Throw down: What to brew for 1st AG

blacklab · 01-17-2008, 01:59 AM

Allright y'all;

Let me know what I should brew for my first AG. I am very partial to EdWort's Haus Pale due to his rockstar rep on the HBT and my recent apfelwein successes. I like the APA's and the IPA's and other lighter stuff but am open to anything that sounds tempting.

Make your case!

Thanks in advance for your help

**mrk305** · 01-17-2008, 02:08 AM

Ed's Haus was my first AG, and it was great! I say do it (but up the 2 row a little to cover inefficiency)

**Bearcat Brewmeister** · 01-17-2008, 02:19 AM

APA is a good way to go. It is not complicated and it is somewhat forgiving.

That said, I usually recommend making your favorite extract recipe but converted to an AG recipe. That way you have your old extract version as a reference (either in a bottle right there or in your memory) to compare to the AG version.

If you need to get an extract recipe converted, just post it here. Plenty of people here can help you convert it to AG.

**TexLaw** · 01-17-2008, 02:22 AM

It sounds like you've already decided, and made a good decision at that.

TL

**Schlenkerla** · 01-17-2008, 02:33 AM

John Palmer recommends a brown ale. Here are detailed intructions and the recipe.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter18.html

This was my first. Browns are good forgiving beers too.

I'd buy a pound or two of DME in case the extract percentage is low. You can add it before you boil. Buy light DME. You can add as much as 1lb of brown sugar too in this style. English versions use molassis.

You'd know at step 14.

14. Calculate how efficient your extraction was. Measure the gravity in the boiling pot and multiply the points by the number of gallons you collected. Then divide by the number of pounds of grain you used. The result should be somewhere around 30. 27 is okay, 29 is good, and over 30 is great. If it is 25 or below, you are lautering too fast or you are not getting good conversion in the mash, which could be caused by having too coarse a grist, the wrong temperature, not enough time, it got cold, or a pH factor, et cetera.

1lb should bump 5 gal about .006 points

Good Luck! - I hope you don't need it after your mash!!

blacklab · 01-17-2008, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrk305

Ed's Haus was my first AG, and it was great! I say do it (but up the 2 row a little to cover inefficiency)

So how much is 'a little bit'? 1# more?

Oh, and I'm a Safale-05 man. No nottingham, please. Must be the pink packaging on the safale that keeps me coming back.

**Schlenkerla** · 01-17-2008, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blacklab

So how much is 'a little bit'? 1# more?

Oh, and I'm a Safale-05 man. No nottingham, please. Must be the pink packaging on the safale that keeps me coming back.

Yes 1 or 2 lbs

**RichBrewer** · 01-17-2008, 03:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blacklab

Allright y'all;

Let me know what I should brew for my first AG. I am very partial to EdWort's Haus Pale due to his rockstar rep on the HBT and my recent apfelwein successes. I like the APA's and the IPA's and other lighter stuff but am open to anything that sounds tempting.

Make your case!

Thanks in advance for your help

It sounds like you have a great choice right there. It isn't too much grain for your first mash. You should go ahead and make it!

blacklab · 01-17-2008, 03:43 AM

Deal: Ed's Haus.

thanks, everyone.

explosivebeer · 01-17-2008, 03:46 AM

Following in the tradition of people being biased toward their first AG experience, I throw in the idea of doing Orfy's Hob Goblin, as someone on here recommended to me for my first. I can honestly say it was one of the tastiest beers I've ever made, and probably top-20 that I've ever had. Maybe even top-10 actually. I've since done EdWort's Pale Ale and while that one is decent, it "pales" in comparison. Anyway, good luck whatever you do!