Built and brewed my first recipe from scratch

The link should show the recipe that I concocted. I was going to bottle today, but it's still doing a little percolating. One small bubble every 30 seconds or so. So, I am putting it off till it's ready...

The projected OG was 1.060 and it came out to 1.056. I did forget to hydro it until AFTER pitching the yeast. Not being super experienced at brewing, I'm not sure what the effect would be on the OG. I figure one of you experts would know that answer. I look forward to hearing it.

If you can't zoom the picture enough to see the recipe, I can just list out what I used and what all I did. Pretty much just 6#s DMEs, 4#s of grains and 2 oz of hops.

I would like to help but cannot read your recipe. When did you brew it?

logan3825 said:

I would like to help but cannot read your recipe. When did you brew it?

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I brewed it 2 weeks ago today.

3# of Bavarian wheat DME
3# of golden light DME
2# of red wheat
2# of caramel pilsner
2 oz of centennial hops

Steeped grains @150 degrees for 30 mins. Rinsed with 120 degree water. Added DMEs and boiled for 20 mins while adding .5 oz of hops at 15 mins, 10 mins, 5 mins, and then after turning off heat. Had a boil over.

Put it all in fermenting bucket with cold water. Added cold water to get temp down to 72 degrees.

Pitched yeast. And THEN checked OG. I do that more times than not. Plus, I always have some sort of mishap during the cook. EVERY TIME!

Anyway, OG was 1.056 while BrewersFriend.com said it should be 1.060. I didn't sweat that that much.

I was gonna bottle today, but it's still bubbling just a little.

Oh, and I left the hop sack in the fermentor. I was going to take it out after one week, but it's never been an issue before. Of course, I've never done an actual hop boil like this, so I didn't know what it would do. I guess I'll find out in a few weeks.

Im interested in the 20 min boil with that hop utilization. Total boil time is 20 mins and you used 2 oz of hops in that 20 mins. I would assume dumping the entire 2 oz at 20 min would achive the same but im not sure. Interesting, however, the OG reading ive done it before pitch and after doesnt seem to change the OG IMO.

Sounds like a reddish carmal ale and a bit bitter.

BTW having a reading of 1.056 is pretty accruate. Remember the tempeture of the OG could make it very slightly. I say your close enough.

eluterio said:

Im interested in the 20 min boil with that hop utilization. Total boil time is 20 mins and you used 2 oz of hops in that 20 mins. I would assume dumping the entire 2 oz at 20 min would achive the same but im not sure. Interesting, however, the OG reading ive done it before pitch and after doesnt seem to change the OG IMO.

Sounds like a reddish carmal ale and a bit bitter.

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I did the hops that way on a recommendation from one of the guys at my LHBS. The hops I used are 8.1%AA, so with me not really liking a really bitter beer, he suggested going 15 mins, 10, 5 and 0 to kinda bring out all the aspects of the hop bitter, flavor and aroma characteristics. Man, was that a run on sentence or what?

So, anyway, that's why I did the hops that way. BrewersFriend.com says my IBU is about 4.17 and ABV is 5.72. Right about where I'd like it on the ABV.

The color should come out at about 5.94 on the SRM scale. In parentheses it said morey. Once again, I defer to the experts for that. IBU and ABV I get. The picture on the website doesn't really show it to be reddish. Kinda a strawish color. It was a bit darker than strawish when it went into the fermenting bucket. But it smelled awesome!

I understand that the Red Wheat will give me a really cloudy beer. That's not a big issue with me either. LHBS said the red wheat did not impart any color, but that red had to do with time of harvest. Whatever, it just tasted right for the flavor I was goin for.

eluterio said:

BTW having a reading of 1.056 is pretty accruate. Remember the tempeture of the OG could make it very slightly. I say your close enough.

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Yeah, I didn't think of the temperature variation. I wasn't really too worried about that. Some, but not much. Enough to ask about though.

I wouldn't worry to much about the OG reading. If you are doing extract you know what went in and your starting volume. From that you can calculate your OG.

You need to take a FG reading a few days apart. If it is the same both days your beer is done fermenting.

What you did was called hop bursting. Plugging that into Beersmith assuming 10%AA I get 20 IBU's. I doubt it will be bitter at all. Should be about as bitter as a Heffeweiss.

logan3825 said:

I doubt it will be bitter at all. Should be about as bitter as a Heffeweiss.

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That's about what I was shooting for. Thanks for plugging that in.

In regards to your OG @ 1.056. If you took the sample and the sample was 90 degrees the corrects OG would be 1.060. 85 degrees is 1.059. You say you added water to 72, did you pull the sample after you added the water?

snevey said:

In regards to your OG @ 1.056. If you took the sample and the sample was 90 degrees the corrects OG would be 1.060. 85 degrees is 1.059. You say you added water to 72, did you pull the sample after you added the water?

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Yep. Just before I put the lid on the fermenting bucket.

Well, the LC 140 Fire Pit Wheat got bottled yesterday. FG came in at 1.010. Right on target with what BrewersFriend.com's calculations said it would be. That FG says I have 6.5+% ABV. Once again, right on target with what the calculations said.

And it is a little reddish. I use Newcastle Brown Ale 18.6 oz bottles for 12 beers. This beer kinda looks like the NBA beers. Hoping for great taste, now.

The hydro sample tells me it's got a little bitterness, very little, kinda dry and not much sweetness at all. Looking forward to it in about 4 weeks.

Well, my first from scratch beer turned out AWESOME!!! A little dry, a hint of bitter on the front end, hint of grains in the middle and a slight hint of citrus on the back end.

Cleared up really nice in the bottle. Shoulda secondaried it and then bottled, but with quarter inch of trub in bottom of bottle, the clarity in glass is very nice.

Has a nice aroma. Can really smell the Centennial Hops.

I gotta say, I am super impressed with this brew. Next, Coconut Porter or another Triple Chocolate Stout. Or maybe a standard type of beer till porter or stout time. The porter and stout will be for when my buddy get back from Iraq.