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...

[David Wood]

I only have a 04 at the moment. I have started a 90min mash and the the results are amazing. the porter is 1.048 @32 L = 92% in to the boiler as i type. I was getting 70% at 60mins?? I am planing to boil for75mins and top up to 25L as required. is this ok>?????
PS thanks for the amazing replys

Dave

[Reviled]

To cut the fruity esters down with S-04, dont let the ferment temp get past 18*c and you should be ok... Nothing wrong with topping up in the fermenter, your IBU's will be off a bit but not much...

[denimglen]

Mike only does dry.

US05 (dry strain by Fermentis), is a much cleaner yeast, very good for a dry yeast, and is comparable to the White Labs WLP001, and WYeast 1056 liquid strains. If that red style beer you posted above is an Irish Red style then US05 would be quite a good choice.

Honestly, I hate S04, have never brewed a good beer with it, suppress hop character waaaaaaay too much for me.

I'd ferment that porter with US05 too :-P.

[jt]

I'd second that about S04, though it's a long time since I've used it.
Musing over my yeast results and notes I'm considering going to go Gervin / Notts on my brown coloured malt focused beers. 05 seems a bit clean and thin in these and if I'm not looking for hops, Gervin / Nott's should be right up this alley

[Simon]

Newish to brewing. Apologies to the AG crowd, but can someone recommend a tried and true extract-based recipe for a stunning and well balanced IPA? Perhaps Kempicus may be willing to share his medalling secrets?

Here is my amateurish start

3.0 kg Light malt extract
1.5 kg Amber malt extract
250g Crystal Malt for steeping

30g Green Bullet hops at 60min
30g NZ Styrian Golding at 15mins
30g NZ Styrian Golding at 5mins
30g Nelson Sauvin at 5mins
50g Nelson Sauvin at flameout.

2 x Safale 05

Suggestions/alternatives/advice?

[Stu McKinlay]

First of all - don't apologise to the AG brewers. Kempicus whipped their sorry butts with extract, so there is nothing wrong with it - just a few limitations (which he steered well clear of).

Use good extract - Munton's preferably. For an authentic pale IPA I'd go with all pale extract. It will be very slightly caramelised so will give you all the malt complexity and colour you need. However, in saying this, I should first ask what IPA's you like and what you are shooting for?

I've used a Styrian/Sauvin combination a few times and think it works pretty well. I generally mix them up so you are getting both at each of the flavour and aroma additions. What IBU's are you looking for? Why the Green Bullet - Sauvin has plenty of grunt in the bitter dept and it gives a nice mellow bitterness.

As for yeast - you've got the right one for a hoppy IPA. As for quantity - what OG are you going for? What volume?

Welcome aboard... so much fun ahead. Be fastidious and stay obsessed.

Cheers
Stu

[jt]

Agreed on the caramel tones from an LME only brew. Currently drinking an LME only cascade ale and it tastes like I've got 5% crystal in there. If you feel the need to add any grains, a small mash - 500gm would do - of pale and wheat malt would do wonders for the body & mouthfeel.

cheers, jt

[Simon]

Thanks for the advice, as a relative new comer I am not terribly up with calculating my IBUs and OGs, though understand the concepts. Was aiming for a strong IPA around 5.5 - 6% but don't want to overdo it, and for 25li volume. Was not wanting to waste any of the malt and therefore am thinking in 1.5kg units........happy for advice here!

Good advice about the Green Bullet, I do prefer the aroma of Sauvin, but was not aware of its bittering qualities. Makes sense to match the Styrian Golding quantities to the Sauvin.

Thanks for the help

[nzbrewer]

Due to a request , and so many great recipes getting lost on these treads I have set up a group where recipes can be discussed by style. Check out http://realbeernz.ning.com/group/therecipeexchange

[Mark]

Anyone know what super alpha is like as a flavouring and aroma hop? I've got a lone packet and am considering a single hop brew, pale ale or bitter maybe.

[jt]

I used to use it - and love it - in my extract & steeped take of the NZ Hops Irish Red recipe http://www.nzhops.co.nz/recipes/irishred.html
Dropped the gravity to 1.040 and upped the hops to 30 IBU
20 IBU of Green Bullet @ 60 min and 10 IBU of Super Alpha @ 15 minutes
W1275 Thames Valley Ale
"Smooth, sweet, resinous, with zesty-zing" were the tasting notes

*But any flavours could well be the result of my bad practice & shabby technique rather than the ingredients used

[Mark]

hmmm that looks pretty nice, maybe an irish red is on the cards