help me brew comunity you are my only hope

OK I'm going to make my first ag beer but i don't know what id like to know if i can make any thing good with the stuff i have on hand(most of it is stuff i bought when i go into the home brew store one item at a time so my wife wouldn't notice lol)

5 lb muntons cara pils 2 row barley malt
2 lb flaked corn
2 lb muntons chocolat 2 Row barley malt
2 lb weyermann chocolate wheat malt I
1 lb lactose
4 lb dextrose
8 lb clover honey
and several packs of safale us-56 yeast
and a pack of coopers ale yeast

oh i forgot the hops
1 oz nugget pellets alpha 13.2
and 1 oz German perle alpha 7.0

these are the ingredients i have on hand can i make anything from them?your recipe suggestions will be much appreciated.

Hmmm, if you had some base malt (ie 2row Pale or similar) you'd be set, but as I see it I'm not sure what you could use as a foundation with your current list of ingredients. Do you have a local homebrew shop you can go to?

LupusUmbrus said:

Hmmm, if you had some base malt (IE 2row Pale or similar) you'd be set, but as I see it I'm not sure what you could use as a foundation with your current list of ingredients. Do you have a local homebrew shop you can go to?

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Yes. You will need some pale 2 row to mash with your specialty grains. I would say about 6 or 7 pounds. To that I might add 1/2 pound of your carapils, maybe a tiny bit of chocolate (but be careful unless you want a dark beer. A little goes a LONG way 1/8 pound will make your beer noticeably darker), and if you want to bump up the alcohol maybe add a pound of honey. If it were my beer, I would also add about a half pound light crystal malt (40 degree maybe).
Hope that helps and enjoy your first all grain!

Like the fellers said, you need some 2-row. It's the equivalent of your DME or LME in an extract batch.

You could maybe make 5 gallons of mead with that honey....

Cheers

With a base malt, you're on your way to a honey brown... plus a 3 gallon mead!

what do you mean by 2 row? every one of the ingredients listed above say 2 row on the bag except the flaked corn and lactose .i also have 3.3 pounds of hoped amber lme but i didn't want to use it since i don't know what kind of hops is in it and i wont be able to duplicate it later since it came in a kit a Friend gave me and i don't know where it came from but i can order any thing i need from morebeer.com any suggestions? thanks for the help

We mean plain old 2-row pale malt, the typical base malt used in ales. Specialty grains like you have listed aren't normally called 2-row, even if they are made from it.

cara-pils and chocolate aren't base malts.

The 3.3 # LME could be a source of fermentables to that Honey Brown Ale.

adamk222 said:

what do you mean by 2 row? every one of the ingredients listed above say 2 row on the bag except the flaked corn and lactose

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The malts you listed are indeed 2 row malts but they have been made into specialty malts. They are malted in a way that gives them special properties that add flavor , sweetness, color, and texture to the beer. These specialty grains don't add fermentable sugars to the beer and you need sugar to make alcohol.
The 2-row malt we are talking about is plain malt that has been kilned so it is very light. It retains starches that when mashed convert into sugars that the yeast will ferment. The by product of fermentation is alcohol and beer flavor.
If you get a chance, it would be well worth your time to read a book like The complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian. He can explain malts and mashing much better than I can.

2 row means that the grain grows on the stalk in 2 rows. There are other "rows" ie 6 row but the 2 row is superior in its make up ie protien carbs and enzymes.

good to know!thanks for all the help and a brown ale sounds sweet to me lol.

adamk222 said:

good to know!thanks for all the help and a brown ale sounds sweet to me lol.

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For a brown try using 1/4 to 1/2 pound of your chocolate malt. Should be great!

what do you think of this American brown ale

3 lb muntons amber dme
24oz clover honey
1lb corn sugar
1.5 lb flaked corn
1 lb cara-pils
4 oz chocolate malt

and that should git me a sg of 1.063 what do you think?

adamk222 said:

what do you think of this American brown ale

3 lb muntons amber dme
24oz clover honey
1lb corn sugar
1.5 lb flaked corn
1 lb cara-pils
4 oz chocolate malt

and that should git me a sg of 1.063 what do you think?

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That might make a nice beer, but it isn't a 'brown ale' by style. You might have just invented your own style though!

adamk222 said:

what do you think of this American brown ale

3 lb muntons amber dme
24oz clover honey
1lb corn sugar
1.5 lb flaked corn
1 lb cara-pils
4 oz chocolate malt

and that should git me a sg of 1.063 what do you think?

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Replace the corn sugar! Corn sugar is naughty!

AHammer16 said:

Replace the corn sugar! Corn sugar is naughty!

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I would agree. I would reduce or eliminate the Flaked corn and remove the corn sugar. You could add some LME to compensate. You would be adding a lot of adjuncts between the corn and honey. It might give you a cidery beer.

i guess i could add more dme or lme but i wont make beer unless it has at least 5.5% abv and to do that i need at least 1.060 sg.i haven't had a problem with a cidery flavor from dextrose but sucrose sure does add an off flavor!!!!
oh and the reason i called it an American brown ale is because it met all the requirements for the stile according to promash.oh and thanks for all your help guys I'm going to do some reading on using grain and do some more research i have some time before i have a fermenter available.:cross: