Recipe Formulation & Ingredients Descriptions

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I knew a guy that shot an Impala... but it didn't make very good eating.


Turns out it was a Chevy Impala, and the cop riding inside was *tiiiiiiiiiiiicked*. ;)
 
Actually shot a springbok too. Along with a worthog (might be the name of my next beer) wildebeast and eland
 
Guys, quick question: is there a site or some sort of calculator/program that will help me formulate a recipe based on the malts I have at hand?

I remember either an iPhone app or some other bartending program that would give you results/recipes for a drink (a lot of times something really disgusting) based on inputing a couple of ingredients.

I have a sack of 2-Row, about 5# of Maris Otter & maybe 1-2# of Crystal 20. What can I do?
 
Guys, quick question: is there a site or some sort of calculator/program that will help me formulate a recipe based on the malts I have at hand?

I remember either an iPhone app or some other bartending program that would give you results/recipes for a drink (a lot of times something really disgusting) based on inputing a couple of ingredients.

I have a sack of 2-Row, about 5# of Maris Otter & maybe 1-2# of Crystal 20. What can I do?

My vote is for an english pale ale.
 
Hey, very informative post... I'll def have to check back once I start making my own recipes. But since I’m pretty new to brewing (only done a Dry Malt Extract Kit and a Liquid Malt Extract Kit) I'm going to stick with other peoples recipes until I get my own hold on things :D After reading the post on partial mashes I've decided I want to give that a try.

I had a few questions though:

Most recipes I've seen are for All Grain. Is there any easy way to convert the AG to a partial mash recipe? Should I simply take half of the grains and throw in 3-4lbs of Dry or Liquid Malt Extract? Keep the same amt of hops etc? Or is there a more complex calculation that I'd need to do depending on which grains were used?

Also, some recipes are for 10 gallon batches. I'm only making 5 gallon batches. Can I simply half everything (including grains, hops, water etc)?

Specifically I was looking at Crabree's Wee Heavy Scotch Ale

Thanks!
 
Most recipes I've seen are for All Grain. Is there any easy way to convert the AG to a partial mash recipe? Should I simply take half of the grains and throw in 3-4lbs of Dry or Liquid Malt Extract? Keep the same amt of hops etc? Or is there a more complex calculation that I'd need to do depending on which grains were used?

The good beer software out there will do the conversion for you.

The way I do it is I try to figure out the brewer's efficiency (it's helpful if they list it; if not then I use 70%), and then multiply the pounds of grain by that number. The recipe you listed is already extract, so I'll just make up a quick recipe.

5 lb 2-row
1 lb wheat
0.5 lb Crystal 20L
0.5 lb Cara-munich

If you saw this recipe, you could multiply 5 lbs. by .7 (which is 70%) to get 3.5 lbs of 2-row extract (or just light DME). You would get 0.7 lbs of wheat extract - but remember, most wheat extract is some proportion barley. If the wheat extract is 50/50, then you'd add 1.4 lbs of that and take away .7 lbs of the light DME.

Then, I look at the specialty grains - the stuff that isn't basically 2-row, pilsner or wheat. Essentially, if you can't find an extract called that thing, then it's a specialty grain. You should partial mash those to get closer to the real beer, but if you don't do partial mashes, well... you won't get very close to the recipe.

The crystal and the cara don't have malt extracts named for them, so those are your partial mash grains. I feel that it's helpful to add in about a pound of 2-row to make sure the mash has plenty of enzymes and extra flavor, so the converted recipe, as *I* would make it, is as follows:

2.1 lbs light DME
1.4 lbs wheat DME (50/50)
1 lb 2-row
0.5 lb Crystal 20L
0.5 lb Cara-munich

You would mash 2 lbs. of grains, then add the extract in towards the end of the boil.

That's just how I would do it; others would disagree.

Also, some recipes are for 10 gallon batches. I'm only making 5 gallon batches. Can I simply half everything (including grains, hops, water etc)?

Within reason, yes. It won't be exactly exactly the same, but it will be close enough to not make a difference.

EDIT: bad specialty grain examples... neither of those need a mash, they can be steeped only. Still, I would tend to use an extra pound of 2-row, just to make the beer a little better, IMO. Also, if you substitute 2-row grain back in for extract, remember 1 lb of grain only replaces 0.7 lb of extract. :)
 
Thanks for the help Justibone! I'm hoping to get a new stock pot next month so I can start a partial mash. =) I can't wait!
 
Thanks so much!!!! Im just getting started myself, after not taking advantage of my wife working in a micro-brewery and all the homebrew clubs of the Jacksonville FL area, and have been doing some research and havent come accross anything this helpful.
 
Well I'm trying to get together a Black IPA here is my ingredient list

4 Gallon batch

Malts

American Crystal Dark (77L) 3lbs
Amber Malt 3lbs
Chocolate Malt 3lbs
American two row 3lbs
American Crystal 3lbs

Hops

60 Min Chinook 1oz
60 Min Yakima Gold 1oz
30 Min Cascade .5 oz
30 Min Centenial .5 oz
15 Min Citra .5 oz
Dry Hop in secondary with an oz of chinook

Yeast
either England Dry Ale Yeast or California yeast.

Current calculations estimate 7.7ABV 95.2 IBU 63 SRM but a final gravity of 1.029

I'm concerned that my final gravity may be too high.

I'm concerned that my final gravity may be too high I also plan to prime with Dextrose during primary as well as adding some during bottling is that a good idea as well?
 
I agree that your initial gravity is too high.

I think your chocolate malt is too much. Less is better with chocolate.

I think you have too much crystal.

Start your recipe with the following:

4 gallons * (4 lb grain/.70 efficiency) ~ 5.72 lbs. grain for about 5% ABV.

Do 5 lbs of 2-row.
Do 1 lb of Crystal 60 or darker
Do 6 oz. of chocolate

Or so.

Next, your hops...

You don't need 2 different kinds of bittering hops. Just use the smallest amount of the highest alpha acid percentage (AA%) hops you can use to get your IBUs where you want. I like the cascade/centennial/citra combination, though... that could be good so long as you can get all three types. (My LHBS has a hard time getting citra.) Amarillo and Sorachi Ace are also in the same family and could be good, especially with that sweetness from the crystal.

I've never brewed the black IPA style, but those are just my suggestions. :)
 
I also plan to prime with Dextrose during primary as well as adding some during bottling is that a good idea as well?

Dextrose in primary will dry the beer out - that can be good in an IPA, but it should be included in your fermentables list because it will add to the alcohol.

Dextrose is good for bottling, yes.
 
So i brewed a (shiner Bock) clone and i kept it at room temp. and im almost certain its going to turn into a ale. The reason for brewing at that temp was my wine fridge went out. What do you think, maybe i should leave it in the secoundary longer.
 
So i brewed a (shiner Bock) clone and i kept it at room temp. and im almost certain its going to turn into a ale. The reason for brewing at that temp was my wine fridge went out. What do you think, maybe i should leave it in the secoundary longer.

If you used a lager yeast but at ale temperatures, I am unsure what your result will be.

I would leave it in the secondary longer, but who knows? When things go off course like that, you just have to roll with the punches.
 
Greetings friends,

I'm new to brewing so please excuse my lack of beer making knowledge. I was must reviewing a Malts Chart.
Malts Chart - Home Brewing Wiki

I have a few questions.

  • There are two columns under potential yield. The left of the two is specific gravity and the right one is percent. If I'm not mistaking, the percent, such as 75%, relates to the expected sugar extraction from the grain. I am more in doubt about the specific gravity. If the Colum says 1.035, does this mean that that would be the achieved SG after extraction? As a wine maker, I'd look at 1.035 as a rather low SG to ferment with.
  • My second question deals with the SRM Column. On the cart, the SRM Colum is colored from yellow to brown. I figure that gives the user an idea of the beer color. However, I don't know what the numbers mean. So, what is SRM, and what do the numbers in the SRM column mean?
  • My last question deals with the term Mash. Some malts require the Mash process when others do not? I would have thought all grains would have to be processed in a Mash Tun. Is the mash process adding hot water for about 60 minutes? I may be getting the terms Mash and Sparge mixed up. Thanks for some clarification.

Thanks for help with this basic information.
 
If I'm not mistaking, the percent, such as 75%, relates to the expected sugar extraction from the grain. I am more in doubt about the specific gravity.

To me it seems that the percentage is the maximum possible fermentables you can extract from the grain, the gravity column is the maximum gravity you could get from one pound of grain in one gallon of wort.

the SRM Colum is colored from yellow to brown.

SRM - Home Brewing Wiki

SRM simply refers to color. Low numbers are light, high numbers are dark. There is very little difference in the high numbers (between 100 and 200, for example) but big differences in the small numbers (between 10 and 20, for example).

My last question deals with the term Mash. Some malts require the Mash process when others do not? I would have thought all grains would have to be processed in a Mash Tun. Is the mash process adding hot water for about 60 minutes? I may be getting the terms Mash and Sparge mixed up.

Most grains that add fermentables must be mashed. Mashing is enzymatic conversion of starches to sugars. Mashing is usually done between 140-155 degrees F, with roughly 1-2 quarts per pound of grain.

Steeping is used when a grain adds flavor or color, but not fermentables. An example might be Chocolate grain, or Roasted grain.

Steeping is also used with the Cara- grains, which have already been converted to sugar inside their grain husks, and merely need to be steeped in order to get the sugar into solution.

Sparging is just rinsing the grain to get some more sugars off of it. :mug:
 
Your discussion of mash vs steeping helped a lot. Referring back to the chart, Malted Oats (near the top of the list) does not have a check next to Mash Required. They still list a yield and SG. Perhaps my question should have been what does the Mash Req field mean? Can malted oats be used to flavor alone if not mashed or be used to ferment with if they are mashed?

You did make a good point though. I understand that there are some grains added for the purpose of adding flavor and aroma, not for fermentation.

Referring back to the potential yield, if the expected SG is 1.035, am I correct that sugar would be added to bring the SG up to about 1.050 to achieve a higher alcohol %? I would be surprised if a recipe would start with an SG that low.
 
Your discussion of mash vs steeping helped a lot. Referring back to the chart, Malted Oats (near the top of the list) does not have a check next to Mash Required. They still list a yield and SG. Perhaps my question should have been what does the Mash Req field mean? Can malted oats be used to flavor alone if not mashed or be used to ferment with if they are mashed?

If mashing is required that means that the starches in the grain need to be converted into fermentable sugars through enzyme activity.

You did make a good point though. I understand that there are some grains added for the purpose of adding flavor and aroma, not for fermentation.

Referring back to the potential yield, if the expected SG is 1.035, am I correct that sugar would be added to bring the SG up to about 1.050 to achieve a higher alcohol %? I would be surprised if a recipe would start with an SG that low.

Remember that the reference is for 1 pound in 1 gallon. By increasing the ratio of grains to liquid you increase the SG. So 5 pounds of grain in a 5 gallon final volume would be about 1.035, but 8 pounds of grain in a 5 gallon final volume would be higher...I'm guessing but probably in the mid 1.050's

I come from a wine background also and the OG's and FG's you see in brewing are nothing like what we see in wine making. By the way, if you have a refractometer it can be used in brewing instead of a hydrometer with a simple conversion to account for alcohol.
 
Hi all, I'm still trying to work on recipe formulation but am finding it difficult to decide on which grains work well with some while other grains would be best. This is an Irish Red Rye I'm working on. I'm not going for a traditional Irish red, I'd like a hint of American hops with a solid rye backbone. This is what I have so far. Please make any corrections or flat out criticism if you can.
Its a partial mash recipe:
2 lb 6 Row
1lb flaked Rye
1lb Pilsner Malt
4 oz Crystal 120
6.6 Amber LME
1oz Willamette at 60min
.5oz Citra at 30min
.5oz Citra at 15min
.5oz EKG at 15min
Irish ale yeast

I think it's pretty much what I want but I could be missing something.
 
ABV% is going to be on the high side. High alcohol means you should age it, so you are going to lose some hop aroma. I'd back off on the LME a couple of lbs.

Citra at 30 min. is a waste, IMO. I really like the Citra aroma, but as only half aroma, half bitterness I think it has a better use later in the boil.

Crystal 120 is pretty dark. I think it has a raisin taste. I'd go a bit lighter, but that's me.

I also think that rye is kind of spicy, kind of sharp. I like the Citra, but the EKG... IMO you're trying to mix the classic with the new. I'd say commit in either direction, but don't muddle it. I like where you're going with the Citra, though, so if I had a vote (and I don't), I'd go in that direction entirely. My $.02 is to skip the EKG and go for more Citra at flameout, but I haven't done the IBU calculations so make sure you would still be balanced for bitterness.

Good luck, and enjoy! :ban:
 
I noticed in the hop "C" section that you didn't include Chinook. I was wondering why. Is it an offshoot of one of the ones you listed? If so, which one?
 
Much appreciate your posts DB, ive followed your BIAB posts both for Partial Grain and All Grain, i am currently on my 4th batch of AG and loving it.

Not specifically asking you to do it, and i havent had a chance to look through all of the posts on the forums yet, but this would seem to be an appropriate place to list different general mixes of grains/hops. More generalized and high level overview than actual recipeis, something like "munich works well with 2 row but not as well with pilsner and these hops work well with this type" (no clue if thats true about the grains).

not sure if im being clear, or if its even possible, but im trying to figure out what hops to use in different IPAs, and it kinda seems like i can use pretty much anything, but im scared of using too much munich, not enough crystal 60, or 20, not enough citra, or willamette, or maybe those two dont work well together, i dont know. would be nice to understand what hops work together with each other, what grains work together well, and what hops work with what grains. might just have to experiment to figure it out. also maybe i need to just keep reading, that seems to work every other time ive ever posted with a question on any subject ;)

again thanks for all you have done and you have great instructional posts, hope i dont seem like im complaining, just having a hard time figuring out how to make my own recipes, or substitute things in existing recipes.
 
not sure if im being clear, or if its even possible, but im trying to figure out what hops to use in different IPAs, and it kinda seems like i can use pretty much anything, but im scared of using too much munich, not enough crystal 60, or 20, not enough citra, or willamette, or maybe those two dont work well together, i dont know. would be nice to understand what hops work together with each other, what grains work together well, and what hops work with what grains. might just have to experiment to figure it out. also maybe i need to just keep reading, that seems to work every other time ive ever posted with a question on any subject ;)

In my opinion, this is preference. If you want to simulate a certain style, I guess you can follow certain guidelines, such as noble hops for German wheat beers, but when people experiment is when they make the best recipes.

There are a few guidelines, such as crystal shouldn't be more than 5% of a recipe, and 2-row goes with *everything*... but reading will help you pick those up over time.

In my opinion, go with proven recipes for a while, then tweak them to be what you like... Saaz hops in a roggenbier, for example. You'll catch on soon enough. :)
 
Thanks!

thats what ive been doing so far, using recipes that are popular on the boards here. Im just looking to make some IPAs, but never seem to have the exact hop schedule that is called for in any recipe, so i was considering just mixing the hops i have (i have about $60 worth of different types), but im just not sure what works well together, i think i just need to make a decision to either use what i have, or go buy some more. im sure either way will work out.

its kinda the same way with grain for me, i have lots of grain, but never seem to have exactly what a specific recipe calls for, so i consider using what i have and then usually just go buy the right grain.

Thanks for the response, much appreciate it!
 
Hey Death Brewer thanks so much for your information its a lot of help! I come from Nepal and its very hard to get malt extract here and the only 1 I could find was from a science lab. do you think it can still work out?
 
Seriously great information here! I am still new to brewing and this is a great resource for me! Thank you!
 
Since I posted these in a couple threads today,I decided to put them here. A link to a conversion chart another member posted I find handy; http://www.jaysbrewing.com/2011/11/17/lazy-chart-for-converting-dme-lme-grain/
And some conversion formulas from metric to US standard from- http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/metric_conversions
Fluid ounces to Milliliters-FO x 29.57 = mL
Gallons to Liters-G x 3.785 = L
Liters to Gallons-L x .264 = G
Milliliters to Fluid ounces-mL x .034 = fl oz
grams to ounces-g x .035 = oz
Celcius to Fahrenheit-(c x 1.8C) + 32 = F
ounces to grams-OZ x 28.35 = g
pounds to kilograms-LB x .454 = Kg
Kilograms to pounds-Kg x 2.202 = LB
Hope these help with recipes,etc.
 
Combined with Designing Great Beers, this has given me a great foundation for recipe formulation.

I have found that beersmith has helped tremendously with the process as well.
 
I did not read the OP thread, I did skim for this link. For me this link was, if not, still is the best tool I know to use. I started with a trial of beer smith but all I was doing was punching numbers, I needed to know what these numbers mean. I created my own excel spreadsheet with it and I feel I can control more aspects of my beer making because I feel I understand how each formula is connected to the other.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Beer_math
 
I haven't posted for a while, and I don't know if this is posted in the correct thread.
I have had three successful brews now, all slightly different, but all three using the same cerveza malt from my local wilkos shop.
The first was brewed with 1.5kg of brewing sugar and 500g of light spray dried malt. It was really tasty but had a slight ale taste to it.
The second, I left out the dry malt and just went with 2kg of sugar, tasted nice, quite strong but not much flavour.
The third, I used 2kg of sugar and app. 200g of wakatu hops (I now realise that this may have been quite excessive), the taste was overpowering with a floral/fruity taste, yet still very drinkable!
I have just bottled my fourth, which is a wilko pilsner, and I added just 2kg of sugar and nothing else as I want to see what the kit tastes like without any other flavours.
My next brew, I'm thinking of getting a nice balance with the cerveza, dry malt and hops. Was thinking 250g of dry malt, 1.5g of sugar and 30g of wakatu hops. Looking forward to it.
 
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