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]

Nah, my kit to extract was 10 times better than kit.

 

Extract & grains to AG was a step, but not as monumental - I think by then I had higher expectations after tasting so much more good beer of other peoples

[denimglen]

Nah, you just failed Tyler.

 

Haha :-P

 

I think the key to it is making sure you get the freshest extract and hops and good viable and rehydrated yeast.  I've only brewed like 5 or so extract beers in my time but none of them have had that oxidised extract twang that I've tasted in some others.

 

I also think depends on what your brewing and drinking already.  For me at the time I was brewing kit lager beers - EXACTLY to the instructions, kilo of sugar, warm fermentation, shit yeast etc that would have passed as a cider better than any style of beer.  Also at the time I was drinking pretty average beers - 'premium' lagers and the odd bit of Monteiths and Macs.  My first extract beer was like Black Rock extract to 1.050, a pretty decent amount of EKG and SO5 yeast.  And I thought it was pretty good at the time.  Drinking something like that is a MASSIVE step above what I had been and it's really what opened my eyes to what beer could be.

 

The other thing is I reckon you have more chance of fucking up if your first real batch is all grain, by no means is it impossible to do but why risk it I say.

 

I like how everytime someone asks a question we always end up in a big debate haha.

[Dan Filihiahekava]

Thanks for the comments guys much appreciated and thanks for the add reviled .Now that my nasty hangover has gone and water doesnt make me want to throw up i will check out your blogs reviled and have a look at howtobrew.com

 

Thanks Again

 

Dan

[Patrick]

I jumped straight into all grain, BIAB. I have never brewed a kit or extract beer in my life - tasted a few god-awful ones though!

 

I fell into the trap of over-researching everything, and finally bit the bullet and brewed a simple pale ale - all maris otter and nelson sauvin, came out awesome even though I made a few cockups on the day.

 

They have only gotten better since then - jump into it!

[Scott Taylor]

Lads:  

I'm after some advice, my lady kindly bought me a locally made Oak Brewing Barrell "new". Its 10 litres with taps.

Questions: What brew would suit this vessel? Barley wine, Scottish/English ale, Belgian?

  Should I condition or secondary ferment in it? Buggered if I know?

  Maybe condition the barrell with port/whisky/sherry for a few months prior?

  Anthing considered so thoughts or recipes please!! 

[Reviled]

The possibilities are endless really scott - If it were me id want to brew something like an old ale, id do primary fermentation in a standard fermenter and then move it into the barrel to age and sour slightly, but bear in mind with a small barrel your surface area will be way bigger than if you had a full size cask, so you wont need to age it as long as you might think, the oak flavour will start coming through quite rapidly...

 

Or you could try and brew an authentic IPA, condition in the oak barrel full of hop flowers then chuck it on a boat for a few months ;o) lol

[Scott Taylor]

Im thinking the hoppy IPA might be the go as my hop plants are growing nicely! In regards to the conditioning on the boat knowing my mates me thinks it might be emptied rather quickly while on board!

 

That was going to be my next question how long to age. Thanks for your advice!

[Reviled]

If you do do the IPA like I said be weary of how long you leave it in the barrel, id reccomend tasting it every couple of days and take it out of the barrel when its oaky enough for you - being a new barrel you are likely to get a sh*t load of vanillan out of it...

[Martin Bridges]

Nothing authentic about an Oaked IPA!

[Richard Jack]

Hey mate, if you want to condition it, I can flip you a little bourbon @cask strength (65%), which I guess would do a good job of sterilising it as well?

[Scott Taylor]

Cheers Richard, that sounds to good to refuse, could you PM your details and I'll grab some off you.

I'm thinking first batch hoppy IPA and second batch a Belgian Ale with bourbon undertones!

[Ray]

Hi all

I'm not getting the results I hoped with my first 2 AG recipes, could I have a tried and tested simple recipe thats guaranteed to turn out enjoyable maybe a nzpa of apa. cheers in advance