My First AG

So as I type I'm roughly 30 minutes into the boil of my first AG session. I have to say it really isn't that much more work than a normal brew day. I loved working with the grains and mashing. . . recipe and info:

My yet to be named IPA

12lbs 2-row
1/2 lbs aromatic 20L
1/2 lbs carapils/dextrine
1/2 lbs crystal 40L

1/3 oz centennial 1st wort hopping
1/2 oz nugget 60 min
1/3 oz centennial 45 min
1/2 oz nugget 30 min
1/3 oz centennial 15 min
1 oz williamette 5 min
1 oz kent goldings dry hop in secondary (not sure for how long yet, any opinions?)

I wanted to mash at 154 and hit 153 and held steady for an hour in my rubbermaid 10 gal MLT. wanted to hit just shy of 7 gals into the boil kettle and hit 6.8 so I can't complain about anything thus far. My estimated efficiency into the kettle was 85%. I was pretty surprised to see such a great number. we will see how it goes into the carboy.

Pretty basic. . . I wanted to go with a simcoe/summit combo but simcoe is nearly impossible to find right now and my local homebrew shop didn't have any of the hops I wanted to use. I basically went with what I could get my hands on that I knew would get me somewhere near 65IBU. Beersmith calculates 62.2 IBU and 6.62 ABV based on 75% efficiency.

Reading everyones posts here has been a huge motivation and very informative, so thank you all very much. Had to share this with you guys and get any opinions on the dry hopping.

3-7 days for the dry hop... 14 and the max. Sample it once a day. Use you nose to smell it and a wine thief to sample. Once it taste good pull it from the secondary. Make sure you put the hops in a hop sack with a stainless steel washer. Boil both for 15 minutes to sanitize and then put the hops in the sack. Make sure you sanitize (boil) some string and tie it to the end of the hop sack so you can retrieve in 3-7 days.

I don't like Goldings for dry hopping myself but if you do go for it. I'd do 2 oz however of whatever hops you decide, and 10 days is my minimum. FWIW

Thanks for the input. The stainless washer is a great idea btw, thanks for that one. I've honestly never dry hopped and if it turns out to be a dud I'll blame it on the goldings. I suppose it isn't too late to change my dry hop addition, I'll definitely consider both increasing my addition and changing my selection. I ended up at 1067 for my OG into the carboy at 60 degrees. which works out to be about 75% efficiency. My hydrometer adjustment must have been slightly off before but no big deal. I also ended up about a half gallon short. I chalk that up to a higher boil off rate than what I anticipated. before anyone says anything I also realize that this means my efficiency was actually lower than 75% but I could have extracted more fermentables with a larger final sparge. I'm gonna chalk it up to your milage may very and work my next recipe off of 75% and make sure to get the correct volume into the boiler and go from there. Again, thanks for the help.

I am drinking my 1st AG right now. It too was an IPA. It tastes great. The next 2 may not be as good. The reason being I got a much lower efficiency and then a much higher efficiency. It's all about consistancy.

One thing I have found is that regardless of mistakes during the mashing process, the beer usually ends up pretty good. They aren't always exactly what you want but fresh Ale is generally really good. I have sampled my second batch which was a pale ale. It will be lighter bodied than I had hoped but I think it'll be a fine summer beer. My 3rd batch will be pretty strong. I think I'll condition it a little longer and I bet it will taste quite good even if I have to dry hop it for balance so it's no longer a real ESB. I think tasting all along is also helpful. Good luck. This is fun.

I think I'll celebrate fathers day with a homebrew or 2.

You can do more than one dry hop addition. Each one will add a layer of hop complexity. However not all hops compliment each other. I prefer to keep the Nobel varieties together and the American varieties together. Also note that while dry hopping does little to the actual IBU calculation, you may increase the perceived bitterness of your consumers. Especially those who can't distinguish between hop bitterness, taste and scent.

For American IPAs, Ambers and Pale Ales I like to dry hop with Cascade, Cluster, Centennial, Simcoe, Amarillo or Citra.

good to hear your enjoying yourself as well charless.

The idea of a few different dry hop additions is a great idea as well. I was thinking about substituting the goldings for cascade and bumping to 2 ounces. Truth be told, hops is probably my area of least knowledge when it comes to homebrew. My original recipe called for Simcoe, Summit, Amarillo, and Ahtanum but I could not find any of those at my local shop.

I sometimes use this website for hop substitutions: http://www.brew365.com/hop_substitution_chart.php