Question about my ale...

ok, i have a batch of homebrew in my fermenter at the moment. the thing is all i added to the recipe was 8lbs pale malt, 3oz cascade hops water and yeast. i have dried malt to prime it with. so my question is... do you think it will come out ok without stuff like; malto dextrin, irish moss and water crystals? i just want to make a beer without that stuff and see how it comes out. oh, i also didnt use grain. also what style of beer would this be considered with those ingredients?

grain would help ad some more complex flavors, but no, you don't need that extra stuff unless you want to. I never have and my beer is great.

8 pounds of all grain pale malt? or Dried extract?

Sure you can make beer with one grain. It's a good way to really see individual taste of 1 grain and hop(s). Another way is to take several coffee cups and put 175 degree water in each and when at 162 degrees put a little crushed grain in each. Let them sit 1/2 hour and taste each. Write down what you taste in detail. Later when you create a beer recipe you can refer to your notes if need be and really have a better idea what grains and how much to use. It will really be sweet but you will have a very good idea what that grain contributes to a brew. Do the same for hops too.

BierMuncher said:

8 pounds of all grain pale malt? or Dried extract?

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i guess. at the beermaking place they have these huge vats of the malt. it's like super thick syrup type of deal that you pour from the vat in to the container as you weigh it. and yes it's pale. but it was 8lbs of the syrupy stuff.

That would be liquid malt extract, aka LME. When did you add the cascade hops during your boil? All pale of light lme and all cascade for hops will definately make you a nice beer. start with the basics and expand from there.

Jamo99 said:

That would be liquid malt extract, aka LME. When did you add the cascade hops during your boil? All pale of light lme and all cascade for hops will definately make you a nice beer. start with the basics and expand from there.

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I boiled 5 mins added 1oz cascade hops. boiled 30 mins then added another 1oz cascade. boiled 20 mins and added the last 1oz cascade then boiled it 10 more mins. should it be ok? and with that recipe can i make it 6 gallons u think?

Righlander said:

I boiled 5 mins added 1oz cascade hops. boiled 30 mins then added another 1oz cascade. boiled 20 mins and added the last 1oz cascade then boiled it 10 more mins. should it be ok?

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what do u think about oak chips in the fermenter with that recipe? lets say 2oz oak chips that i would boil then add to fermenter? too weird? or boring?

Leave well enough alone. You will have many other times to fool with a recipe. I would make recipes from this forum that we know give good results and see how good you can make them and get familliar with brewing and your equipment. There is plenty of time to venture into your own ideas later.

WBC said:

Leave well enough alone. You will have many other times to fool with a recipe. I would make recipes from this forum that we know give good results and see how good you can make them and get familliar with brewing and your equipment. There is plenty of time to venture into your own ideas later.

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Thanks a lot sir! so what style of beer would this recipe fall under? anyone? pale ale?

i'd say a pale. you might venture into extract with steeping grains next. recipe kits from austinhomebrew got me familer with the whole process. a set of instructions is a nice thing to have!

I'd call it an american pale ale. I plugged it into the recipator, assuming a 2.5 gallon boil and here's what I got...

Beer: Righlander Ale Style: American Pale Ale
Type: Extract Size: 5.5 gallons
Color: 9 HCU (~7 SRM)
Bitterness: 22 IBU
OG: 1.054 FG: 1.010
Alcohol: 5.7% v/v (4.4% w/w)
Boil: minutes SG 1.118 2.5 gallons
8 lb. Light malt extract
Hops: 1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 60 min.)
1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 30 min.)
1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 10 min.)

Yes, that would be an American Pale Ale.
Brewing with LME, water salts should not be necessary.
Depending on the variety of LME you used, you may find that the beer has a very light flavor and color. If this is the case, adding about 8 oz crystal malt as steeping grains to a subsequent brew would deepen the color and add a maltier profile to the beer, and make the addition of malto dextrine unnecessary.
Starting with a brew like this, and then making one change at a time (if you feel it is necessary) is an excellent way to learn how different ingredients and techniques affect the results.

Good luck.

-a.

thank you guys. your'e a ton of help. i love this web site!

so should i do a hydro reading in 10 days? or 14?

Most of my pale ales have been done in 7-10 days. It depends on when fermentation starts. I brewed last Saturday and have an American Wheat that was slow to start, it is almost done with fermentation now though. I will give it until Tuesday (10 days) and check the reading.

It will not hurt to keep it 14 days though. It is not long enough to impart and flavors on the beer. The main thing is it needs to be near its Final gravity and it needs time for the sediment to settle.

+1 leaving it in primary 14 days.

By then, unless something very odd happened, it'll be done. Check SG then, and let it sit in secondary for 1-2 weeks, preferably 2 weeks. You still might drop 2 points in secondary.

After that full 4 weeks, you can be assured that your beer is done, and ready to bottle or keg.

I check gravity whenever I rack, which is every 2 weeks.