Newbie in Grand Haven / West Olive

Totally new to this. Just been listening to a buddy (Hoptologest) in Ca get a brewery going.

Just set up for extract for now but trying to get the equipment for all grain.
Anyone around here want to let me creep you out and watch you work!!

Anyways. I have my first batch ready for secondary tomorrow and ready to do a second. Tried to make a recipe with beer smith and wanted to get some options and opinions. Trying for a deep red IPA with a bitter start and sweet finish. Want something I will like and the wify can drink. I love hops so hoppier the better but not her. Need a happy medium

SPANK YA ALL!!!
See attached Beer smith recipe

View attachment DeepRed_AmericanIPA.pdf

Welcome! (my old stomping grounds.. allendale)

Thank ya! Hoping I can learn a thing or two..... or a lot more!

Anytime.. you'll learn a thing or two around here.. not all bad either!

Welcome! You will have no problem finding people in the area to brew with. Check out Primetime Brewers. They have lots of members and are always willing to help someone and show them what to do. I think Siciliano's Market is also having a brew day coming up.

And there is lots of information here and all over the web and several great books on the subject.

From your desired outcome for this recipe I have a few notes for you:

You will want to lose the maple sugar (this is mostly fermentable and will add mostly alcohol with little to no sweetness). If you do use it you'll def want to add some crystal malts to add unfermentable sugars to make it sweeter. Right now your recipe is stating the FG should be around 1.010 which is pretty dry (not sweet)

I don't think the roasted barley will give you the flavors you're looking for. It lends a dry, bitter, coffee like flavor to your beer. You'll prob want something like a lb of crystal 40L and 1/2lb of crystal 120L. For the residual sweetness and caramel flavors.

I would also prob add more 60 min hops and move the 30 min addition to 10 and the 10 to 0. Then double the 10 and 0 min additions for more hop flavor and aroma. When increasing the bittering hops I would shoot for a bitterness ratio of about 1. This is IBU/SG. so if the SG=1.061 and the IBU's = 40 the ratio would be 40/61.

Just some quick notes I saw when looking at the recipe... lots of it is opinion though I think what you really want to make is an American Amber.

Thank ya!

I live in Jenison, which isn't too far away from West Olive. I'm going to have one or two other guys over for a double-brew on Saturday afternoon (2/16/2013). I do all-grain BIAB (brew in a bag). PM me if you want to stop by, and I'll give you my address and such.