first AG reciepe

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Joedub

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Ok so I am going to be brewing my first AG batch here in the next month after I burn through some of my extract beers. I have a cooler ready to be converted and will buy the valves and wort chiller from NB.

My real question is what to brew. I want something with a real quick turn around so I can taste it quickly to ensure my process is sound before I move to bigger stuff. I would like to brew a NB kit just out of ease of having everything measured out but I am willing to buy grain separatly. I like most all beers from stouts to IPAs. I have a IPA, blonde and irish stout bottled so I would like to brew a different beer.

Thanks for your opinions in advance.
 
Well, when I think quick I normally think pale ales or wheats. Since you've already got an IPA bottled, I'd see if they have any good hefeweizen kits. If you like the banana/clove flavors, make sure you get a good liquid yeast like wyeast 3068. The only downside to this is that wheat can sometimes lead to stuck sparges, but if you make sure to use some rice hulls in your mash it shouldn't be a problem. If you want to avoid that, a nice amber would be different enough from your other beers and still be a relatively quick drinker.
 
A hefeweizen can be done in a short amount of time, with just one or two grains, one hop varietal and yeast. Simple stuff.
 
What's the water like in your area? I'd suggest brewing something that fits the water profile the first time. That way you don't have to factor water adjustments into your first attempt.
 
Of the two you posted, I'd go for the best bitter recipe... Less grains in it, so it will be a little less complicated in profile. Fuggles are a good hop too. Actually one of my favorites for flavor/aroma right now.

I've not used the yeasts they list yet, so can't give much assist there. Other than saying I prefer Wyeast to others at this time (for my beers)...
 
if either of those, +1 to the best bitter. i'd also add the s-04, as it's dry, and you don't have to worry about it dying during shipment, starters, etc, and it's a clean yeast. i've got an english ipa in the primary under s-04 yeast. and fuggle is a tasty hops, too... :D
 
For my water, I use a double filter unit that's under the sink... Not RO level, but it filters out anything over .5 microns. Which covers pretty much all the nasties in water, along with the stuff that makes it taste bad (IMO)... I won't drink the tap water, I won't even use it when brushing my teeth (except to rinse the brush when done).

I've made solid UK/British Isles style brews, as well as some that could be from this side of the pond... If you don't have a filter setup, then you could go with something like Poland Springs water... I just wouldn't go with distilled, or store brand water.

BTW, there are some solid LHBS in your area you know... Why not visit one of them and see what they advise for a first AG brew?
 
I'll third the best bitter recipe. Nice and simple, and the single hop will also give you an idea of the flavor/aroma of Fuggles if you haven't used it before. I wouldn't worry too much about water right now, so long as you don't have too many chloramines in your water (which you probably would have noticed with your extract batches). If you think your water is a little soft and want to add a little gypsum or Burton salts it might not hurt, but that's one more variable to have to worry about that I would ignore. I've not done anything to my water yet and haven't run into anything that bothers me :).

By the way, if you decide to get interested in water or putting together recipes, I'd suggest Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. Great book, and really goes into a number of styles as far as their history, malt components, water particulars, etc.
 
I am leaning towards the best bitter. As for my water I have not tried to get a report yet but my tap water is very drinkable.
 
English Best Bitter. Quick easy, great to drink.
Mine's ready in three weeks from start to finish.

3.8kg Maris Otter
250g Crystal Malt
350 - 500g Demerera sugar
50g Golding 50g Fuggles (boil)
25g Golding (dry hop)
Supermarket Gelatine (non flavoured)

Mash malt for 90 mins.
Fly sparge till 5.5 gals
Boil with hops for 90 mins
Add sugar (dissolved in some boiling water) for last 10 mins.
Cool and add yeast (Nottingham is very easy to use)

Leave for two weeks in a closed fermenter.
Add the dry hops 5 days before the end.
Add gelatine 24-48 hrs before you rack to keg. (Make sure you disolved the gelatine in hot but not very hot water before gently stirring in)

Prime 5 Gal keg with 4oz sugar.
Leave for 1 week.

Done. Beautiful 'light coloured' English real ale beer around 5%


PS - make sure you get rid of chlorine from your water.. boil it or Campden tablet.
I add a heaped spoon of DLS to my grains before mashing.
 
Ummm, nick, he's asking about the two kits linked to in the first post... Otherwise I would have posted up a recipe... Plus, putting up metric weights for someone in the US isn't all that nice. Personally, I don't think in metric, so that makes it longer to convert the recipe. I would also dump the dememera sugar from the recipe, as well as the gelatine. If you primary for 3-4 weeks, gelatine really isn't necessary. We also don't know if he's going to keg or bottle the brew. Since it's not mentioned, I'd lean towards him bottling it. You also failed to post up mash info. Along with no OG, FG, IBU numbers, etc... Pretty poor form there. Let's not forget, you also didn't put in WHAT crystal malt you use... 20L, 80L?? Without it posted, it could be 150L for all we know.

For someone's first AG brew, go with the KISS principle...
 
I am leaning towards the best bitter. As for my water I have not tried to get a report yet but my tap water is very drinkable.

You can find at least a basic water report online, for where you live. For more details, though, you'll need to send a sample for testing. Or just filter it. I'm sure plenty of people think Natick tap water is very drinkable. I'm just not one of them.
 
Hey Goldy... I'm just offering my opinion. He asked for a simple quick brew. KISS exactly. I thought I'd give him what I do on a regular basis and that works.

With all due respect we're not all that obsessed with the details... we have brews that work and work well by keeping it simple.

I don't leave it in the primary for 4 weeks... I brew good beer in a total of three-ish. There are far too many people on here being evangelical about 4 week or longer primary there are a bunch of us who keep ourselves quite and get along with 2 weeks very well thank you (see some of my previous posts).

A lot of UK brewers use some sugar... it's the style of our beer over here. It makes it a little dryer.

And what's wrong with gelatine... it works. My beer is crystal clear every time..... To be honest I'd take a keg beer cleared with gelatine over a cold crash lager any day.

And while i'm at it... I make this brew with anything from crystal malt to amber malt. It always tastes good.

I'm sure he can check the OG himself... I said it's brew to around 5%. Again he wanted simple, you're talking details.

RANT OVER! :)





Oh and by the way... I continually have to convert from lbs to KG... is it that hard for you to do it back?
 
Guess that's another difference between a Brit and us over here. :eek:

A good amount of how the brew will actually end up is in those details. Using .5# of crystal 20 will give a different brew than .5# of crystal 120... Mashing lower will give you that drier brew without adding sugar.

For time on the yeast, I let the brew decide. I test after about 2 weeks, most of the time, and then decide depending on what it is. Some are ready at 3 weeks, some need more time. Until I have a fermentation chamber, I won't lock a brew into a set time frame.

As for using gelatine, not necessary, but use it if you wish. I'm getting very clear brews with a bit more time on the yeast, and then properly chilling them down before pouring. Maybe at some point I'll give gelatine a try, but that's probably years from now.

Knowing what your OG and FG are will give someone NEW to all grain a better idea of what to expect from a recipe. For all we know, you're getting 50% efficiency. Or you could be getting over 85%. Without the info, it's a crap-shoot.

As for the # and kg item... IF I was to post up a recipe for someone over in metric-land, I'd probably convert it to metric first. If the person is from the US/Canada, then I'll leave it in standard # units... Same thing for volumes. :p
 
BTW, there are some solid LHBS in your area you know... Why not visit one of them and see what they advise for a first AG brew?

I am actually on the cape I forgot to change the location on my user. So the only place down here is Cape Cod beer and they are first a brewery and second a LHBS that tends to cater to extract.

I have no problem doing a recipe that someone has to offer on here as long as it is a good proven recipe I just don't want to experiment on my first brew. So Golddiggie if you have a solid easy quick recipe I am move then willing to consider it.
 
You could brew what I'm brewing tonight...

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5 gal
Boil Time: 60 minutes

12# Pale Malt UK 2 Row
1# Crystal Maris Otter (55L)
6oz Victory Malt
1oz Target hops (10.50% AA) 60 minutes
1oz Fuggles hops (4.00% AA) 20 minutes
1 Whirlfloc tablet (5-15 minute boil, your choice)
Wyeast Scottish Ale (#1728) with starter

optional: .5oz Fuggles Whole hops. Dry hop 7 days

Mash profile: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge (adjust mash in temp for your hardware).
Mash with 18.5qt at 150-152F for 90 minutes
Sparge with ~3 gallons at 168-170F for 10-20 minutes

If you don't want to get the Crystal MO you can add more base malt and increase the victory by ~2-4oz.

Note: Based on 75% efficiency
Estimated OG: 1.072
Estimated FG: 1.020 (should be lower with mashing at 150-152F)
Estimated ABV: 6.78
Bitterness: 39.7 IBU

Ferment at 60-65F for 2-4 weeks. Check SG after 2 weeks, and taste. When taste is good, you can add the dry hops for ~7 days before bottling. NO RACKING TO BRIGHT TANK.

I've adjusted this recipe after the first time I brewed it. So this will be my second time. I'll know in ~6-8 weeks how it came out. First batch was very well received. I'm almost out of it, so I need to brew more. The first time I didn't dry hop it. I want to see what that will bring to the brew. Which is why that's listed as optional.

If you do plan on changing things, run it through software to make sure you know what the changes will do. Such as how removing the Crystal MO will impact color and OG.
 
hey Goldie,

you're right about the difference in crystal etc, i was just trying to offer up a simple brew that produces quick good beer. And even though it'll make a different beer. They will all be good.

The best brewer I know doesn't own a hydrometer, so never check gravity etc. Just keeps it very simple with pretty standard timings at each stage. His beer is fantastic.

Sometimes we can make what is essentially and easy thing to do into a science. People have been making excellent brews for years without the 'kit' we have.

That's not to say it's pointless. I always check gravity etc. But I learnt by keeping it simple and doing the exact technique I posted above.

Sometimes too much detail can actually be detrimental when people are learning new skills...
 
Nick, I do understand that if you have a recipe that you've dialed in, and know what the variables are and can get it to hit the marks time and again, it's good. But when you're posting the recipe for someone else, you need to include more info. Otherwise they won't brew it close enough to how you brew it and it won't come out the same.

I also understand that my methods won't be the same everyone uses. I'm sure there are times that someone's methods are looked at funny by others, but as long as you're getting good/great brew, who cares... Right?

For hardware, you have more than a few options for brewing an all grain batch. I started with BIAB. Loved it, since it allowed me to brew all grain on the stove. This last time I used the propane burner (experienced tank frost for the first time towards the end) and used my converted cooler MLT... Now that I've used one, with success, I can't see going back to the BIAB method, except occasionally, when forced to. I do plan on getting a small space heater to use when it's cold out, so that the propane tank doesn't get too cold.

I'd rather have as much detail as I can get when picking up a new skill. Give me all the info you can, and I'll process it, discard what I decide I don't need, and then move forward. Maybe it's because I've been in IT for over 11 years, that I can quickly do this. In my field a small piece of information can make the difference between an environment being online and stable and it crashing left and right all hours of the day.

I normally check the OG of every batch I brew. It was getting VERY late last night (pitched the yeast around 2am) and it completely slipped my mind, until I had already pitched the yeast in. But, I'm confident I hit at least 75% efficiency with the mash/sparge, which is what I used to compose my recipe. Even if I hit a little lower, at 70%, it will still be great. It will be much better than the first time I brewed it since I only hit ~50% due to not doing the mash right (didn't get the dough balls out, etc.)... Of course, I'm still getting familiar with the propane burner, but I had just over my volume in the pot by the end of the night. I might have had a cup, or two, left in the pot, and got just over 5 gallons into the carboy. LOVE the ball valve in the kettle. Makes things so much easier. I do see a refractometer in my near future. That will make getting pre-boil SG and post boil OG readings far easier. Hopefully, I'll have one within another couple of brew days.

As long as you have hardware you're familiar with, and a process that works, run with it. But if a recipe calls for a mash temperature range, and time, it's best to brew it that way at least the first time. You can always tweak it for the second time to see what you get.
 

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