Okay, I just bottled my first brew a week ago and there were a couple things that did not come out quite as expected. 1) The beer was darker than I expected by 3-4 SRM. 2) It didn't have much hop flavor or bitterness. The beer tasted clean (overly malty), just tasted like my recipe could use a lot of work. I downloaded beersmith because some of those recipe calculator websites give me concern on how well they work (or how well I know how to use them.)
So, for my second batch this is the recipe I have cooked up, and I also have some in general questions on brewing. For starters, based on How To Brew and forums I read, I started with 3 gallons of water last time.
.5 lbs Carapils
.5 lbs Caramel 20 (I used 60 last time, but I'm trying to lighten it up.)
I steep these grains for 30 minutes, shake out the bag gently over the pot, and throw them away.
Last time, I added 7 pounds LME. This time I thought I would add half now and half after (Forums give me the impression this could also help to lighten the beer.) Back to the recipe.
1 lbs DME
3.5 lbs LME
1 lb Table Sugar (To add to the ABV. From what I've read, it's fine to use in this way but keep it under 10%)
.75 oz Centennial (60 min)
.50 oz Simcoe (30 min)
3.5 lbs LME (15 min)
1 oz Pacifica (15 min)
1 oz Rakau (10 min)
1 oz Galaxy (5 min)
.50 oz Simcoe (5 min)
.25 oz Centennial (5 min)
1 oz Citra (0 min)
Now I use an Ice Bath to cool it down. I get free ice from work, so I have plenty. It took me about 30 minutes last time to get it all the way down last time (80 F).
Then I slosh it in between the pot and the bucket a few times to get the aeration going. Then I add the about 2 gallons of water to get to 5 gallons. Then I use the hydrometer to take the OG. Last time I used liquid yeast, WLP001 California Ale. I boiled 4 cups water, poured the yeast in that cup, covered it and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes, took it out and pitched my yeast.
Last time I did only one stage fermentation, this time I'm going for two. Based on what Beersmith tells me, this is my projected time frame.
Primary Fermentation - 4 days ( Although, I think, I know just to wait until the bubbler calms down and fermentation has slowed it's roll. )
Secondary Fermentation (5 gal glass carboy) - 10 days
Then begin my dry hop.
2 oz Citra
1 oz Galaxy
1 oz Rakau
All of these for 7 days in a small grain bag (which the guy at my brew store said would work fine for hops.) I'm under the impression to put some sort of weight in, some sanitized bolts or something, to keep the hops closest to the center of the carboy. After the 7 days, I will take the hop bag out and proceed to bottle.
So, a total of 4-5 days in the Primary and about 17 days in the Secondary, with the last 7 being the dry hop.
In conclusion my main question is about the whole Partial boil thing. I did that last time because that's just what I thought you did. I've read since then that adding the water at the end will dilute your hop flavor and bitterness. I certainly don't want to do that. I'm assuming that is a contributor to last time why it was so un-hoppy. I also only used 3 ounces of hops, although I used them earlier in the boil to try and drive the IBUs up.
I have a 40L pot. So I assume there is enough space for a full boil. Would this affect my recipe or brewing process at all? (Other than not adding water at the end, obviously.) In beersmith I'm using Pot and Cooler (5 gal/19L) Extract/Partial Mash because none of the options are my size and I figured it was important to pick one that said extract beside it.
The projected specs from beersmith are as follows:
OG: 1.060
IBUs: 72.2
SRM: 8.8
ABV: 6.3%
So, I'm happy to hear any and all advice. Mainly I want to know if I'd be better of with a full boil, and how I should adjust my process/recipe to make that work. Also, will adding half of the LME at the end of the boil have the effect I'm looking for (lightening up the beer)? Does my dry hop time and process seem legit? I've already got the ingredients, so I'm pretty set on what hops and malt I'm using, but I'm happy to change the amounts/times.
So, for my second batch this is the recipe I have cooked up, and I also have some in general questions on brewing. For starters, based on How To Brew and forums I read, I started with 3 gallons of water last time.
.5 lbs Carapils
.5 lbs Caramel 20 (I used 60 last time, but I'm trying to lighten it up.)
I steep these grains for 30 minutes, shake out the bag gently over the pot, and throw them away.
Last time, I added 7 pounds LME. This time I thought I would add half now and half after (Forums give me the impression this could also help to lighten the beer.) Back to the recipe.
1 lbs DME
3.5 lbs LME
1 lb Table Sugar (To add to the ABV. From what I've read, it's fine to use in this way but keep it under 10%)
.75 oz Centennial (60 min)
.50 oz Simcoe (30 min)
3.5 lbs LME (15 min)
1 oz Pacifica (15 min)
1 oz Rakau (10 min)
1 oz Galaxy (5 min)
.50 oz Simcoe (5 min)
.25 oz Centennial (5 min)
1 oz Citra (0 min)
Now I use an Ice Bath to cool it down. I get free ice from work, so I have plenty. It took me about 30 minutes last time to get it all the way down last time (80 F).
Then I slosh it in between the pot and the bucket a few times to get the aeration going. Then I add the about 2 gallons of water to get to 5 gallons. Then I use the hydrometer to take the OG. Last time I used liquid yeast, WLP001 California Ale. I boiled 4 cups water, poured the yeast in that cup, covered it and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes, took it out and pitched my yeast.
Last time I did only one stage fermentation, this time I'm going for two. Based on what Beersmith tells me, this is my projected time frame.
Primary Fermentation - 4 days ( Although, I think, I know just to wait until the bubbler calms down and fermentation has slowed it's roll. )
Secondary Fermentation (5 gal glass carboy) - 10 days
Then begin my dry hop.
2 oz Citra
1 oz Galaxy
1 oz Rakau
All of these for 7 days in a small grain bag (which the guy at my brew store said would work fine for hops.) I'm under the impression to put some sort of weight in, some sanitized bolts or something, to keep the hops closest to the center of the carboy. After the 7 days, I will take the hop bag out and proceed to bottle.
So, a total of 4-5 days in the Primary and about 17 days in the Secondary, with the last 7 being the dry hop.
In conclusion my main question is about the whole Partial boil thing. I did that last time because that's just what I thought you did. I've read since then that adding the water at the end will dilute your hop flavor and bitterness. I certainly don't want to do that. I'm assuming that is a contributor to last time why it was so un-hoppy. I also only used 3 ounces of hops, although I used them earlier in the boil to try and drive the IBUs up.
I have a 40L pot. So I assume there is enough space for a full boil. Would this affect my recipe or brewing process at all? (Other than not adding water at the end, obviously.) In beersmith I'm using Pot and Cooler (5 gal/19L) Extract/Partial Mash because none of the options are my size and I figured it was important to pick one that said extract beside it.
The projected specs from beersmith are as follows:
OG: 1.060
IBUs: 72.2
SRM: 8.8
ABV: 6.3%
So, I'm happy to hear any and all advice. Mainly I want to know if I'd be better of with a full boil, and how I should adjust my process/recipe to make that work. Also, will adding half of the LME at the end of the boil have the effect I'm looking for (lightening up the beer)? Does my dry hop time and process seem legit? I've already got the ingredients, so I'm pretty set on what hops and malt I'm using, but I'm happy to change the amounts/times.