First Partial Grain/Extract - Does this seem OK?

[weevaa]

Hi All,

Am looking to move from my first couple of batches which were just plain kits beers - which while good, I know that going to the next step will net better results. The next step I think is partial grain with extract. I found the following recipe http://byo.com/recipe/1655.html for the Hop Monster Double IPA which I like the look of and have come up with a recipe based on what I can order from Hauraki Homebrew. Can someone look this over and tell me if it will work, am I missing something etc etc? The one thing I am concerned with - The dried malt is $9.99 for 500g, and I need 1.5KG. Could I use more LME and maybe only 500g DME? Also Nugget Hops are not available in NZ, what should I use there?

As for what I have substituted in regards to the hops:
Amarillo for Cascade (Amarillo is sold out ATM)
Centennial for Cascade
Nugget for ?? Not sure? Recommendations?
Columbus for Sticklebract

Hop Monster Double IPA (Reworked for NZ:-))

2.7KG Black Rock Light Malt Extract
1.5KG Muntons Light Spraymalt
340g Crushed Crystal
230g Crushed Carapils

28g Nugget hops - Not avail in NZ. What should I use?
28g Cascade hops (60 mins.)
28g Sticklebract hops (60 mins.)

22.6g Cascade hops (30 mins.)
11.3g Sticklebract hops (30 mins.)

28g Cascade hops (end of boil)
28g Cascade hops (end of boil)
28 Sticklebract hops (end of boil)

56g Cascade hops (dry hop)
28g Sticklebract hops (dry hop)

1/2 tsp. Irish Moss (last 15 min. of boil)
Yeast: Saf-Afl US-05

Well, thats about it I think! Hoping to brew this up on Thursday as my mate who is doing this with me is away for a week Friday. Any help much appreciated, hope I am not making a fool of myself with this attempt!

[Chris]

Hello mate

Can't comment on all the ingredients as I'm not familiar with them all, but I find the following chart useful for balancing hops:
click

HTH.

[jt]

hiya weevaa
for what it's worth, I'd go all liquid malt. Some might disagree as the FG might end up a bit higher.

Call Mike at Brewers Coop, he had Nugget on the last price list that I saw. Otherwise if you want a New Zealand substitution, Pacific Jade looks the closest. I reckon you could go just about any NZ high alpha bittering hop though, they're all good.

That's a shed load of hops, have you worked out the IBU's ? Download the promash trial version and give it a go, or just use the formula Palmer explains in howtobrew

cheers, jt

[weevaa]

Thanks for the advice. The recipe states 141 IBUs, but with basically everything being substitued I think I should re-calculate it.

As for substituting the liquid for the dried malt, is it a 1:1 ratio IE replace 500g DME with 500g LME? I would think there would be a bit of a difference, as in I would have to use slightly more LME to replace the DME? Is that correct? If so how much?

Cheers,
Dan

[jt]

141 ?

Blue Blistering Barnacles Dan !

My rule of thumb is 20% more liquid than dried
So if you went all liquid, your original 2.7 plus another 1.8 = 4.5 kg and luckily = 3 tins !

[weevaa]

I am not too clued up on IBU, I think I should pop off to read up on howtobrew.com before I commit to this!

[weevaa]

OK, looks like 141 is a huge amount. My question is what will this taste like? I am not a fan of overly bitter beer, what can I do to bring the IBUs down to normal IPA levels, but keep the higher alchol content? Am I in over my head, or should I just not be thinking about this while I am at work :-P

[HerrSchnapps]

141 IBU with a OG of 1.060 will mean a very, very bitter strong hoppy beer :) And you just need to cut back on the amount of hops used for boiling if you want a lower IBU, alcohol won't change.

[jt]

If you like hops, this is the recipe for you !

[weevaa]

Bugger it what have I got to loose. Another question before I order it all, would I be better off with two packets of yeast for a brew of this strength?

[Barry]

You've got several packets of rare pricey hops to lose.
Download promash and tweak your recipe with it, I wouldn't go anymore than 100% IBU-GU ratio to start with until you've got an idea just how bitter that is. For 1.060 that's 60 IBUs. You'll taste hops in there, trust me.

Welcome to borrow my copy of Ray Daniels "Designing Great Beers" anytime by the way.

[weevaa]

Fair call there. I think I need to spend a few hours tonight getting my head around promash - had a quick look at it but it was a bit complex at first. I think I will load up one of the trail recipes from in there and use that to see what the software does.

[weevaa]

Had a play around and got the IBU down to 57.0. Attached the screenshot, really cool program. What do you think of the refinements?