New to AG looking for simple tasty recipe

SoaringEagle · 06-07-2008, 06:26 PM

Hey all, I have been searching the site for a few days looking for a good first AG brew that is simple and tasty. So far I have found BierMuncher's Centennial blond, sounds good but I don't have the Centennial hops. Orfy's Mild Mannered ale sounds great but again I don't have any fuggles hops. I have been doing PM for a while so I thought I would lay out what I have on hand and maybe get a little help with recipe design?

Hops
4oz Cascade
2oz Goldings
There is a local supply of hops around here, I am not sure of the selection but I can run and see if you guys want to suggest some alts to what I have.

Malt
50lbs GW 2 row
2lb 2oz Dark caramel 135-165
8oz peated malt
1 lb roasted unmalted barley
10oz US vienna malt
2lb 4oz Caramel/crystal 60
2lb 4oz US Chocolate
2lb Black patant 525

then I also have 1lb of maltodextrin powder

I have a new 70qt coleman xtream cooler, a 10 gallon rubbermaid round cooler and a converted keg with a falsebottom. I plan to use the converted keg as my HLT and boil kettle and mash in the 70qt coleman. At some point I will get the parts to convert my 10gal rubbermaid round to my HLT. Thank you for all of your help. I am open to ordering some flaked barley if needed and some hops if needed.

S

EamusCatuli · 06-07-2008, 06:36 PM

In all honesty, what I would do is buy an all-grain kit from Austin Homebrew. I was thinking I would do an AG recipe from here or make one of my own the first time too, but was convinced otherwise when you weigh the facts. You would def. benfit from learning the processes and what goes into AG if you go kits first. Plus all of the AHS kits are awesome and get rave reviews....think about it....

Either way, good luck and happy brewing!

Hoosierbrewer · 06-07-2008, 06:39 PM

My first was 10 lbs of 2 row; some eastern european hops I had laying around and German Ale yeast. It is in the secondary and smells great. It was simple and allowed me to test my system and work on the process more than anything.

farmbrewernw · 06-07-2008, 06:43 PM

You could always do Edwort's Bee Cave Haus Pale Ale, many people here have popped their All Grain cherry on this one, me included. By the way this one is so good you'll be making it a lot, so you might as well start out with something tasty to encourage you to brew more.

Blender · 06-07-2008, 06:43 PM

I would find a bittering hop that goes well with the Cascades and just use base malt and .5 to .75 of Crystal malt and brew it.

SoaringEagle · 06-07-2008, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EamusCatuli

In all honesty, what I would do is buy an all-grain kit from Austin Homebrew. I was thinking I would do an AG recipe from here or make one of my own the first time too, but was convinced otherwise when you weigh the facts. You would def. benfit from learning the processes and what goes into AG if you go kits first. Plus all of the AHS kits are awesome and get rave reviews....think about it....

Either way, good luck and happy brewing!

Thank you for the suggestion. SWMBO has deemed the beer budget spent for now with the large outlay for equipment to upgrade to AG. That coupled with my current stocks of malt and hops leads me to try and whip something up with the fewest possible purchases. Good advice for people without my $$ constraints though thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoosierbrewer

My first was 10 lbs of 2 row; some eastern european hops I had laying around and German Ale yeast. It is in the secondary and smells great. It was simple and allowed me to test my system and work on the process more than anything.

That is good info there HB, So if I did this what would the finished product taste like? Have you tasted a sample yet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by farmbrewernw

You could always do Edwort's Bee Cave Haus Pale Ale, many people here have popped their All Grain cherry on this one, me included. By the way this one is so good you'll be making it a lot, so you might as well start out with something tasty to encourage you to brew more.

Thanks for the info Farmbrewernw, I looked up that recipe and it looks good!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blender

I would find a bittering hop that goes well with the Cascades and just use base malt and .5 to .75 of Crystal malt and brew it.

I think I can use Cascades for a bittering hop...please someone chime in here and shed some light on this.

S

Hoosierbrewer · 06-08-2008, 12:20 AM

I used a german ale yeast. It is really good. Not very complex on the malt side, but the yeast adds character to it.

You can use cascade as a bittering hop. I have used it for both. I do like the idea of adding some crystal malt to the equation. That along with cascade and some american yeast would be tasty. 10-12 pounds of 2 row a pound of crystal and your cascade hops( 2 oz at 60 and then add 1 oz as in Ed Worts Haus Pale) and you could have a killer IPA. I find that simple works well.

**mrk305** · 06-08-2008, 02:48 AM

+1 on Edwort's Haus Pale. It was my first AG, and I make it a lot. Made with a pack of Nottingham yeast and the Cascade that you already have, it is inexpensive and easy.

SomedumbJerk · 06-08-2008, 03:49 AM

for sure make a quick pale ale. worked out really well for me! 12lbs 2row and 1.5 lbs crystal if you want some extra malt. apparently you can use black patent as a clarifier and it won't effect the colour too much...

Either way plan on extra time during your first one, and have boiling water on hand, and i use some frozen bicycle water bottles as giant ice cubes for if the mash is too hot. I've only done two batches but the more you relax the more rewarding it is! have fun either way!

**BrewBrain** · 06-08-2008, 03:53 AM

You can do a fine beer with what you've got.
I'd go with:

8lbs 2 row
2 lb crystal 60
8 oz Vienna

And EdWort's Haus Ale Cascade schedule. Should be a pretty decent amber ale IMO. For a pale ale, just cut the crystal 60 to one pound.