First All Grain - Please check my recipe

Hey all, I've been lurking for a while on these boards and have learned a lot. I've done a few extract kits in the past and recently I've been setting up to convert to all-grain. I think I've finally got my equipment in order and have a decent recipe, but I'd like to make sure I understand the procedure.

I have a converted 55qt cooler as a mash tun, one boilpot that can safely boil 5 gallons, and another ~3 gallon pot for extra water.

GRAINS:
4 lbs Breiss 2-row
4 lbs Breiss White Wheat
1 lb Rice hulls

HOPS:
Challenger Pellets-
0.3 oz 1 hour
0.7 oz 15 min

EXTRAS:
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Add coriander for last 20 min of boil
Peel of 2 organic naval oranges
Peel of 1 organic lemon
Add peels for last 10 min of boil

YEAST
-If my attempt to steal from a Bavarian Hefeweizen works, I'll use that.

MASH SCHEDULE
*Protein rest- Strike 2.5 gal at 141°F, target temp is 120°F. Hold for 30 min.
*Conversion- 1.9 gal at 212°F, target temp is 152°F. Hold for 1 hour.
Vorlauf, drain 1st runnings.
*Final batch sparge- 2.86 gal at 188°F, target is 165°F. Hold for just 15 min.
Vorlauf, drain 2nd runnings.

BOIL for 90 min, see hops and extras above for hops/add-ins schedules.

Cool wort, siphon into 6.5 bucket, pitch yeast starter (~2 cups).

* * * * *

Here's all my questions:

1) One major uncertainty I have is if my water infusion temperatures seem right. I got them using Brewtarget, but I'm not sure if they're accurate for a cooler-tun. Too high? Too low?

2) Would you recommend adding the whole peels of oranges & lemons, or just the zest? Is it better to add this at the end of the boil, or should I put it in secondary?

3) I've heard 90 minute boil improves flavor relative to normal 60 minute boil, what do you think?

4) Does a boil size of 6.14 gal seem right for a final water volume of 5 gal?

5) Does my mash schedule make sense? I'm not sure I totally understand the practical aspects of mashing, though I've read a lot a theory.

6) Is there anything else I should improve? I want this to be a fruity, floral, sweet summer ale.

Thank you for your help!

I haven't experimented much with peel, but the couple recipes that did call for it, called for just the zest. I found that it provided an added level of overall bitterness rather than the taste of the actual fruit.

I can't say anything about your schedule, as I've never dealt with multipul rests, but these two areas might give you a bit of a problem:

AinBritain said:

3) I've heard 90 minute boil improves flavor relative to normal 60 minute boil, what do you think?

4) Does a boil size of 6.14 gal seem right for a final water volume of 5 gal?

Click to expand...

Your boil-off rate will be effected by things like the weather, your elevation, and how intense a boil you use, but regardless, I think if you're going for a 90 minute boil, you're gonna come up short of the five gallon mark. Sometime i can boil off close to 2 gallons an hour. The 90 minute boil is said to drive off the extra DMS that might be more noticeable in a lighter beer like a hefe, though I can't say I personally notice a drastic difference. What you could do is, add the lost water back after the 90 minutes to bring it to the 5 gallon mark (i've done this a few times with good results). Keep in mind, you'll be altering your IBUs a bit this way, but all in all, I still think you'll end up with a good beer.

Maybe someone else will chime in on your actual recipe. I don't normally brew hefes so im a little fuzzy on that.

Good luck!

I would recommend for your first All-Grain, make simple beer. Grain, water, yeast, hops. There's enough new goings-on to keep you occupied without worrying about lemon zest and such.

Keep it simple, learn your equipment, learn your processes. Everyone's strike temps, efficiency, sparge rates, etc. are different. The recipes you make now are going to taste different as AG's and you don't know what that flavor will be yet.

Once you've got all that down and know what your system and you can accomplish, then branch out and do more complex beers.

I speak from experience of throwing out 5 gallons of un-drinkable mule piss that was my 2nd AG batch. I've been exclusively making beer-flavored-beer ever since, and now that my recipes are consistent and I know the flavors, I'm going to start playing with adjuncts again.