Big hello and Thank-You!!!

Hi HBT,

I've been lurking for a while and thought I’d better join and say a big hello.. Thanks for all the great info here it's really inspired me to get into making my own beer.

A little about myself:

About 4 years ago i was on holiday camping down the west coast of the US and sampled so many tasty beers from craft breweries along the way that when i returned home to the UK the usual offering of Stella/Foster/Carling etc just didn't cut it.

Now don’t get me wrong we have some great beers on offer in the pubs but with two kids and a third on the way going to the pub is a rare thing these days.

I've found a few beers since i stopped drinking the mass produced crap that i cant get enough of ie Hook Norton Flagship (a real hoppy IPA 5.5 ABV) but at £2.30 a bottle at my local shop it's a bit pricy.

So i thought why not try and make my own beer?

Last year i made my first beer i jump straight in a went for all grain straight away... but with very limited equipment.

The result was a real hoppy red coloured ale IBU roughly 84 and an ABV of only 3.2% But it was very drinkable if a little light on body.

Now after leaving all my equipment in the loft for a year I’ve decided to start again... I’m giving up drinking while my wife is pregnant and can’t stop thinking about beer so i thought better brew a batch so i can enjoy some when the time comes.

I plan on starting my next beer very soon I’m just waiting for some hops to come from Lithuania.

So I’m not really following a recipe per say but this what i plan for my next batch.. any thoughts or pointers would be great.

Beer # 2 (Eggys English Wheat)

Type: Allgrain
yeast: Safale-S-04
Batch Size: 13litres / 3.44US gal (this is how much i have bottles for)
Estimated OG: 1.060 (this is what I’m aiming for??)
Estimated IBU: 16.4
Boil Time: 60mins
Primary Fermentation: 14days (if all goes well)


Grains

2kg / 4.41lbs - Maris Otter Pale Malt
1kg / 2.2lbs - Wheat Malt
150g / 0.33lbs - Crystal Malt

Hops
Tattenanger 10.2g/0.36oz - 60mins
Tattenanger 10.2g/0.36oz - 15Mins
Tattenanger 10.2g/0.36oz - 5mins

Additions
340g / 12.14oz - Clear honey
Zest of 3 lemons (Maybe i'm not sure about this so please comment)

So that’s it really.. after this batch i plan on investing in a Cool box to make a proper mash tun rather than the pans I’m using at the moment.. and drinking a lot more Grolch to increase the number of swing top bottles so I can brew bigger batches.

Thanks for reading bit of a big first post.

Gregg

I don't have much input on the beer, except that the lemon zest sounds like a bit much to me, but welcome to brewing and I'm glad the US craft brew scene inspired you!

Thanks Ishkochito,

It was a great holiday... i wish i could remember what one perticular beer was called.. we nicknamed it "Russian Hill Loopy Juice".

I think your right about the Lemon Zest I think maybe i should keep this as simple as possable for a second brew to help me recognize the flovours of the ingredients.. and if it turns out nice play around with it on future brews.

on a side note.. I just manage to get a nice wooden pallet from work so will be making a couple of crates for my swing top Grolsch bottles.. just need to decide cases of 12 or 15???