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]

Not a cinnamon fan... but vanilla is on the cards!

[Nolen Smith]

If you add one cinnamon quill, you probably wouldn't be able to pick out the flavour of it, but IMHO it adds a depth to the chocolate that I can't really explain well.

[James P]

Done, one cinnamon quill in the mix! :)

[Reviled]

Nothing wrong with good ol Signature range vanilla essence from the super market ;o) Its what I used in my bourbon Porter and even had Glen tell me the vanilla smell was so good I must have used real vanilla... Cant go wrong with that IMO...

[denimglen]

Yeah I was so surprised that it was actually essence, smelt too 'spicy' to be essence.

I'd get the best of both worlds, secondary with vanilla a few vanilla pods then add some extract/essence to taste at bottling, can't go wrong with that I reckon.

Or you could use the vanilla syrup in place of priming sugar, could be interesting (and relatively unpredictable).

[RopenutS]

Hey

Was goin to get this under way:

Batch Size: 18.93L
Boil Size: 11.36L

1.5kg Light Malt Extract: 45.45%
1.5kg Light Malt Extract (Boil for 15mins): 45.45%

0.30 kg Pale Crystal Malt: 9.09%

15g Southern Cross @ 60
15g Cascade @ 15
15g Motueka @ 15
15g Cascade @ 0
15g Motueka @0

IBU's: 37.4

US-05


Does this look about right, or is there something obviosuly wrong with this?? Sorry guys, still new to this stuff.

[jt]

Depending on what you're after the crystal might be on the high side, otherwise looks great.

[Christian]

Looks a bit like a favourite I've been doing lately - this combination of hops is very nice. My recipe is:

1.7Kg Mac's Pale Ale kit
1.5Kg Blackrock East India Pale Ale kit
0.25Kg Crystal
US-05

Bittering - about 45 mins:
30g Super Alpha
30g Southern Cross

Flavour / Aroma - added between 30 & 0 mins:
20g Sothern Cross
50g Motueka
50g NZ Cascade

Dry Hopping:
50g Motueka
50g NZ Cascade

[RopenutS]

Holy crap dude, you use way more hops than im goin to, haha. I think im still just goin to go with my recipe though. Maybe i should drop that Crystal down? Ive read that it can get cloying if used too much in a brew, is that true?

[jt]

On second thoughts, I reckon you're ok with that crystal.
I checked back my notes and recipes for extract & grains and I was using 250-300gm most batches for a standard sort of ale.
If you're unsure on an ingredient, start on the low side and if you like it, add more in the next batch.
A handfull of chocolate (20-50gm depending on your tastes) also helps take the edge off the crystal too. What other extract & grains have you brewed ?

[Christian]

The Crystal I've been using is medium to dark so 300g of pale should be fine.

I might be going overboard with the hops - I'm still experimenting and maybe I should've started at a lower level because now I'm addicted to heaps of hops. It's handy that I can buy them in person from the supplier though. As jt says - start low and add more next time if you need.

I just did a half-batch Imperial IPA at about 30g per litre - 100g each of NZ Cascade, Southern Cross and Rakau.

[RopenutS]

Haha wicked man thats seems like a shit load of hops, no doubt i'll probly end up addicted too!