New here and first AG experience!

I have been reading this forum for a few weeks trying to learn as much as I can. Before last night I had done 3 extract kits. So I decided to make my own recipe and AG at the same time.

Some background on me is that I have been making wine since I was 12 with my father and average about 40 gal. of wine a year for the last 4. We harvest grapes from my cousins vineyard, crush/de-stem, and then press them ourselves. A group of us get together to do this and as a group make an average of 200 gal.

So I am new to brewing, but not new to sanitizing and cleaning equipment.

I felt ready to make some beer from scratch (well almost, someday I may try to malt my own grain at least once). Here is the recipe I used/made.

I used Beer tools to help me, but I didn't find the recipe generator until I had made this. It took a long time to get it right and I had to change a few things in the end.

This is the mix that is now fermenting, the original recipe was for a 5 gal batch, I now know I need to boil longer or hotter if I am going to go from 7 gal to 5 gal. I added light brown sugar to bring it back into spec. Tell me what you think.

6 lbs. American 2-row
2 lbs. Crystal Malt 40°L
1 lbs. American Black Patent
3 lbs. Weyermann CaraHell®
1 lbs. Molasses
2 lbs. Light Brown Sugar
.6 oz. Centennial (Pellets, 9.5 %AA) boiled 60 min.
.5 oz. Mt. Hood (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 30 min.
.5 oz. Mt. Hood (Whole, 5.00 %AA) boiled 5 min.


Original Gravity Predicted 1.070 for 72% efficiency Actual 1.069
Terminal Gravity 1.018 (This is what I am shooting for)
Color 30.90 °SRM
Bitterness 26.1 IBU
Alcohol (%volume) 6.8 %

What temp did you mash at? With all the sugar and molasses, it may finish lower than you predict. OTOH, that a lot of carahell and crystal, so it may finish high and sweet. Or if you're lucky, the overload of carahell and crystal will balance out the overload of sugars! And 1 lb. of black patent will likely give it an ash try kinda taste, sorry to say. Where did you get that recipe? Have you ever tasted a beer using it before?

You went a bit overboard with specialty malts. Starting with simpler recipes as a base will give you a better idea of what the malts add to the beer. I'd suggest a SMaSH beer (single malt & single hop) or an otherwise very simple recipe for your next batch, and then you can add or take away to get the flavor profile you want.

Did you have any trouble mashing or did it all go well? Looks pretty good at 72% eff. What method of mashing did you use?

Hope it turns out well...the sugar may indeed lighten it enough for the specialty malts to be palatable.

Feel free to post recipes on here prior to brewing or ordering...there is some great advice on these forums.

If you are going to use a pilsner malt, do a 90min boil. Or use 2-row malt. pilsner malts tend to contribute DMS, (Vegetative or cooked cabbage flavor) if you boil for less than 90min.

good luck, and have fun.

Ya we will see I figured go big or go home with a first try and I can adjust for the next try. I did a two batch sparg and the mashing went just as planned. I planned on 7 gal and got it, but I didn't plan on ending up with 6 gal after the boil so next time I am trying to get to 5 gal instead.

I love a heavy beer so this may be good for my taste and not so much for others. According to Beer Tools it is 99% like a Baltic Porter so we will see.

Thanks for the input, I do plan on doing a real simple recipe next. My brew shop sells grain for $1.79 regardless of the type so the specialty types are very tempting.

Ah ya I didn't use the australian pilsner as it wasn't avalible I did use an American 2-row pale malt. I missed that typo.

Ya we will see I figured go big or go home with a first try and I can adjust for the next try. I did a two batch sparg and the mashing went just as planned. I planned on 7 gal and got it, but I didn't plan on ending up with 6 gal after the boil so next time I am trying to get to 5 gal instead.

I love a heavy beer so this may be good for my taste and not so much for others. According to Beer Tools it is 99% like a Baltic Porter so we will see.

Thanks for the input, I do plan on doing a real simple recipe next. My brew shop sells grain for $1.79 regardless of the type so the specialty types are very tempting.

Whoa, 1 lbs of black patent? I hope you like your porters smoky! Specialty malts like Black Patent tend to impart a lot of flavour in very small amounts.

And as an FYI, Weyerman likes to give their products arbitrary names to make them seem different and special, but the CaraHell is just a light crystal malt (I think it's a crystal 20L), and is really more of a specialty grain than a base grain.

I can guarantee you one thing... it'll be like no other beer you've had before Let us know how it turns out!

The carahell came into play because they didn't have a German Munich. Looking at the numbers the CaraHell seemed to be similar and the guy at the shop said he thought it was. Although he wasn't really that much help and I am not sure he really knows that much about brewing. They make kits there all the time and I think he understands the process but not the ingredients all that much.

Thanks for your help everyone, I am looking forward to this beer. It is fermenting away very well now.

Carahell is not a good replacement for Munich. Vienna would be the closest, I suppose, although it is much lighter. Munich and Vienna add a maltiness to the brew, whereas crystal malts add more of a sweetness and other flavors, depending on the type. The terms can often be confusing, as maltiness is sweet. I suppose you could call maltiness more "aromatic" than sweet...



Anyway, how's it smell!?

mitch171 said:

The carahell came into play because they didn't have a German Munich. Looking at the numbers the CaraHell seemed to be similar and the guy at the shop said he thought it was. Although he wasn't really that much help and I am not sure he really knows that much about brewing. They make kits there all the time and I think he understands the process but not the ingredients all that much.

Thanks for your help everyone, I am looking forward to this beer. It is fermenting away very well now.

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FWIW, carahell and Munich aren't even in the same ballpark.

Thanks so much everyone for your input.

After reading about the different malts I do see there is quite a difference. I and the LHBS worker assumed (makes and a** out of u and me) that because the lovibond and some other number were within the same range they would be similar.

Anyway it smells AWESOME! I am very excited, also because I am weird I like to taste things as they ferment it also tastes really good lots of caramel and coffee flavor with a bit of citrus.

As a side note I work in the tasting room at the New York Wine and Culinary Center. We just got Saranac Harvest and Southertier Oktoberfest. Both very very good. We also have an Ubu Ale which is awesome.

Be careful tasting during the fermentation. Every time you open the fermentor your risk infection but outside air/improperly sanitised equipment not saying you're not sanitising properly... but the potential increases).

I am insane about sanitation. Ever try fermenting moldy grapes ie. botrytis or "nobel rot." I Lysol the air first then use my equipment that has been stored in meta-bisulfate. Yes the potential increases but then I think about how I use to mash the grapes with my feet and how Dionysus use to swim in the fermenting wine.

All in all I know what you mean, but God willing most fermenting products come out fine without to much worry.

I heard the "go big or go home" phrase. I used that same school of thought until i brewed a couple mediocre beers. I find the simpler the better then as you learn more step it up. It has drastically improved my beer quality.

mitch171 said:

I am insane about sanitation. Ever try fermenting moldy grapes ie. botrytis or "nobel rot." I Lysol the air first then use my equipment that has been stored in meta-bisulfate. Yes the potential increases but then I think about how I use to mash the grapes with my feet and how Dionysus use to swim in the fermenting wine.

All in all I know what you mean, but God willing most fermenting products come out fine without to much worry.

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You're absolutely right, as long as you're careful... and you seem to know a thing or two about it

tdavisii said:

I heard the "go big or go home" phrase. I used that same school of thought until i brewed a couple mediocre beers. I find the simpler the better then as you learn more step it up. It has drastically improved my beer quality.

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My first few brews were one style (Irish Red) that I started off with a bought extract kit, then made my own extract kit, then a PM, and finally an AG. Was an interesting experience to see the progression and development of more complex taste over each brew. Waiting on the AG version to be done, that's going to the HBT competition

The fermentation stopped and I let is settle some and transfered it to a secondary, so that I could start a new batch.

I think it tastes really good. It is very heavy tasting with a lot of coffee type of bitterness but not tannin like wine. I am very happy with it. I can't wait to see what it is like chilled and carbonated.

Although I am happy with this I think in the future I will tweak it some.

That was darn quick...did you take a gravity reading before xferring?

It finished at 1.020 I expected 1.017 but the mash temp was high and the FG didn't change for a couple days.

I figured it is really dark and you can't see through it anyway so I kegged it and said to hell with letting it settle. It taste quite smokey as anticipated. I am also glad it stayed a little sweet to counter blanance the flavor.

All in all a good first AG experience I learned a lot to do better with future batches and ended up with something drinkable.

OMG delicious!

Sorry I'v been trying it... maybe too much.

I did add 1/2 Lb. of lactose to sweeten it a bit, but this is very very good, could have added just 1/4 Lb. probably.

First AG=good experience, there really is a difference I am glad I took the step.

So I understand I am the only one posting here, but incase someone comes upon this and is thinking about this recipe I will post again.

Now this is the first AG I have done, I highly reccommend doing AG if you have the means.

I thought this beer had an off flavor or the recipe needed tweaking since I am newish to this and do not know what "green beer" tastes like.

Well I rdwhahb until now when it finally is "aged" enough and does not have a sharp flavor.

Give this one a try but add some lactose, maybe, I wonder if I didn't get antsy and just lest it as is. Either way it is really good.