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]

Well if you think the malt os lacking, I reckon more late hops is a good option ... Depending on what your tastes are

[Paul Fraser]

I've got my Digital IPA clone ready to be bottled tomorrow. Problem I've got is that my laptop is away being repaired so can't access beersmith to find out how much dextrose to bottle with for 19L. I could even use DME if anyone thinks it would make much difference.

[Stu H]

Here ya go fella: http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

If I were you I would just use cane sugar. I used it all last year before getting kegs and it was totally fine. 

[Matt Smith]

Looking to make my first scottish ale, either a 70 or 80 shilling. Trying to decide whether to go with specialty grains, crystal malts etc for that malty caramely goodness, or to go with a simple grain bill with a touch of roasted barley and an extended boil. Just wondering if anybody has experience with these two options and has any advice either way. Cheers!

[Liam Callaghan]

Do both mate, only sure way to know! 

Malty is always my favourite so I tend to head down the crystal and caramel road.  Made a mistake beer a couple of months ago using roasted barley and pale malt, although not my favourite it went down a storm at beerclubs xmas do.  Named it Longdrop - The Taste that Lingers lol. 

You wont go wrong with either option mate, so long as you keep away from the haggis!

[Scarrfie]

I am looking for some advice on an English IPA recipe, as it is a style I haven't tried. More specifically I would like to know who has experience with Sticklebract and how to use it with this style. What would compliment it?

I will be dumping it on a cake of S04 and was thinking along the lines of:

4.5Kg Base of GP

4% med crystal

2% Carapils

Sticklebract 20g FWH

????

Also what mash temperature would best suit this style?

I have used Stickbract 50/50 in lagers of various styles and have found that is goes okay with Pacifica but only okay. Pretty good with Motueka, but really good with NZ Hallertau as a 20min addition in a partial mash of a coopers lager based wheat beer, done with w34-70. That was a pure experiment but turned out a very nice beer as the raw wheat gives it a refreshing tartness. The Motueka/Sticklebract was an all grain attempt at the same although the late hops don't seem to work. The Smash I did seems a bit harsh and is why I think FWH might suit this hop.

I could use Mot or NZ Hallertau in the IPA but I am not sure all the fruitiness would suit the style. I wouldn't mind trying something else anyway. I have available mostly in Green Bullet, NZ Cascade, NZ Hallertau, NZ Fuggles(I like this:), Pacific Gem, Motueka, Riwaka, Rakau. 

Any thoughts would be appreciated. 

PS: I bottled an ESB on Friday with a PG for bittering and NZ Fuggles at 20 mins and it is tasting then like my best beer yet. Mmmm I wonder if that will last a couple of month maturing.

[Kelly Milligan]

Ahhh, Christmas eve. What better to do when you're justified in being lazy than having a couple of beers and planning your next brew? Quite exciting one for me to, planning my first AG brew (going from extract + specialty to BIAB). Being a bit of a learning experience for me I'm working with left over hops for my hopping schedule. Really keen on any feedback :)

Batch size of 22L - 24L depending on how much efficiency i can actually get out of the mash, aiming for about 5.2-6.0% ABV.

93%     6.5kg    Golden Promise

7%       0.5kg    Caramalt

Will aim for a  mash temp of 66*C for 60mins, but will have to see how well I can maintain that.. Will mash out and sparge at as close to 76*C as I can.   

15g Southern Cross - 13.5% @ 60min

20g Cascade - 8.3% @ 20min

15g Southern Cross - 13.5% @ 20min

20g Cascade - 8.3% @ 0min

30g Southern Cross - 13.5% @ 0min

Looking at ~48 IBU

1tsp Irish Moss @ 10min

Safale US-05 x 1

No dry hopping planned at this stage... but I may be swayed!

Merry Christmas! Leave Santa a beer when you go to sleep tonight. 

Cheers,

Kelly

[Scarrfie]

Ahh does planning your next brew ever stop? Still hoping for some inspiration to my query above.

I think you will learn a lot from doing that one Kelly. I am not familiar with those hops so can't help you with the flavour or aroma apart from that I have NZ Cascade in the freezer and it smells amazing. I just haven't worked out what to try it with yet, or do I do a smash? Have you used that hop combination before?

My only thought is perhaps to up the IBU a little, I will be targetting high 50's. If you find it too bitter then time will mellow it out a bit.

[Kelly Milligan]

Cheers dude :)

2nd time playing with Southern Cross for me, put another pale ale in the secondary on Friday. From what I could tell the bittering from it was really good, nice and mellow, and went really well with the lighter caramel flavours its rocking. that one is sitting at about 35 IBU. 

Really interested to hear how the Sticklebract tests go! I've got 2 Sticklebract hop vines I planted in early October that are now ~3m tall, can't wait to see how many flowers I get off them in March :)

Cheers,

K

[Karl Hayes]

Originally posted this in another area of this forum but it's more suited to here:

Evening all and happy Christmas.

I'd like a little assistance with a recipe - I'm aiming for an extra stout style and I want to use up some of my excess yeast and hops - 2 sachets of US-05 and 100g of East Kent Goldings.

My recipe is for a 35L batch is:

7.5KG Malteurop Pilsner Malt

0.6KG Medium Crystal Malt

0.3KG Chocolate Malt

0.3KG Black Malt

0.3KG Roasted Barley

Mash for 90 mins at 66'C

90 minute boil

65g East Kent Goldings (4.5%) at 60 mins

25g NZ Cascade (9.1%) at 60 mins

35g East Kent Goldings (4.5%) at 30 mins

36 IBU

2 sachets of US 05 dry yeast

My questions are:

Do the darker malts need to be ground?

Do the ratios seem all right?

Should I be adding oatmeal (or Weetbix) for extra body?

Cheers.

Evening all and happy Christmas.

I'd like a little assistance with a recipe - I'm aiming for an extra stout style and I want to use up some of my excess yeast and hops - 2 sachets of US-05 and 100g of East Kent Goldings.

My recipe is for a 35L batch is:

7.5KG Malteurop Pilsner Malt

0.6KG Medium Crystal Malt

0.3KG Chocolate Malt

0.3KG Black Malt

0.3KG Roasted Barley

Mash for 90 mins at 66'C

90 minute boil

65g East Kent Goldings (4.5%) at 60 mins

25g NZ Cascade (9.1%) at 60 mins

35g East Kent Goldings (4.5%) at 30 mins

36 IBU

2 sachets of US 05 dry yeast

My questions are:

Do the darker malts need to be ground?

Do the ratios seem all right?

Should I be adding oatmeal (or Weetbix) for extra body?

Cheers.

[Chris Banks]

Hi Karl Merry Xmas

Just my thoughts on your recipe based on what I have discovered with mine -

Personally I wouldnt blow my EKG on bittering however if thats what you have and want to use it up - sounds good!

I think you could get away with upping to 45-50 ibus.

Yes you should crush the darker malts or did you mean grind finely?

My extra stout is 76%pale 6%crystal 6%roast 4%choc 8% table sugar and I love it!

I love oats in a stout! weetbix is good to - with the body I would consider upping your mash temp quite a bit?

I mash at 69-70c for 60min with my extra stout.

Cheers

Chris

 

[Karl Hayes]

Thanks Chris

I do have some more NZ Cascade that I can use instead of some of the Goldings. And I'll adjust the grain bill to suit your suggestion. I might keep the IBUs down on the low side of your range - I'm not a huge fan of overly bittered stouts. Maybe low 40's.

This will be the first use of your MLT - it took a while to get pumps, hoses and fittings through a plumber mate but all sorted now.

Cheers

Karl.