question about adding sugar to a recipe?

i was going to attempt a recipe and had a question about if i need to add sugar or not

pale malt 2-row, 1lb
crystal 40L, 1lb
light pure malt extract, 3.3 lbs
cascade hops to boil, 60 min.
hallertau hops in finish boil, 5 min.
safale us-05 yeast

so im wondering if i should/need to add dextrose to this to get a decent alcohol content? if i do add, should i add it when i add my malt extract or when?
also, does this recipe look decent for a first time brew? im going for an ale and hallertau seems to be better with other brews from research, but this was an old recipe i found that it called for. the recipe originally had different measures and was all grain, but i was going to attempt with the malt extract (3.3lb). so should i add sugar and when should i do it?

oh jeah, and the malt extract was going to be LME if that makes any difference....

A couple of suggestions to your first recipie. The First would be to omit the 1 lb. 2 row. The reason being that you have to mash 2row and if you are steeping it all you are getting is starch disolving into solution. I would suggest that you make the 1 lb up by subing DME or LME (dried malt extract/liquid malt extract)instead of the 2row. Also if you are looking for a higher alcohol beer I would suggest not using simple sugar and instead use DME or LME. Simple sugar in a low gravity beer makes a somewhat cidery beer. As for the hops i like the Cascade/Hallertau combo, nice floral and citrus blend.

Good luck and have fun.

malnutriton said:

A couple of suggestions to your first recipie. The First would be to omit the 1 lb. 2 row. The reason being that you have to mash 2row and if you are steeping it all you are getting is starch disolving into solution. I would suggest that you make the 1 lb up by subing DME or LME (dried malt extract/liquid malt extract)instead of the 2row. Also if you are looking for a higher alcohol beer I would suggest not using simple sugar and instead use DME or LME. Simple sugar in a low gravity beer makes a somewhat cidery beer. As for the hops i like the Cascade/Hallertau combo, nice floral and citrus blend.

Good luck and have fun.

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cool, so you think i should just add 2 cans of LME(6.6lbs)? ive just been watching videos so im not sure exactly what results i would get. i guess im still not sure why exactly i should throw out the 2 row since the recipe calls for it, but ill take your advice if you think its pointless...
any other grains i should use?

I agree that using 2 cans rather than a bunch of sugar will make a superior beer. While there are beer styles that use sugar, using it as a large part of your of your fermentables will produce a thin, cidery tasting beer.

Mashing is required to get sugars out of 2 row but you can get color and flavor out of it so I say use it if you want.

2 cans of LME and some crystal malt will get you around a 1.040 beer what sounds about right for your hop bill. Your original recipe looks like you want an american style pale ale so that would be about right for the low end of the style. As for the two row, the reason you do not want to steep it is because it is not "converted" in the traditional steeping process. This simply means that the startches in the malt have not be changed into "yeast edible" sugars. For example when you mash 2row in 150 degree water you activate some enzymes that take the startch in the malt and cut it up into little bits of "yeast edible" sugars. This means that you could do a mini-mash with the 2row and crystal in order to get conversion of the malt. Do a search on mini mash and you will find some good methods on doing this.

I might suggest you check Morebeer.com and look through their kits. They make good beer and you don't have to deal with the canned extract. They are in Concord so I am sure shipping would be a breeze and quick.

malnutriton said:

2 cans of LME and some crystal malt will get you around a 1.040 beer what sounds about right for your hop bill. Your original recipe looks like you want an american style pale ale so that would be about right for the low end of the style. As for the two row, the reason you do not want to steep it is because it is not "converted" in the traditional steeping process. This simply means that the startches in the malt have not be changed into "yeast edible" sugars. For example when you mash 2row in 150 degree water you activate some enzymes that take the startch in the malt and cut it up into little bits of "yeast edible" sugars. This means that you could do a mini-mash with the 2row and crystal in order to get conversion of the malt. Do a search on mini mash and you will find some good methods on doing this.

Click to expand...

alright, so i looked up all the info on extract, mini & partial mashes, and all grains. i think i have a decent understanding of what the mini mash is. the link below is the video i was going to follow. i think he is doing a mini mash, correct me if im wrong. this was the procedure i was going to do. now im wondering if i combine the 2row and crystal following the steps in this video, will i still need 2 cans of LME or can i the just use 1 can?

He is simply steeping the grains, A minimash is not much different though. The difference is in the amount of water you use. For a mini mash you would need 155 degree water but you would only need 1.5 quarts of water per pound of the grain you are using. For example you have 2 pounds of grain so you would get 3 quarts of water up to around 160 and place your losely filled bag of grain in it for about 30 to 45 minutes. when done pour the sweet liquid into your boil kettle with the rest of your brewing water. The reason you use less water is because the enzymes that break down the startch into sugar are existing in higher concentrations allowing them to find and break down the startch. Easy way out...omit the two row, up the LME amount and just steep the crystal 40. Blender is right ordering kits is a good idea at first and morebeer is great but if you are looking to design your own recipie i suggest Northerbrewer.com as they list the ingredents on the website. For instance
http://legacy.northernbrewer.com/docs/kis-html/1011.html

..then go get the free trial of Beersmith and start getting familiar with it..

Your recipe might look like this, I like Dry extracts so thats what i used to bring your ABV up, I also assumed a 5 gallon batch with a 2.5 gallon boil so you would have to adjust according to your setup. Also, Beersmith makes an assumption on the Hops AA, so when you get your hops the actual AA will be on the package as they can vary, so you would adjust your boil times/amounts to hit your bitterness.

Recipe: Test
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: Extract


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 2.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.042 SG
Estimated Color: 7.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 32.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: - %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 34.48 %
3.30 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 56.90 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 8.62 %
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 28.0 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (15 min) Hops 3.0 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (5 min) Hops 1.2 IBU

malnutriton said:

He is simply steeping the grains, A minimash is not much different though. The difference is in the amount of water you use. For a mini mash you would need 155 degree water but you would only need 1.5 quarts of water per pound of the grain you are using. For example you have 2 pounds of grain so you would get 3 quarts of water up to around 160 and place your losely filled bag of grain in it for about 30 to 45 minutes. when done pour the sweet liquid into your boil kettle with the rest of your brewing water. The reason you use less water is because the enzymes that break down the startch into sugar are existing in higher concentrations allowing them to find and break down the startch. Easy way out...omit the two row, up the LME amount and just steep the crystal 40. Blender is right ordering kits is a good idea at first and morebeer is great but if you are looking to design your own recipie i suggest Northerbrewer.com as they list the ingredents on the website. For instance
http://legacy.northernbrewer.com/docs/kis-html/1011.html

Click to expand...

thanks alot bro for the good info for my first brew....
thanks to everybody else who left feedback too, im just gathering as much info as possible before i dive in
dont want to go through all this work and come up dissapointed...