Working on a recipe

I am looking for a mouthfull type beer. Preferably barley based, I am unsure about my hops. I wanted to see what you guys think. I did this with my iphone app called "brew pal". It's an awesome software and I can see it saving my ass when I am at my LHBS and can't decide on something.

Anyway what do you think of it... Is this a stout or a porter?

James' thing -
Batch size 5 gallons
Boil size 5.6 gallons
Boil time 60 minutes
Grain weight 14.5 pounds
Efficiency 70%

Original gravity 1.069
Final gravity 1.020
Alcohol (by volume) 6.4%
Bitterness (IBU) 17
Color (SRM) 29.9°L
Yeast
2 liquid packs
White Labs
WLP004 Irish Ale

Grains/Extracts/Sugars
14.5 pounds
Barley (Flaked)
32ppg, 2°L 8 pounds
Maris Otter
38ppg, 4°L 5 pounds
Chocolate
29ppg, 350°L 1 pounds
Honey
30ppg, 20°L 0.5 pounds

Hops
2.5 ounces
Hallertauer hops
5%, Pellet 1.5 ounces
Fuggles hops
5%, Pellet 1 ounces


Mash
60 minutes, 8.7 gallons
Strike
Target 152°F 4.5 gallons
165°F
60 minutes (+0)
Sparge
Target 170°F 4.1 gallons
193°F

Boil
60 minutes, 5.6 gallons
Fuggles hops
5%, Pellet 1 ounces
60 minutes (+0)
Add wort chiller 15 minutes (+45)
Hallertauer hops
5%, Pellet 1.5 ounces
3 minutes (+57)

Ferment
21 days @ 65-68°F

Is that 8 lbs of flaked barley and 5 lbs of MO? There won't be enough enzymes to do the work. I would go with something like 11 lbs of MO, and 2 lbs of flaked barley, that should give you enough mouthfeel, and a manageable mash.

Having just chocolate malt means that it will be along the lines of a brown porter. I would up the IBUs a bit, but if you don't want it to be bitter you can leave it as is.

Yea, Id rather it not be bitter but am open to ideas for hops.

Is that 8 lbs of flaked barley and 5 lbs of MO? There won't be enough enzymes to do the work

Click to expand...

Yes, So the reading isn't correct? I figured if my ABV was 6.4 it was strong enough. I know 1020 is high but I figured it would be ok. Not advisable?

Original gravity 1.069
Final gravity 1.020
Alcohol (by volume) 6.4%
Bitterness (IBU) 17

xalu said:

Yes, So the reading isn't correct? I figured if my ABV was 6.4 it was strong enough. I know 1020 is high but I figured it would be ok. Not advisable?

Original gravity 1.069
Final gravity 1.020
Alcohol (by volume) 6.4%
Bitterness (IBU) 17

Click to expand...

The brewing software does not understand enzymes, it is just pumping out what your gravity would be given constants like your efficiency (70%) and the "maximum" gravity (ppg) for the grains.

Your OG/FG are fine (if a bit sweet), the real problem is that you will extract starches that haven't been broken down into sugars or dextrins (this will also cause you to get lower efficiency as starches are much larger and thus harder to wash out of the grain). Starch is not something you want to have in your beer (it will add cloudiness and bacteria love the stuff). On top of that the run-off will be very sticky because the flaked barley does not have a husk to aid in filtration.

American two or 6 row pale malt is much higher in enzymes than Maris Otter, and still few brewers will go over 30-40% adjunct (raw grain).

Ok, I got it now. Thanks for the help.

You definitely want more bittering hops in there. 17 IBU for a beer with with OG 1.069 will be too sweet. At 30 IBU the beer will still be a bit sweet but in balance. I would really shoot for a ratio of IBU:OG no lower than .4 but closer to .5.