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...

[James P]

Heresey... burn that man at the stake....

[Mike Neilson]

Very true there is my car but that aint in my garage so it's brewing!!

[MrC]

I do have Munich (I and II).

I'm not really brewing to style for this one but at a push I'd say Bohemian.

It's more that I'm brewing a Pils and I want to learn about Melanoidin, Caraaroma and Carared so I thought I'd add one to a beer where it will be obvious, one step at a time.

[JoKing]

I'd definately chuck a couple hundred grams of Melanoidin Malt in there if you can get some... especially if you are wanting a Bohemian style Pilsner. It is like Munich on Steriods, in such a way that it would taste like a kilo of Munich II with only a tenth of the weight. It's nutty, and buscuitty in it's malt flavour - it reminds me a lot of the malt flavour in that "Alaskan IPA" and "Anchor Steam" beer.

If you are worried about how it would come out at 5% - have a taste of Anchor Steam (if it's fresh) I'm sure it is part of their grist. Americans call it "Honey Malt" and "Aromatic Malt", Belgians call it "Belgian Aromatic" - but it's all the same stuff.

It gives you the impression of a decoction mash, without haveing to go through all the hassle of a decoction. In short - it's good shit. A very much overlooked specialty in NZ.

Oh... and bump your IBU up to 45! ;0)

[denimglen]

This man speaks the truth. Melanoidin is the shit.

The grist for my Helles was

91% German Pils
6% Munich I
3% Melanoidin

Real nice, bready, toasty thing going on.

[MrC]

Cheers guys. Sounds like Melanoidin is the go. I'll adjust the hops also, but it'll depend on what's in the freezer.

I'll probably split the wort for the boil and then hop half with Riwaka, half with Motueka and ferment them seperately.
The great NZ Saaz-off.

[warra48]

Definitely the melanoidin, if you are looking for a malt driven pils. Don't overdo it for your first use. Limit yourself to about 200 gr just to see for yourself what your threshhold for it is. Some brewers love it, others can't stand it.

The carared and caraaroma have no place in a pilsner, but they're mighty good in darker English/Irish ales. Yum.

[Reviled]

Brewing my IPA this weekend, and was thinking, I have a big cake of 1728 that I could use for it? As opposed to building up a starter of 1026, or going to the shop and buying some S-05

Soooo, what do you guys reckon it would be like? Going from the scottish 60/- it has a nice profile, but im not sure what it will do to the hops cos the scottish doesnt really have much in it???

And Joseph - when are those hops getting here ;o)

[JoKing]

Last report for the hops is that they will be cleared and available around Wednesday 22nd July. If so, you Aucklanders can pick your share up from out West on Thursday (to save on Postage). The rest of NZ will get theirs sent once I see the cash in my bank.

Don't ask what they cost yet - as they haven't been taxed yet.

Fuckin Government.

As far as your 1728 goes - I have found that a very nutral strain. A good dose of hops at the end, and then a nice dry hopping should see you right.

[studio1]

Last sunday I brewed a simple ESB of pale malt 94% and crystal 6%:

OG of 1.056
IBU of 30 (all fuggles)
Yeast 1968

Hydro has dropped to 1.016 and I expect it to go another few points. Its tasting a little on the sweet side - I didn't have enough hops to get the IBUs any higher. Will dry-hopping help over come this?

[Mike Neilson]

Nope, doing that makes hop syrup. Just 20 min boil 5-8 Ibu worth of hops in alittle dme at the correct priming rates and use it to prime what ever your bottling or kegging that way your primed and corrected!!

[MrC]

Or just boil them in water to get some extra IBUs.