?

I purchased some oak chips today with the intention of brewing an Oaked Stout with an OG around 1.060. The oak chips that I bought are toasted American oak and I have 100g of them.

Can anyone offer some good advice on how to get the most from the oak?
Dry oaking with boiled chips maybe?

[Martin Bridges]

I oaked my Belgian Stout, and it came out pretty well. Subtle oak background without being overpowering. I put about an ounce of chips in a bowl with just a little bit of water then zapped it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so. Poured off the water then racked the beer onto the oak. Left it there for about 2 months.

[MrC]

Ounce? What the hell is an ounce?

Ohhh, you mean 28g. That doesn't sound like very much at all.
Do you think bagging it and adding it to the keg would work in the same way? That way I could monitor it's progress with the occasional pint.

[Mike Neilson]

I have some Toasted American Oak Chunks here if yu want to use them? it will take longer to get the desired effect than shavings but at least you will be able to moniter the progress, as wood floats untill totally saturated

[Richard Jack]

If anyone wants used oak off spirits (rum or bourbon), I can provide, toasted or charred. Also ex pinot noir french oak as well. Got loads of it, and whenever I'm running low I buy a new half wine barrel or so and break it up.

I don't know if it relates to beer, but I get much better results in spirits with larger pieces as opposed to chips, which give a pretty 1 dimensional flavour IMHO.

[martin w]

brewing a belgian enkel tomorrow,i can't find any style guidelines so would appreciate any feedback from anyone in the know,particularly for the hops

40 ltrs

mash at 65

Ingredient Amount % MCU When
German Pilsner Malt 4.681 kg 75.0 % 1.3 In Mash/Steeped
German Vienna Malt 0.936 kg 15.0 % 0.7 In Mash/Steeped
US Carapils Malt 0.312 kg 5.0 % 0.1 In Mash/Steeped
Belgian Aromatic Malt 0.312 kg 5.0 % 1.2 In Mash/Steeped

Hops
Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form When
NZ Hallertauer Aroma 7.5 % 35 g 18.2 Loose Pellet Hops 60 Min From End
NZ Hallertauer Aroma 7.5 % 35 g 9.0 Loose Pellet Hops 15 Min From End

Yeast
Wyeast 1762-Belgian Abbey II

cheers fellas

[Bambule]

I'm going to brew a Tripel pretty soon.

I only have British Pale malt handy. But I could get some Gladfield Organic Pilsner malt easily enough from Peak. The style recipes seem to be all dominated by pilsner malt. Does it really matter? Is Gladfield Pilsner any substitute for a Belgian pilsner malt? Or just stick with the pale.

[Tim]

This is my first Porter and my first experiment outside of the standard 4 ingredients. I am basically aiming for a Smoky Porter. The idea is to get the Smokiness from Lapsang Souchong Tea. Below is the recipe. Its mostly guess work so any comments are appreciated.

Lapsang Souchong Porter
All Grain
Batch Size: 25.00 L
Boil Size: 31.25 L
Boil Time: 60 min

Ingredients
4.55 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)56.5 %
1.00 kg Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) 12.4 %
1.00 kg Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) 12.4 %
0.50 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) 6.2 %
0.50 kg Grain Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) 6.2 %

Hops
30.00 gm Magnum [14.00%] (60 min) 35.0 IBU
30.00 gm Magnum [14.00%] (30 min) 26.9 IBU
30.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) 2.5 IBU

Other
0.33 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)
50.00 gm Lapsang Souchong Tea (Boil 5.0 min)
1 Pkgs Denny’s Favorite 50 Ale Yeast (Wyeast #1450) Yeast-Ale

[vdog]

I can't comment on the tea sorry, but I'd probably drop a little of the chocolate malt and replace it with black patent - say 150g. That'll get you a darker wort and some more of the roasty kind of flavours. I would guess that characteristic will help bring out the smokiness of the tea.