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...

[Dan]

Hi All

Have just started to use Beer Smith software. Does anyone know what grain properties to put in for Blackrock light malt extract?? Particularly interested in the potential figure.  Ive been using a 1.036 potential @ 78% efficiency and a colour of 8 EBC. Trouble is that the software estimated OG is a lot lower than what I am actually measuring (1.040 est, 1.048-50 measured) and this then screws with the other calculated properties in Beersmith.  Any thoughts appreciated. Cheers Dan

[Kelly Milligan]

I think when you're using extract you can assume the efficiency is really high can't you? like almost 100%? Please correct me if I'm wrong! :)

I use hopville's beer calculus (http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe) and have had some trouble getting accurate estimate:actual rates with extract as well. Starting with AG now though and BeerCalc is super badass for calculating

[Dan]

Im keen to try a partial mash for my next IPA using the BIAB method (about 12L boil volume). Will be keeping the grain bill small to start with, approx 500g Golden Promise and 250g crystal 60. Just need a little clarification:

It seems to me, when using the BIAB method that the only real difference between partial mash and steeping is the time, ie steep for 30mins at 70deg, BIAB for 60-70mins at 70deg??? Is this correct or am I missing something here??

If I BIAB the Crystal for 60-70 mins am I in danger of over doing it and getting tanins etc??

Advice appreciated

Cheers

[Scarrfie]

With the crystal the mash has already been done in the husk, so all you are doing is extracting the sugars. Yes too long and you can start to get tannins from the husk so I always put mine in when there is 45 mins to go.

The mash is activating enzymes to convert the  starches into sugar and 60 mins is usually sufficient. It can actually happen in a lot shorter time, but 60 mins allows for complete conversion. You can test with a few drops of Iodine in a sample, if it turns black there are still starches left unconverted.

70°C might be a bit high for a mash, 67-68 would be probably be better. You will still get plenty of body and you will still get the sugars from the crystal at that temperature. Someone may correct me there.

[Dan]

Thanks Scarrfie, good advise

Im gonna give this a whirl for my next brew.

Cheers

[Sam]

Hi

Is Protofloc the same as Koppafloc, the recipe I'm using has 1 tsp Protofloc in a 23 litre recipe, the closest sounding thing I can find is Koppafloc from Liberty brewing. 

Cheers

[Sam]

Hi, any thoughts on this recipe would be appreciated

                    English Summer Ale

In Mash:

Pale Ale Malt 4.720kg (thinking Golden Promise Pale Ale)  

Strike temp: 76  , mash temp 66.

Water Required:

Total Liquor: 37 litres

Mash Liquor: 12 litres

In Boil

UK Target - 19g, 10.5%, 90min

UK Brambling Cross - 13g, 6%, 30min

Protofloc - 1 tsp, 15min ( anyone know where can I get this)

Cant find UK Golding (5.5%) so thinking of NZ Golding Hops 5.6% AA if that's close enough? - 12g, 10min

Statistics from book

Expected FG: 1012                        Colour (EBC)  10.3

Expected OG: 1044                        Bitterness (IBU) 33.1

Expected ABV: 4.3%

Yeast Recommendations

DCL - S04     ,    WLP - 023 ,    WY - 1028

Thinking of using Safale S-04 yeast

Cheers

[Joel Wicks]

Recipe sounds good to me. NZ Goldings would be fine, although it looks like several shops still have East Kent Goldings, the genuine UK stuff from its best hop region. It's more expensive than NZ Goldings though and a slightly lower AA content. Koppafloc does the same thing as Protofloc, 1g per 25l is all you need. Not everyone likes S04 yeast (although others like it just fine), have you thought of Nottingham Yeast? It's quite clean, a good attenuator and quite flocculent, I personally like it for English ales, but your taste may differ!

[Sam]

Cheers for your help, still trying to figure out some of the basics as this is only going to be my second all grain brew

I don't yet know the taste that individual strains of yeast give, can't see Nottingham at Liberty or Brew-house so might try that one next time. How do you accurately measure 1g, I wouldn't really trust my scales for 1g.

I was also wondering about my total liquor of 37 litres. Its meant to be a 23 litre batch, assuming that I'm meant to have 37 litres at start of boil, would I really be able to boil off 14 litres in 90 minutes?

I'm tempted to use East Kent Goldings I'm just concerned about the AA levels

Cheers!

[Joel Wicks]

Never done a 90 minute boil, hopefully someone else can help. If you get time you could always do a trial boil with water to see how much your system boils off, it's a good thing to know and could potentially save you missing your OG by a fair bit.

Gervin English ale yeast is said to be the same strain as Nottingham, I've used both and I think they're the same too, the Brewhouse has it. 

I've crunched the numbers and using 4.5 AA EKG will make around 0.5 IBU difference in this recipe, I'd probably call that close enough.

Not sure how to measure 1g without good scales but good scales are a worthwhile investment with measuring hop additions etc. I think about 1/4 tsp would be enough.

Good luck with your brew, I'm sure it will come out great!

[Scarrfie]

I wonder Sam if you are accounting for the water your grain will soak up? Perhaps a litre per kilo of grain, which might end up being close to your calcs. I first started using a 6:1 total water to grain ratio in a no sparge method and that consistently gave me around a 20L wort from around 30L total water.

[Dan]

"Not everyone likes S04 yeast (although others like it just fine)"

Was just wondering what the issue with S04 is that people dont like? Ive just used it in an IPA and Stout (havent tasted them yet as only bottled). Is it a taste thing or something else??

I read in someone else's thread that they swear by Safale -US in their IPAs . I was going to give this a go in my next IPA.

Cheers