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 R]

So you just put the grounds straight in the fermenter? I was thinking about that as it would be a good long cold steep for the coffee, but was worried about the potential for infection.

[Cain Harland]

Yeah I did, before the beer even. Ground them fresh on a fairly course setting. No bag or anything and they seemed to settle out well.

You have a good point about infection. Coffee never seems to grow any mould or other filth so maybe its a bit like hops warding off the infections or maybe I just got lucky.

[Samuel Loader]

the beans have been roasted which will kill any bacteria just use fresh coffee , however especially if your using ground it is better to go with more coffee for a shorter period as you don't want to extract any green pepper flavours which can happen with coffee stouts  

[David R]

we go through a fair bit of coffee so the beans are always reasonably fresh. That said, we grind them in a hand grinder that's lived in our kitchen for years and has never been cleaned, so there is a good chance [maybe?] of something finding its way in there. Maybe I could cold-steep it then give it a quick boil to pasteurise it then add it to the fermenter? Either that or jut make half a dozen batches in my moka pot...

[Nicholas Jones]

My 2C, I have found the best way is to coarse crush beans in your mill and cold-steep post-ferment in a hop-sack or some other filter-bag type means. You can then control the amount of infusion by tasting after a couple of days (which is usually about the right amount of time), and remove when it is to your tastes. This is essentially the method Mike's use for their coffee porter, although he does a finer expresso grind in a milk filter sock. Personally I think the coarser crush reduces astringency. From memory I use about a cup of whole beans for an approx 20L batch (has been a while since Ive brewed this but funnily enough was thinking about this last night as my next brew). Fresh, good quality beans as David suggests

[David R]

So changing tact from the stout, my other next beer is an IPA with the malt profile of Yeastie Boys Digital IPA (80.4% Pale, 11.5% Munich, 5.8% CaraPils, 2.3% Caramalt 35), but with different hops, preferrably based on what I've got in the freezer at the moment; Amarillo, US Cascade, Columbus, and Riwaka. I'm pretty keen to go completely overboard with the hops on this one, just trying to figure out how to mix them, when to add them, and if I should add more. Currently thinking;

Columbus to bitter @60min
30g Amarillo, 25g Cascade @10
80g Amarillo, 50g Riwaka, 30g Cascade, 20g Columbus @0, steep for 15 min
30g Amarillo, 20g Riwaka, 20g Cascade dry

The Yeastie Boys recipe calls for 8g/L at 0min, and 1.7g/L dry, so I'm a little over on the FO addition and nearly double the dry hop. I've never used Riwaka before, but have been told it goes fairly well with Amarillo, not sure if I need the Columbus at 0 along with the other three? Thoughts?

So changing tact from the stout, my other next beer is an IPA with the malt profile of Yeastie Boys Digital IPA (80.4% Pale, 11.5% Munich, 5.8% CaraPils, 2.3% Caramalt 35), but with different hops, preferrably based on what I've got in the freezer at the moment; Amarillo, US Cascade, Columbus, and Riwaka. I'm pretty keen to go completely overboard with the hops on this one, just trying to figure out how to mix them, when to add them, and if I should add more. Currently thinking;

Columbus to bitter @60min
30g Amarillo, 25g Cascade @10
80g Amarillo, 50g Riwaka, 30g Cascade, 20g Columbus @0, steep for 15 min
30g Amarillo, 20g Riwaka, 20g Cascade dry

The Yeastie Boys recipe calls for 8g/L at 0min, and 1.7g/L dry, so I'm a little over on the FO addition and nearly double the dry hop. I've never used Riwaka before, but have been told it goes fairly well with Amarillo, not sure if I need the Columbus at 0 along with the other three? Thoughts?

[Mr Agsy]

Please can someone help me understand this recipe..I found it online and being a novice @ all grain I'm unsure of some things..

It is a leffe blonde style (one of my fav ales)

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WLP530 White Labs Abbey Ale
Yeast Starter: Yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 5 gallons
Original Gravity: 1.068 (est)
Final Gravity: 1.010
IBU: 30.4
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 6.3 SRMs
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 30

Style: Belgian Blond Ale Brewer:
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Volume: 6.41 gal
Boil Time: 90 min (Pilsner malts)

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
9 lbs 13.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 81.61 %
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 8.32 %
5.3 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 2.75 %
3.5 oz Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 1.83 %

1.36 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] (60 min) Hops 23.4 IBU
0.71 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (30 min) Hops 7.0 IBU

10.6 oz Sugar, Table (Last 15 minutes of boil) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 5.49 %

1 Pkgs Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530) Yeast-Ale

Mash In: Add 14.20 qt of water at 178.4 F
Hold mash at 158.0 F for 45 min

Sparge with 4.47 gal of 168.0 F water.

Add water to achieve boil volume of 6.41 gal

Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.058 SG with all grains/extracts added.

This is how I understand it :

1. I Mash all 4 grains for 45 mins @ 158.0 F

2. I then Sparge with 4.47 gal of 168.0 F water.

3. After sparge I remove grains and then Boil for 90 mins

4 I add Styrian Goldings @  60 min of 90 min boil the add Saaz @ final 30 mins of boil

5  then add 10.6 oz Sugar, Table last 15 mins of 90 min boil

6 cool to 20-24 then add the Yeast and then ferment  for 30 days

So have i read this correctly? any advice greatly appreciated ..

[Crusader-Rob]

Pretty much!. the 158 Mash temp is probably a bit high though.

[Mr Agsy]

thanks for response Rob , the brewer of this stated that

"Beta Amylase enzymes denature at 158. This leaves more unfermentable long chain dextrins, you will have more "weight" and more mouth feel with the 158f mash temp"

Whatever that means LOL !!!

[Crusader-Rob]

Basically it means it'll taste thicker and have more body. However given the high mash temp expect a higher end gravity. When it comes to belgians, I tend to mash on the lower end. WLP530 is a good yeast and attenuator, but if you mash that high you certainly won't get to that 1.010 end gravity.

[Mr Agsy]

Hello again Rob, A thicker taste and more body is what I'm looking for as the orig leffe is more to this style If I remember correctly..

I will keep you posted on how this brew goes and post up a few pictures once bottling is complete..I may even do a side by side comparison to the orig leffe.

[Richard Rice]

It means that mashing at a higher temp creas sugars that can't be fermented by the yeast.  This results in a sweeter beer and those sugars give you a fuller body.