What do you guys think of this recipe?

7lbs Munich (5-6 lovibond)
1lb Rye Malt
1lb Crystal 80

1oz Perl @ 60
.5oz Tettnang @ 10
1oz Spalt @ 1

US-05 or Wyeast 1056

Mash with 3.13 gallons for 60 @ 150*
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Basing this off of someone else's recipe. I want critiques.

Too much crystal in my opinion.

Pretty sweet malts, but I think you have the hops to balance it out. I'm guessing the color will be... red.

A little on the light side. A smidge under 5%abv depending on your efficiency.

I like it.

I think you should brew it and tell us what you think. As long as you hit your temp on the mash it won't suck. In fact, it'll be good.

If you really want to do something different, swap that crystal out for crystal rye. I love that stuff...

ChshreCat said:

Pretty sweet malts, but I think you have the hops to balance it out. I'm guessing the color will be... red.

A little on the light side. A smidge under 5%abv depending on your efficiency.

I like it.

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Roughly how many IBUs do you think i'll need to balance out the malts?

trigger said:

I think you should brew it and tell us what you think. As long as you hit your temp on the mash it won't suck. In fact, it'll be good.

If you really want to do something different, swap that crystal out for crystal rye. I love that stuff...

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Yeah. I'm just a bit nervous. I don't want to waste time and money on crap beer lol

crystal rye...I don't think there's any at the home brew store near where I live. What does it taste and smell like?

ReverseApacheMaster said:

Too much crystal in my opinion.

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hmm. How much would you use?

credible2 said:

hmm. How much would you use?

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It really depends on the type/style of brew you're going after...

Golddiggie said:

It really depends on the type/style of brew you're going after...

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Yeah. I'm not going for any particular style per se. I mean, I don't even know what to call this. I am using many German ingredients though.

Yep and yep. I think that crystal rye tastes like caramel and subdued rye. In fact, I'm not sure that I could tell the difference between it and a rye/crystal 80 mix. That being said one of the few recipes that I'm truly happy with that I've developed uses it and isn't quite the same without it. It's 8 lbs pale malt, 3 lbs rye malt, and 0.5 lbs crystal rye. Tried the same thing a couple times with various crystals and it's just not as good I don't think.

Back on topic, my personal preference is to avoid going over 5% with crystal anything in a pale ale, which is what this will probably be like. Your tastes may be different. Likewise, I prefer a lot of rye in my rye beers, most people don't. I would say that this beer won't be bad, but the rye will probably be overpowered by the sweetness of the crystal malt. It certainly won't be bad, nor a waste of money. I think you should go for it. That way you can decide what you like/don't like about this beer and build a recipe from there.

trigger said:

I think you should go for it. That way you can decide what you like/don't like about this beer and build a recipe from there.

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I'll probably tweak little bits and pieces as I research/get feedback from various sources before I actually buy the ingredients the next day or two.

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it.

What overall batch size are you going for?

HH60gunner said:

What overall batch size are you going for?

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I'm sorry; I should have clarified to begin with. My batch size will be 5 gallons.

credible2 said:

I'm sorry; I should have clarified to begin with. My batch size will be 5 gallons.

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I would run it through Beer Smith, or some brewing software, to make sure the IBU's and everything else will give you a result you'll be happy with...

I find it very helpful to at least base what you're planning on brewing on a certain type/style of brew. That way, you can at least select grains that are in line, as well as get your IBU's (and other values) in line. I'm not saying you have to adhere (strictly) to the style parameters, but it usually helps to have that when designing a brew.

Beer Smith will also help you calculate the correct mash and sparge volumes (and temp)... If you have AA% numbers for the hops, it will also help calculate the IBU's for your boil time (along with everything else)... I'm already finding it's a valuable tool to have.

I'd second what Golddiggie says.

If you don't have a brewing program to use and don't want to pay for Beersmith or the like please feel free to download by Brew Chart which is a link in my signature. It does pretty much everything for you regarding calculations and also has the BJCP guidelines built into it as well so that you can cross reference your planned recipe with the style guidelines.

Good luck.

cp

credible2 said:

Roughly how many IBUs do you think i'll need to balance out the malts?

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It all depends on what you want. If you want it hoppy or malty. You should be in the 20's now so that would be enough to get you somewhere in the middle.

and +1 on Beersmith. It's great when you want to experiment around and throw malts and hops together and see what the results would be.

Depending on your efficiency level, will determine how it really comes out.

Plugging everything into Beer Smith gives you an estimated color of 15.2, IBU's of ~34 (depends on the actual AA% of the hops, using generic numbers right now), an estimated OG of 1.045, estimated FG of 1.011, around 4.5-5.0% ABV (with 70-80% efficiency)... So maybe a German Amber Ale? Although, with 1056 in it, it won't really be a German style brew. More of an American Amber Ale with German subtitles... Change the yeast to one used for German style brews, and you'll probably produce something more in line with the rest of the ingredients... Something like a Dusseldorf Altbier... Although you'll need more hops in it to hit the style range (35-50 IBU)... Otherwise you'll have a less hoppy version of the brew. Also, if you're hitting about 70% efficiency (or lower), you'll want more grain to get into the style range. Or, get some DME to have on hand to compensate (if needed)...

I would also advise using Beer Smith to help figure out your mash water amount, as well as sparge water volume for this. For your 3.13 gallons of mash water, you're at about 1.5 qt/pound of grain. I'd go for 1.25qt/pound of grain for mash, with the rest of your water amount (pre boil) in sparge. I would also use the various calculators to figure out what temp to mash (and sparge) at for the amount of grain, as well as the grain's temperature. That way you don't mash too hot, or too cold, for the brew.

Either way, you'll have to post once you've made this brew, and have tasted it...

I would also suggest to mash for 90 mins. Munich malt has lower enzymatic power than say domestic 2-row. It should convert itself, but given you're using it as a base along with crystal malt, you want to make sure your beer is quite fermentable so it has a nice crisp finish.

Thanks for y'alls' input. I have tweaked the recipe a little bit.
I basically want my beer to have a Marzen type of maltiness. I do not want to lager, yet I want to have at least some lager type characteristics. So Kolsch yeast is a good candidate for this. Also, I thought the rye would be a unique and interesting addition to this type of beer. To me, rye felt OK in this type of recipe.
So here is the close-to-my-final recipe. I may change the type of hops due to the lack of availability of certain ones at my home brew shop.

4lbs Munich
4lbs Vienna
1.5lb Rye Malt
1lb Crystal 80

1oz Spalt @ 60
.5oz Spalt @ 10
1oz Spalt @ 1

Kolsch yeast

And yes Golddiggie - I will post pictures and tell you guys how my beer is. I will be brewing in the next few days or so.
And mithion, I think I will steep the crystal malts in a separate pot of hot water (and then add it to the brew pot) to make sure the enyzme powers of the rye, munich and vienna malts are not diluted to the point that everything cannot convert correctly. I never brewed with vienna, rye or munich, so I'll just play it safe.

I'd check out Farmhouse Brewing Supply for your hops (http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/scripts/hopsList.asp?idCategory=21)... I just placed an order with them, which will arrive on Thursday with 2 pounds of hops for less than I would have paid for one pound (of some) of the hops at the LHBS I use... I also ordered grain from them, since their prices are really a good deal better than I can get at the LHBS...

They also respond quickly (faster than I had expected) to emails... I will be buying from them again due to all of these factors. Especially due to their good pricing on MO (a LOT better than the LHBS)...

Golddiggie said:

I'd check out Farmhouse Brewing Supply for your hops

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Nice. golddiggie. What would we do without the internet for resources like this forum and the website you just gave me?

credible2 said:

Nice. golddiggie. What would we do without the internet for resources like this forum and the website you just gave me?

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I found them in the vendor listing on the main page here... Was looking through the listings for hardware and good rates on ingredients... At least I found a place to get good prices on most ingredients I'm using.

OK. Here is my final recipe. This is list of items I'll grab tomorrow afternoon. I'll be brewing the day after that.


4.5 lb Weyermann Light Munich (Type I) Malt
4.5 lb Weyermann Vienna Malt
1.5 lb Weyermann Rye Malt
12 oz Briess crystal 80
1.25 oz Spalt hop pellets @ 60 minutes (5.6%AA)
.5 oz Saphir hop pellets @ 10 minutes (5.8%AA)
.5 oz Spalt hop pellets @ 1 minutes (5.6%AA)
WLP029 Kolsch yeast

5 gallon batch
Mash @ 150 degrees