Best recipe for first all-grain brew?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
MikeFallopian

MikeFallopian

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
214
Reaction score
3
Location
Cardiff
I'm about to make my first all-grain brew and was wondering what recipes people would recommend.

Styles I enjoy drinking include:
- Pale Ale/IPA
- Altbier
- Koelsch
- Mild
- Porter
- Weissbier
- Schwarzbier
 
You can really make anything, not gonna make a huge difference. Things you may want to consider - Probably want to pick a beer that has a mash temp in the middle of the range ~153. This will allow you to get a feel for the medium range on your system and you can use that as the starting point for future brews (whether you need to go up or down for mouthfeel). I would probably stay away from a wheat beer so you dont have to even think about a stuck sparge. If you want to make something that you dont normal make cause of extract constraints pick a recipe with munich or other grains that need to be mashed.

Overall, pick what you will want to drink!
 
I agree, you can pretty much make whatever you want. But if you're really concerned, I'd go with the Koelsch. Simple grain bill and not a lot of hops, so if you do manage to bungle it, you're not out a lot of money.

However, if you already know how to brew extract, you're not going to have a problem with all-grain. Just keep a pound or two of DME on hand in case you really miss your numbers. Also, if you haven't already, get a refractometer. I batch sparge, so I usually only take pre-boil and OG readings, but I still can't imagine trying to do that with a hydrometer.
 
I'm a new AG brewer too, and I started with an American pale ale followed by an American amber.

As I discover the pitfalls and challenges that awaited me, like hitting target OG, hops balance, yeast handling and attenuation issues, I find I'm eager to simplify my recipes, so that I can work through problems and become more confident in my process.

So, for my third AG I'm going back to a pale ale. It will have a low percentage of unfermentables: roughly 85% 2-row, 10% Munich malt and 5% Crystal 40. I'll mash at 152 F. (I went with higher mash temps before because a full mouthfeel sounded yummy, but I was left with attenuation problems I couldn't quite explain--was it the mash temp, the grain bill, or the yeast?)

I'll bitter with Magnum and let my single flavor and aroma hop, Columbus, shine through. I'm paying careful attention to hops scheduling, since my first two AG batches were imbalanced--one underhopped, the other overhopped. I'm using Hopularity, an iPhone app, to set my hop schedule.

I could use a clean, neutral ale yeast like Wyeast 1056, but I started with WY 1272, American Ale II, and I find that I'm learning a lot from watching that particular yeast and seeing what it does with different pitching rates, across generations, and at different temperatures.

Bottom line is that I'd keep it simple, but still complex enough that there is something for you to learn in each part of the process.

Have fun!
 
gr8shandini said:
I agree, you can pretty much make whatever you want. But if you're really concerned, I'd go with the Koelsch. Simple grain bill and not a lot of hops, so if you do manage to bungle it, you're not out a lot of money.[QUOTE]

This is what is putting me off doing a pale ale or IPA. I have a couple of good sounding recipes, but the grain bill is quite high and I'm worried that I'm going to bungle it, waste a lot of cash, and end up with a dreadful beer!

I'm thinking of doing a Koelsch around autumn time as the temperatures in Cardiff (south-west UK in case any US/non-UK readers don't know where it is!) should allow me to 'lager' it in my shed.

I've seen a few good Altbier recipes which I may go for, and these have a relatively low grain bill so they shouldn't be too expensive! I'm a bit confused with regards to what method should be adopted when brewing an Altbier. I know that in the pre-lagering days this beer was brewed like a British ale, but am I correct in thinking that nowadays it is generally warm-fermented and then lagered? Would I be ok just to brew it like a British ale and not lager it? Would this affect the flavour at all?

The only other option would be to do a bog-standard best bitter or something, but I'm not really keen on that as I can pretty much go to any pub in my local area and get an excellent pint of bitter. I want to do something that I can't pick up as easily!
Click to expand...
 
I think any recipe is a fine choice for all grain. But pick something where the mash temp is higher than 150. As someone send above, a middle-of-the-road mash temp would be best for the first time around.
 
mash 5 lbs pilsner and 5 lbs white wheat at 153 for an hour. batch sparge to get pre boil volume. boil wort. .75 oz hallertau @ 45 and .25 oz at 15 minutes. chill pitch 3068. boom got yourself a really nice hefe.
 
I brewed a chocolate stout for my first AG batch. I figured any mistakes would get covered up better in a dark, bitter beer rather than a lighter beer. I missed my mash temp by a few degrees (149*F instead of 152*F), didn't take any hydrometer readings, and didn't even care to look at mash pH or water chemistry. It still turned out fantastic though.
 
MikeFallopian said:
No 'stuck sparge' problems like brettwasbtd warns of then?
Click to expand...

I haven't had any problems using 50/50 wheat and barley. Rye, on the other hand, seems to turn my mashes into glue. Rice hulls are cheap and will help keep the wort flowing.

However, I'd stick with 100% barley on my first few batches. One of the things you're going to want to do is get your efficiency dialed in and I find that mine is slightly different when using malts other than barley.
 
I'm not sure if you're new to brewing in general, or just new to all grain.
If you already have good command of your equipment, temperatures, have a temperature controlled fermentation chamber, you can brew whatever you'd like.

If you're going to be gaining these skills/equipment as you go, I'd recommend something richer/maltier, just like phenry suggested, that is quite forgiving if you don't get things perfect.

A lower gravity stout, a porter, a brown ale - would all probably be excellent choices for a starter batch. I'd stay away from the lighter pale ales until you get the skills - they will reveal any flaws in your process.
 
wolfman_48442 said:
A lower gravity stout, a porter, a brown ale - would all probably be excellent choices for a starter batch. I'd stay away from the lighter pale ales until you get the skills - they will reveal any flaws in your process.
Click to expand...

Can anyone recommend a good, straightforward (but very tasty) porter or brown ale recipe?
 
my first all-grain batch was Jamil's Scottish 60 shilling http://beerdujour.com/Recipes/Jamil/JamilsScottish60.htm (the latter recipe)

it's inexpensive (so if you screw up too much, you're not losing at much money) and you can just go ahead and pitch one vial of yeast in there without a starter. then you can reuse the yeast from that to make more beer

the downside is that if your efficiency suffers, you could end up with something too watery. but you should have plenty of water left over to sparge with anyway
 
MikeFallopian said:
Can anyone recommend a good, straightforward (but very tasty) porter or brown ale recipe?
Click to expand...

I have two brown ales I brew often, one is my Reapers mild in my recipe pulldown, the other is a variation of orfy's hobgoblin made a bit hoppier and has toasted pumpkin seeds in the mash. A whiskey barrel aged batch was good enough to get a silver in the west coast division HBT comp this year.

If interested I will try to put up the recipe tonight, been meaning to do that anyway.
 
If I was going to recommend making a first AG beer to a friend, I'd want him to go for a beer that's the easiest to do in new equipment and doesn't require too much precision, particularly on the water profile, hop additions, etc. And also something that doesn't require a complex mash schedule, or lots of hops to mess up the filter in the kettle (provided he's using one).

I'd go for something between 1.035 and 1.050, a bit darker in color to allow somewhere to hid in case there was a screw-up.

I'd personally shoot for any of the following styles: English Mild, a brown, a porter, etc.

I'd stay away from lighter beers (Kolsch in particular as the water profile is particularly tricky, at least in my neck of the woods! :D)

M_C
 
MikeFallopian said:
Can anyone recommend a good, straightforward (but very tasty) porter or brown ale recipe?
Click to expand...

Brewing classic styles by Palmer has an awesome recipe for a really nice brown porter, "who's your taddy porter" is the name

Edit=> I'll post the recipe tonight once I have a chance to look it up at home.
 
azscoob said:
I have two brown ales I brew often, one is my Reapers mild in my recipe pulldown, the other is a variation of orfy's hobgoblin made a bit hoppier and has toasted pumpkin seeds in the mash. A whiskey barrel aged batch was good enough to get a silver in the west coast division HBT comp this year.
Click to expand...

I have been pondering the same question of "what recipe for my first all-grain"...and I keep changing my mind. I really like the sounds of your Reaper's Mild and that is currently my top choice for "first all-grain". Thanks!
 
azscoob said:
I have two brown ales I brew often, one is my Reapers mild in my recipe pulldown, the other is a variation of orfy's hobgoblin made a bit hoppier and has toasted pumpkin seeds in the mash. A whiskey barrel aged batch was good enough to get a silver in the west coast division HBT comp this year.

If interested I will try to put up the recipe tonight, been meaning to do that anyway.
Click to expand...

Yes I would definitely like to see the recipe!

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to respond to my queries - you have all been very supportive and informative!
 
No fancy name for this guy yet, but it's pretty good.

8.5lbs pale malt
.5lb crystal 20L malt
.5lb chocolate malt
.5lb honey malt

.5oz Cascade Hops 60 mins
.5oz Cascade Hops 15 mins

Add US-04 Dry English Ale Yeast

Done. Very tasty brown ale.
 
I brewed EdWort's Haus Pale Ale as my first AG, and it did not disappoint. I'm going to brew a variation of it soon with Amarillo instead of Cascade to give it lots of grapefruit flavor/aroma.
 
Here's a porter that I've really enjoyed. For 5-gallons:

7 lbs 8.0 oz 2-row (1.8 SRM) Grain 82.19 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 5.48 %
4.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 2.74 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.74 %
2.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.37 %
2.0 oz Carafa I (337.0 SRM) Grain 1.37 %
2.0 oz Coffee Malt (150.0 SRM) Grain 1.37 %
2.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 1.37 %
2.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 1.37 %

1.00 oz Admiral [10.50 %] (60 min) Hops 39.3 IBU
0.50 oz Styrian Goldings [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
0.50 oz Styrian Goldings [5.50 %] (0 min) Hops -

Wyeast 1028, ferment @ 68F.

Mash 90 minutes @ 152F.

You don't really need to use Admiral, you can substitute with another hop and compensate for the alpha acid.

If you want to simplify the grain bill, you could remove the Carafa and substitute black patent instead, and remove the wheat altogether (I only use it for head retention). The Special-B adds a nice touch but do not add more than 4oz total in 5-gallons, it'll become too obvious in that porter. I find that Special-B adds a plum-like, wine-like, licorice like flavor that's very interesting.

M_C
 
sorry it took me so long to get this up, I couldnt find palmer's book last night.
Who's Your Taddy Porter: c/o Brewing Classic Styles
9.5# English 2-row
1# Brown Malt
1# Crystal 40
10oz Chocolate Malt (350L)
1.25 oz fuggles @ 60 min
0.5 oz fuggles @ 10 min
I used Nottingham, but anything clean and attenuative should work wlp013, wyeast 1028 (I like notty cause it's $2 a pack, that liquid stuff runs at least $7, plus you've got to go to the hassle of making a starter)
OG 1.052
FG 1.013
60 min boil
Pre-Boil Volume 7 gal
Pre-Boil Gravity 1.044

Have fun with this one, it tastes just like Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter
Oh, and mash at 152 for 60 minutes, almost forgot!
 
Here is a quick post of the HopGoblin recipe, Sorry for all the clutter in it, it is a promash report, its the only program I had the recipe in on my netbook.

You can leave off the barrel aging, it was a note from the last time I brewed it. Fantastic with or without the oak aging BTW!




Grain Reaper's Hop-Goblin



BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

08-C English Pale Ale, Extra Special/Strong Bitter

Min OG: 1.048 Max OG: 1.072
Min IBU: 30 Max IBU: 60
Min Clr: 6 Max Clr: 18 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 10.69
Anticipated OG: 1.055 Plato: 13.49
Anticipated SRM: 18.0
Anticipated IBU: 73.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.47 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.046 SG 11.55 Plato

Formulas Used
-------------

Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
% Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Fine Grind Dry Basis.

Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: Rager

Additional Utilization Used For First Wort Hops: -10 %


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.50 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
0.50 lbs. Crystal 60L America 1.034 60
0.38 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.033 2
0.31 lbs. Chocolate Malt Great Britain 1.034 475
0.50 lbs. toasted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)
Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.50 oz. Fuggle Whole 5.00 8.9 First WH
1.00 oz. Magnum Whole 15.10 54.0 First WH
0.50 oz. Styrian Goldings Whole 5.25 5.3 30 min.
0.50 oz. Fuggle Whole 5.00 5.1 30 min.
0.50 oz. Styrian Goldings Whole 5.25 0.0 0 min.
0.50 oz. Fuggle Whole 5.00 0.0 0 min.


Yeast
-----

Danstar Nottingham


Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Type: Single Step

Grain Lbs: 10.69
Water Qts: 13.89 - Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 3.47 - Before Additional Infusions

Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.30 - Before Additional Infusions

Saccharification Rest Temp : 156 Time: 60
Mash-out Rest Temp : 212 Time: 10
Sparge Temp : 170 Time: 10


Total Mash Volume Gal: 4.33 - Dough-In Infusion Only

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.



Notes
-----

key ingredient for this beer is the 8 oz toasted pumpkin seeds milled with
grain and mashed with other ingredients, toast in cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until puffed and starting to brown, DO NOT LET THEM BURN!.



Note, upped magnum hop addition to 1 oz instead of .5 oz.



This batch due to be aged in 20L oak whiskey barrel for 2-4 weeks depending on desired flavor addition
.
 
azscoob said:
I have two brown ales I brew often, one is my Reapers mild in my recipe pulldown
Click to expand...

I think I'll have a shot at your mild, it looks and sounds very good! How long do you recommend leaving it in the keg for before drinking?
 
My keg is usually empty 1 month after brewing.

It is a low gravity beer and a fairly simple grainbill, it is a fast ferment, due to the lower carbonation level it is quick to carb up and is meant to be enjoyed as it was traditionally, young and fresh!
 
azscoob said:
My keg is usually empty 1 month after brewing.

It is a low gravity beer and a fairly simple grainbill, it is a fast ferment, due to the lower carbonation level it is quick to carb up and is meant to be enjoyed as it was traditionally, young and fresh!
Click to expand...

I had my brewday on Monday, and the Mild seems to be fermenting nicely now!

Do you recommend simply priming the barrel, or should it be cask conditioned?

Cheers!
 
I'll second this recipe. it's one of my favorites. i use s04 and 12oz of choc malt but otherwise keep the recipe as is.

It's a great summer porter too :)

NyPDFustercluck said:
sorry it took me so long to get this up, I couldnt find palmer's book last night.
Who's Your Taddy Porter: c/o Brewing Classic Styles
9.5# English 2-row
1# Brown Malt
1# Crystal 40
10oz Chocolate Malt (350L)
1.25 oz fuggles @ 60 min
0.5 oz fuggles @ 10 min
I used Nottingham, but anything clean and attenuative should work wlp013, wyeast 1028 (I like notty cause it's $2 a pack, that liquid stuff runs at least $7, plus you've got to go to the hassle of making a starter)
OG 1.052
FG 1.013
60 min boil
Pre-Boil Volume 7 gal
Pre-Boil Gravity 1.044

Have fun with this one, it tastes just like Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter
Oh, and mash at 152 for 60 minutes, almost forgot!
Click to expand...
 
+1

I'm making some Ed Worts Haus Pale Ale as my second AG this weekend. It looks pretty fool proof, and I'm a brewing fool! Plus, I can get all the ingredients at my LHBS for under $20.00. How can you beat that??

I also just picked up a beverage cooler to use as a fermentation chamber, so I'm pretty psyched for this batch!!
 
MAKE A STOUT!!! Stouts are really hard to screw up. As long as you choose a basic recipe, don't miss your mash temps. by some ridiculous amount and don't contaminate it, it will turn out good.
 
I've met a lot of home brewers that did Edwort's Haus Pale ale for their first AG... It happened to be my first also.
 
azscoob said:
My keg is usually empty 1 month after brewing.

It is a low gravity beer and a fairly simple grainbill, it is a fast ferment, due to the lower carbonation level it is quick to carb up and is meant to be enjoyed as it was traditionally, young and fresh!
Click to expand...

I kegged and bottled the Mild this evening. It looks good, and had a nice Notty trub at the bottom!

I took a little taster of it, and it tastes great! Classic Mild flavour with some nice caramel and chocolate notes at the end.

When do you recommend taking the first sample of the kegged or bottled beer? I can't wait!!!
 

Similar threads

coffeer0aster
Suggestions for first all-grain batch?
Replies
32
Views
1K
We2smart
We2smart
P
Steep to convert - Steeping grains
Replies
5
Views
364
hottpeper13
H
S
Irish Red Recipe Help
Replies
19
Views
1K
jdauria
jdauria
F
Converting an extract recipe to all grain
Replies
2
Views
262
IslandLizard
IslandLizard
Tony B
First batch
Replies
10
Views
672
Kornssj
Kornssj

Latest posts

Back
Top