eggraid101
Well-Known Member
So I've got several AG batches under my belt, and I'm looking for a little guidance from you experts!
Lighter ales (Centennial Blonde & a couple IPA's) have come out delicious, I love them.
I did one (extract) stout last winter, and I just kegged a brown ale this past weekend. The stout had a kind of acidic taste to it, and not as much body as I wanted. The initial tastes of the nut brown are a little better on the body side, but it has a similar acidity to it.
It's Lil' Sparky's Nut Brown recipe, roughly. Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.6 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
1.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.3 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.1 %
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50%] (60 min) Hops 14.7 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 8.1 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale
Mash Profile
Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Mash Grain Weight: 11.75 lb
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 4.21 gal
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 14.69 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F 60 min
My mash temp on this brown was a little lower than I wanted, it was right around 152 to start, and finished about 149. Would having a higher Mash temp give it more body?
I've looked over Palmer's book, and tried to nail it down, but I'm wondering if it isn't a water problem. One thing Palmer says is:
"If you are making a Stout or perhaps a mellow dark ale or lager, one thing you can do to take some of the bite out of the dark grains is to add them later in the mash. Add the Black Patent or Roasted Barley during the last 10 minutes before you sparge. This is one means of coping with soft water (low in carbonates) when making dark beers. Saving the acidic malts until the end will reduce their acidifying effect on the mash."
I'm having trouble figuring out exactly the bicarbonate level, etc in our water, too.
Here is the link to the water report, I downloaded it from this page
http://www.loudounwater.org/water/quality/report.cfm?pl1=4&pl2=1
Thanks for any input!
Lighter ales (Centennial Blonde & a couple IPA's) have come out delicious, I love them.
I did one (extract) stout last winter, and I just kegged a brown ale this past weekend. The stout had a kind of acidic taste to it, and not as much body as I wanted. The initial tastes of the nut brown are a little better on the body side, but it has a similar acidity to it.
It's Lil' Sparky's Nut Brown recipe, roughly. Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.6 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
1.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.3 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.1 %
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50%] (60 min) Hops 14.7 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 8.1 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale
Mash Profile
Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Mash Grain Weight: 11.75 lb
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 4.21 gal
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 14.69 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F 60 min
My mash temp on this brown was a little lower than I wanted, it was right around 152 to start, and finished about 149. Would having a higher Mash temp give it more body?
I've looked over Palmer's book, and tried to nail it down, but I'm wondering if it isn't a water problem. One thing Palmer says is:
"If you are making a Stout or perhaps a mellow dark ale or lager, one thing you can do to take some of the bite out of the dark grains is to add them later in the mash. Add the Black Patent or Roasted Barley during the last 10 minutes before you sparge. This is one means of coping with soft water (low in carbonates) when making dark beers. Saving the acidic malts until the end will reduce their acidifying effect on the mash."
I'm having trouble figuring out exactly the bicarbonate level, etc in our water, too.
Here is the link to the water report, I downloaded it from this page
http://www.loudounwater.org/water/quality/report.cfm?pl1=4&pl2=1
Thanks for any input!