Centennial Blonde question

Sent email to my lhbs for Biermunchers Centennial Blonde extract recipe. Here is the recipe I sent followed by his response. I have only brewed 1 Mr. Beer kit. This will be my second batch. I could possibly do a BIAB if I had step by step instructions. If BIAB is recommended I can email my lhbs with the ag recipe. I normally get a reply within 30 min even on weekends and holidays.

5.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 83.3 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 16.7 %
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (45 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (20 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (10 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

My aau's on my hops are a little lower, cent 8.7 cascade 6.9 recipe cost 31.25 with dme. 28.25 with 6.5 lbs lme

Should I use the DME OR LME or just do a BIAB?

Here is the equipment I have:

I currently have:

1) 6 gallon stainless steel pot
2) 7.5 gallon aluminum pot
1) Propane burner assembly
1) digital thermometer
1) 5 gallon water cooler
1) 10 gallon water cooler
1) 6 gallon pressure cooker
1) 2.5 gallon brew keg (Mr. Beer)
Will pick up star san auto siphon capper caps etc when I pick up recipe kit from lhbs.

Thanks for any help.

Bill

How do his lower AAUs affect the recipe? Still trying to learn the science part.

Bill

If your hops have lower alpha acids then you need more hops. For example, for the first hop addition the math would go like:

0.25 oz of Centennial x 9.5 = 2.375 / your Centennial 8.7 = 0.272, so to keep the same bitterness contribution from that first hop addition you would use 0.27 oz. of your 8.7% Centennial. Do the math for each addition to get the correct amounts. This really is a small difference in this instance. Hope that helps you.

Jim

So if I understand correctly the Cascade would be .25x 7.8=1.95/ 6.9= .282 or .28 oz of Cascade per addition.

Also is DME better or LME or is it just a matter of preference?

Thanks;

Bill

madman960 said:

So if I understand correctly the Cascade would be .25x 7.8=1.95/ 6.9= .282 or .28 oz of Cascade per addition.

Also is DME better or LME or is it just a matter of preference?

Thanks;

Bill

Click to expand...

There are a couple of differences I can think of.

DME can last for a very long time so you don't need to worry about whether or not it's fresh. It can get a little messy though because it gets very sticky when wet. So pouring it into a steaming pot can get a tricky.

LME can age more quickly so there is some worry about turnaround depending on how much product your LHBS moves. Probably not a problem, but it's something to think about. When adding LME you really need to be careful not to scorch it on the bottom of the pan where it sinks to. You need to remove it from the burner then add and stir it thoroughly. The other thing about LME is that it can drop the temp quite a bit because you are adding so much of it so it's kind of annoying.

The lhbs said 95% of his customers use LME. He also recommends I stick with extract for a few more brews. He also does not stock Nottingham yeast. Which yeast is a better replacement; fermentis or safeale? Does the LME come in a can or a pouch or a jug? Would warming it up in hot water keep the temps from dropping as much?

Thanks again;

Bill

It sounds like you have more than enough volume in your kettles for BIAB. It's really pretty easy. All you need now is a bag. A five gallon paint strainer bag works nice. The sticky for BIAB on this site is a great place to start.

Here's my humble setup. Much smaller than what you could do:
http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/09/biab.html

I have been reading up on BIAB here for a while. There seems to be a debate on whether or not to sparge.

That is a good setup you have. The pot under the grains looks similar to my large pressure cooker.

How much time should I give myself for BIAB? I know extract is about an hour.

Thanks;

Bill

From setup to a clean kitchen in the end it takes me about 4 hours. However, there is about 2 hours of time where you are just waiting. During that time I'm normally bottleing, labeling, or doing some other task. Although, extract brewing takes me at least 2 hours with getting to a boil, and then down to pitching temperatures. If you extract brew in an hour, then you're just adding the mash time up front. It sounds like you can get your temperature up and down quick, so maybe you are looking at closer to 3 hours.

Awesome. I will try BIAB. Which yeast should I get from my lhbs? He no longer carries Nottingham. He has Fermentis or Seafale. I have read through Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde post and seen that US05 or US56 or Wyeast 1056 used but not sure what effect either has on the beer if any.

Thanks again for the help.

Bill

US-05 is fine and pretty much the same thing as Wyeast 1056 only cheaper so I would go with that. If you're going to try BIAB the first thing I can say is make sure you have a good thermometer. Check it in a bowl of crushed ice and in a pot of hot water to make sure it's accurate. Mashing is very temperature dependent. Also, if you're crushing your grains at the store I would run them through the mill twice to make sure you can get a good crush and good extraction.
I don't know how well you're pot maintains temp but for me I can usually add some heat at 30 minutes stir for a couple minutes and keep the temp pretty close to where it should be. As far as sparging goes, I like to have a separate pot with 175* water to dunk the grains in. Pretty much toss the whole bag in then stir it around for a few minutes before adding that to the main boil kettle and drip drying the grains above.

I just bought a new digital thermometer with probe. I will test it with boiling water and in an ice bath. . I am thinking about having the lhbs split this into 2.5 gallon batches so I can do full boils on the stove. My 6 gallon ss pot holds heat well. It is primarily my chili pot. I need to make a trip up to my Dad's in Ohio to get my pressure cooker. It is supposed to heat 5 gallons of water in 15 minutes. Never tried. Planning trip up around Christmas.

If this goes well, I plan to brew this next: BierMuncher's;

SWMBO Slayer - Belgian Blonde
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Belgian Wit WP400
Yeast Starter: Yeast Cake From Prior Brew
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.25
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.008
IBU: 18.9
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 4.9 (SRM)
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 Days (65 degrees)
Additional Fermentation: One week chilling in keg
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7 Days (65 degrees)

Style: Belgian Blond Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (45.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Size: 6.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 4.9 SRM

Estimated IBU: 18.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 +/- Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
4.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
0.25 lb Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50%] (60 min)

1 Pkgs Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) Yeast-Wheat

If not I will get the extract version.

Bill

Splitting it would obviously take longer and be twice the work but you might learn a bit quicker so there is that. You could ferment each separately and see if there are any differences.

I figure that's the easiest way. The 7.5 gallon pot is extremely tall on the stove. My 6 gallon ss pot is much shorter. I believe a 5 gallon batch requires 6.5 gallons of water. Not sure if I need all the water is needed to start. I will go back through the BIAB section and write out the process. I would prefer to do it in 1 batch but believe it would be simpler to do it in 2.5 gallon batches.

Thanks;

Bill