mystery recipe aka going to the lhbs intoxicated

Ok I went to a barrel aged beer fest over the weekend, and then I hit the lhbs. I guess I may have been more drunk than I realized because my recipe looks off.

Flanders Brown/Oud Bruin
Partial Mash

American Crystal 120L - 1lb
American Soft White Wheat – 0.25lb
American Victory – 0.5lb
American Vienna- 1lb
Light Malt Extract Syrup-8lb
Citra Hops-1oz
Yeast-Safbrew-S-33

I wanted to do a sour soon, but I wanted to test the base beer first, so I can understand why I picked the style. But I think the recipe looks off, and I don’t have a brewing program atm cause I had to lend my comp to my brother who is in college. Tell me if I am nuts or does this recipe look like what it’s suppose to be.

It doesn't look too bad, although that is more C120 than I would use, I'd put some medium crystal in there as well. You'll also need some microbes from a pack of Roeselare Blend or some bottle dregs. I like bugs in primary, but if you only want a light tartness you can add them after fermenting with a clean yeast. You are also a bit high on IBUs probably, you don't mant much over 15, what AA% are those citra?

Thanks for the response, and for the record I love your site. The citra are 11% and boy do they smell good. But as I was saying this is my trial run on the base beer, I want to make sure the base beer is good before I throw in some bugs. If this batch is decent I will brew another batch in November.

that's gonna be a strong oud bruin! you could go either way, drop some extract or just run with it. since you have it maybe you just wanna run with it. i'd drop the crystal to crystal 60 or seriously reduce teh amount of 120L. you can up the amount of wheat - flaked or torrified are typically good. i like to raise the heat during the steep/mash to release some otherwise unwanted tannins that i'm convinced are good for long term sour projects. like oldsock said bugs in primary would be a good idea, maybe you wanna drop the SAF33 to something like the lambic/sour blend or roselare which is another blend of yeasts - sacch, sherry yeast, brett, lacto, pedio, etc so you get all your yeast in one shot. high IBU's will kill or at least inhibit the lacto growth. adding some maltodextrin will help provide food down the road for the long term brett production. good luck w/ your first and enjoy the ride, you're in for the long haul now!!

Thanks for the input, I know i will have more questions down the road.

taking 120 to 60 is NO MINOR ADJUSTMENT.

If 120 is called for, there is no substitute..(except 120L of something else) 60 isn't in the same park.

cheezydemon3 said:

taking 120 to 60 is NO MINOR ADJUSTMENT.

If 120 is called for, there is no substitute..(except 120L of something else) 60 isn't in the same park.

Click to expand...

no kidding. imo 120 doesn't belong anywhere near an oud bruin and i'm def not conservative in my brewing. i def like to bend the rules style-wise. it's too dark but i guess a little bit will help with the dark fruit, plummy & raisin flavors. as oldsock said: "that is more C120 than I would use, I'd put some medium crystal in there as well," and i know oldsock knows his ****.