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mmosteiro · 07-24-2012, 10:18 PM

How does this look for a first brew? Any suggestions??

Ingredients
active time 4 hours, total time 5-6 weeks

6 gallons of tap water, split
6 pounds Light liquid malt extract
1 pound CaraRed malt, crushed
1/2 pound Crystal 60L malt, crushed
2 ounces Black Roasted Barley malt, crushed
1 ounce Centennial Hops—60 minutes
1 ounce Centennial Hops—15 minutes
1 ounce Amarillo Hops—5 minutes
1 Liter starter of American Ale yeast (White Labs WLP001 or Wyeast 1056)
1 ounce Amarillo Hops—for dry hopping in secondary
priming sugar for bottling
Procedures
If possible, place 3 gallons water in the refrigerator to cool in a sanitized container.

Tie the CaraRed, Crystal 60L and Black Roasted Barley malt in a large mesh grain bag or hop bag. Place the bag in 3 gallons of water in a 5 gallon pot and immerse the grain.

Begin to heat, making sure mesh bag isn’t sitting directly on the bottom of the pot. Remove the grain bag when the temperature reaches 170°.

Bring wort to a vigorous boil. As water is heating, slowly add 6 pounds of light liquid malt extract, stirring constantly until completely dissolved. When the boil begins, add 1 ounce Centennial hops in a mesh bag.

After 45 minutes of boiling has passed, add 1 ounce Centennial hops in a mesh bag.

After a total of 55 minutes has passed, add 1 ounce Amarillo hops in a mesh bag.

After total of 60 minutes of boil, remove from heat. Warning: After wort cools below 180°F everything that touches it should be sanitary, and exposure to open air should be limited as much as possible.

Cool wort by placing pot in ice bath until it is below 85°F. Transfer to sanitized fermentor (either a carboy or a fermentation bucket). Top off to make 5 gallons using refrigerated water.

Use a sanitized auto-siphon racking cane to remove enough wort to take a gravity reading with your hydrometer. Make a note of this number, since you will be using it to calculate the actual alcohol content when it's done fermenting. The reading should be around 1.050.

Carefully pour yeast into cooled wort (it should be below 70°F), and agitate vigorously. Cover fermentor with a sanitized stopper and airlock. Ferment in dark place, keeping ambient temperature consistent, preferably between 65 and 68°F.

After 2 to 3 weeks when primary fermentation is complete (take at least two consistent gravity readings), transfer to a secondary carboy for conditioning, add 1 ounce Amarillo hops for dry hopping and store as cool as possible.

Bottle after another one to two weeks using enough priming sugar for a medium level of carbonation according to these instructions.

***Yooper*** · 07-24-2012, 10:24 PM

Pretty darn good!

Only a couple of minor things I'd change. One is that I'd only add about 3 pounds of the extract at the beginning where you have it all going in. Since you're only using 3 gallons at the beginning, my preference is to only boil 1 pound per gallon. Add the rest near the end of the boil, when you turn the heat off.

The other thing I'd change is to consider not racking this beer after a few weeks; instead dryhop right in the original fermenter when fermentation ends. Dryhop for 7 days, and no longer.

That's about all the suggestions I have- the recipe looks solid although leaning a wee bit toward the sweeter with the carared and the crystal 60l.

ztexz · 07-24-2012, 10:28 PM

I don't want to tread on your amibition, but that strikes me as a fairly involved recipe for a first-time brew. You're sort of skipping over the "beginner brew" -- an all-extract recipe -- and jumping straight to an intermediate level partial mash brew. I don't mean that to discourage you -- just to make you aware that it is a more advanced type of brewing than what I think most people start out with.

The recipe itself looks quite tasty.

Personally, I would suggest you make your first brew just using malt extract, just so that you can become familiar with and comfortable with the equipment. But, again, I don't want to rain on your parade.

***Yooper*** · 07-24-2012, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ztexz

I don't want to tread on your amibition, but that strikes me as a fairly involved recipe for a first-time brew. You're sort of skipping over the "beginner brew" -- an all-extract recipe -- and jumping straight to an intermediate level partial mash brew. I don't mean that to discourage you -- just to make you aware that it is a more advanced type of brewing than what I think most people start out with.

The recipe itself looks quite tasty.

Personally, I would suggest you make your first brew just using malt extract, just so that you can become familiar with and comfortable with the equipment. But, again, I don't want to rain on your parade.

That's not a partial mash- that's a traditional beginner's extract recipe with steeping grains. It's easy-peasy, and any beginner can do it.

An all extract brew is disappointingly bland and flavorless, and I see no reason to do that when steeping grains is as easy as making tea.

ztexz · 07-24-2012, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yooper

That's not a partial mash- that's a traditional beginner's extract recipe with steeping grains. It's easy-peasy, and any beginner can do it.

An all extract brew is disappointingly bland and flavorless, and I see no reason to do that when steeping grains is as easy as making tea.

Oops, you're right -- I read his post wrong. Forgive me, I have a newborn, so I'm not even sure what day it is.

**Waynep005** · 07-24-2012, 10:48 PM

I would recomend for his first brew putting all the extract in at the beggining. that will give him ne less thing to worry about durring the boil. Keep it simple the frst few times and then expand from that.

**NordeastBrewer77** · 07-24-2012, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waynep005

I would recomend for his first brew putting all the extract in at the beggining. that will give him ne less thing to worry about durring the boil. Keep it simple the frst few times and then expand from that.

It's no harder to add extract late or at flameout than it is to add at the beginning.

OP, you're recipe looks great, I'd drink the $h!t out of a beer like that. Personally, I prefer my hoppier brews to be a bit more dry, so I'd cut back on the cara type malts just a tad if I were brewing it. But it will undoubtedly make a nice, hoppy red the way it is. Also, I second the late, or flameout extract add, it makes for a much more enjoyable beer, IMO and experience. Lately, when using LME, I've been adding all of it at flameout, and only boiling the tea made from steeping grains. The results have been very nice, well fermented beers with zero hint of extract, they compare well to my AG and partial mash beers.
Congrats and welcome to the forums!!

mmosteiro · 07-25-2012, 01:49 AM

Thanks for all of the advice! I can't wait to start brewing this weekend!!

@waynep005: you meant HER. Girls like good beer too

Thanks again!

***Yooper*** · 07-25-2012, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmosteiro

Thanks for all of the advice! I can't wait to start brewing this weekend!!

@waynep005: you meant HER. Girls like good beer too

Thanks again!

Girls like beer?!?! No way!

**chickypad** · 07-25-2012, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmosteiro

@waynep005: you meant HER. Girls like good beer too

Madness I say!

The only other thing I would add is you want the beer temp 65-68 if you can, not the ambient which could be 5-10 deg warmer during active fermentation. Search this forum for swamp cooler for ideas about keeping it cool.