Extract first timer and recipe opinion

Hi everyone, I'm hoping to start brewing with extract soon, and have "designed" a recipe for my first extract brew. I used brewtarget, and it predicted something american stout-ish (according to OG, FG, color, ABV and bitterness).

Homebrewing is somewhat unknown in Portugal (there are 2 HBS in the whole country, and one of them is too far for me) so my ingredient choices are kind of limited (for now).

Here are the ingredients for a 5 gallon batch, do you think it'll be anything worth brewing?

Predicted properties (Brewtarget):

OG: 1.072
FG: 1.018
ABV: 7.0
Bitterness: 45.6 IBU
Color: 72.9 EBC

Brewferm Amber DME - 4.4 lb
Brewferm Dark LME - 3.3 lb
Special B Malt - 1.1 lb
Chocolate malt (no hull) 800ebc - 7 oz
Roasted barley - 0.5 lb


Northern Brewer hops (alfa 10.1%) for bitterness - 2.8 oz
(Any suggestions for aroma?)

wyeast 1028 - London Ale

How long would you recommend for first and second?

Thanks in advance.

I would highly recommend using a known good recipe for your first brew.

IMO, you have too much dark malt, using too much dark extract and the hop choice (2.8oz of a 10.1% AA hop for 60 minutes) is going to give you a face implosion (over 90 IBUs).

are you doing a full or partial boil? if full, id cut the hops to 2oz. are you looking for much hop aroma? if it's available, cascade would work if you want an american-ish stout.

if you can, i'd swap the amber & dark extract for light and bump up the chocolate or roasted barley to a lb. this will help u get a better understanding of your ingredients since you don't rly know whats in the colored extracts. if not, should be fine as is.

i wouldnt bother with a secondary, just go 3 weeks in primary or at least a week after fermentation has ceased. also, make sure to keep the wort temp <70F during fermentation (so like 64F ambient if you have no control)

I agree with Golddiggie, I'd use a known good recipe for your first brew. If this beer comes out terrible, you wont know if it's because the recipe sucked or you did something improperly.

As far the recipe, I'd nix the amber DME and replace it with light DME. Amber DME contains a portion of crystal malts and i think you might end up with too much crystal malt sweetness for a stout. If you want to use crystal malt in your stout, I'd recommend steeping some crystal malt along with your other grains. I think you also have too much Special B. This recipe has too many IBUs for the OG. I also think the high OG can cause fermentation issues with this being your first beer.

I'd consult your local homebrew store (LHBS), if you have one, a good online retailer like northernbrewer.com (maybe a Portuguese equivalent?), or look into the recipe database in this forum for a good first brew. What kind of beer do you want to brew?

are you doing a full or partial boil? if full, id cut the hops to 2oz. are you looking for much hop aroma? if it's available, cascade would work if you want an american-ish stout.

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I'll be doing a half boil, so maybe 2.5 oz cascade (7.3%) ?

if you can, i'd swap the amber & dark extract for light and bump up the chocolate or roasted barley to a lb. this will help u get a better understanding of your ingredients since you don't rly know whats in the colored extracts. if not, should be fine as is.

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I'll use 5.5 lb light DME then. Won't a pound be too much for those grains? I've read somewhere to keep it at less than 17%

I would highly recommend using a known good recipe for your first brew.

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The thing is most of the recipes I find use quite a few ingredients I don't have access too...but I'll search for more recipes then.

Thanks for the advice!

There should be enough recipes that are with a short list of grains for you to get done. I would also look at the recommended grist percentage for the dark malts (special B, chocolate, etc.) and keep within guidelines.

Personally, I have no desire to make a stout. Don't care for what black malt brings to a brew, and don't want to use that much roasted barley in a recipe. I do make porters though, which come out great.

I think it's easy for people in the US to forget how hard it can be for brewers in other parts of the world to get the same ingredients we do. I think we're a bit spoiled in just how much we can easily obtain. The list of grains available from most homebrew supply stores (online and local) can be staggering. Yeast and hop selection is also [typically] over the top in comparison to other parts of the world.

NunoAraujo said:

I'll be doing a half boil, so maybe 2.5 oz cascade (7.3%) ?

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is that to replace the northern brewer or just for aroma? if aroma, thats a bit hefty even for an american stout, but not entirely out of question. personally id forget about the late hops and let the malt carry this

I'll use 5.5 lb light DME then. Won't a pound be too much for those grains? I've read somewhere to keep it at less than 17%

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did you mean to reduce the OG? 5.5lb light DME is about 1.5lbs too short, unless that amber was meant to be LME not DME.

nope a lb isn't too much for either. a larger quantity will take longer to mellow tho. I have an Imperial Stout on tap now that has 1.5lbs of each (plus 1lb of special B), it was a bit harsh at first but now its great. less than 17% with all-grain, extract screws up the ratios. as is you're only around 7% if you convert it, with 1.5lbs of dark malt you'd be around 10%. it all depends how much roast you want. american stouts are meant to be big n roasty, personally I wouldn't go under 1.5lbs combined dark.