Grain Bill, how to?

I've been reading a LOT about how to determine your grain bill for your AG recipe and I was wondering which was the best way for you to get a grip of this (without any internet recipe site)

At first, I read the 80% base malt and 20% specialty grains then, in my first AG the efficiency was as low as 64%, then I did a little more research in here and found out about the SG and the gravity points and found this thread
Grain Bill Hand Calc - Extraction% & Brewhouse%

Let's try this in SG units. You want 1.053 SG (13 Plato) in 15 gallons of wort.

15 gal * 53 = 795 gravity points.

Now you figure your malt bill out so that it adds to that many points. A pound of Pale 2-row is 36 points. Let's saw brewhouse efficiency is 75%, so that pound is now 27 points.

795 points / 27 per pound= 29.4 pounds of Pale 2 row.

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So, I was wondering, as a more experience homebrewer, which is the way to go?

thanks in advance

Cheers!

the math is correct, what are you asking exactly?

It really depends on what you're making, as you can't really say that you should have 20% specialty grains in every beer. The beer I made today, for example, had all base grain. It varies by style, and the goal for the beer.

If you're making an oatmeal stout, for example, you could easily use only 65% base malt with the rest adjuncts and specialty grains. Today I used 100% base malt.

A good resource is a booked called "Designing Great Beers" by Ray Daniels. It describes each BCJP beer style and the components that make it and gives some great information on how to choose those grains. Another book that is a good beginner's reference on recipe creation and the "hows and whys" is Brewing Classic Styles- it has each style and what goes into the recipe and why.

I'm not sure what you're asking about the efficiency question, though. The efficiency is figured independently of recipe formulation. If you want 10% corn and 90% base malt, you'd just scale up or down according to your own efficiency which is different than mine. Your math is correct but that won't give you a recipe.

Something to think about - The best beers I've made have had the simplest malt bills. Its anecdotal and subject to my tastes, I know, but there is something to keeping it simple.

So, the 80% base 20% specialty is a myth?
I'm using Brewers Friend site to formulate my recipes, it gives me guidelines of the styles I'm aiming for.

@Yooper: I just ordered both books, thanks for the suggestion

julypena said:

So, the 80% base 20% specialty is a myth?
I'm using Brewers Friend site to formulate my recipes, it gives me guidelines of the styles I'm aiming for.

@Yooper: I just ordered both books, thanks for the suggestion

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Well, depending on what beer you are making, that might be a good rule of thumb, or it might not be. Like many things in brewing, it's not 100% true 100% of the time. There are always exceptions. My porters are usually somewhere around 80-20, but my PAs and IPAs are close to 90-10. There's no hard and fast rules, across all styles, that you can turn to all the time. But those books will be a great resource, and you'll learn a ton about what makes a good stout, PA, ESB, Pale Ale, etc.

julypena said:

So, the 80% base 20% specialty is a myth?

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Where did you get the idea that this was a guideline in the first place? There is probably some limit to the % specialty malt based upon the ability of the base malt to convert it (many specialty malts lack diastatic power because of their processing), but I don't know if there is a set % to live by...

As other have pointed out, the % specialty malt usually depends on the style being made.

No harm in using or adapting a proven recipe you've found. Especially until you get brewing experience.

broadbill said:

Where did you get the idea that this was a guideline in the first place?

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Mostly in forums, I also read the ratio of 1.5/2 pounds of grain per gallon of water...

julypena said:

Mostly in forums, I also read the ratio of 1.5/2 pounds of grain per gallon of water...

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??? mash ratio? 2 lb grain/gallon works out to be 2 qts water/lb. A typical mash ratio is 1.25 qts/lb grain.

julypena said:

Mostly in forums, I also read the ratio of 1.5/2 pounds of grain per gallon of water...

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Not sure about your sources.

I usually mash at 1.25qts per pound of grain. I don't have the time to work out the math to see if these equal the same thing.

kh54s10 said:

I don't have the time to work out the math to see if these equal the same thing.

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I did and it doesn't.