Just wingin' it!

[StarksChef]

Went to the lhbs today with out a planned recipe. I was thinking of doing a SMaSH beer, but after chatting with the staff I decided to add a couple specialty grains. Here is what I came up with let me know what you think.
11# pale 2 row us, .5# cara pils, .5# Munich 6.5, and .5# German cara red.
I stuck with only using one hop Chinook. I did 1.5oz fwh, 1oz @ 15, .5 oz@ 10 & 5 min. I plan to dry hop 2 oz in secondary after 14 days.
I did a 60min boil and came out with 5.5 gal. Pitched Wyeast American ale II.
OG came out at 1.056 and the sample tasted great.
Just curious as to what you guys think. Thanks!

 

[tektonjp]

Sounds like you made beer! Yippeeeee!

 

[william_shakes_beer]

You....went....to...the....lhbw.......without.....a.....recipie? did you at least remember to wear pants? I have at least 5 future batches planned up with index cards of ingredients, ready to go.

 

[unionrdr]

I've done something like this before. Got to JW Dover,they didn't have everything for a planned batch. I looked around at what they had,& made something else. But I usually have a recipe with a list in hand. Otherwise,I can be like a kid in a candy store.

 

[boscobeans]

I've done something like this before. Got to JW Dover,they didn't have everything for a planned batch. I looked around at what they had,& made something else. But I usually have a recipe with a list in hand. Otherwise,I can be like a kid in a candy store.

A little of this and oh, that looks good maybe a half pound of this and a few ounces of that... Love it. As long as you don't get crazy it's all beer and "beer is good".:rockin:


bosco

 

[edmanster]

Looks good and I bet it's gonna be a keeper in the rotation for ya!!

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,it's fun when you learn enough about what goes together. Let's go drink some beeeeeer!

 

[StarksChef]

Yeah it's looking good. Big lag time on the yeast as I don't have the means to do a proper starter. Just need to convince the swmbo, because she barely handles the tick of the airlicks in the kitchen. I can only imagine a stir bar spinning away for 24 hours lol.

 

[bobbrews]

The only thing that you may not like is the high bitterness in relation to the gravity of the beer.

1.5 oz. Chinook at 60 for a 1.056 OG IPA is overkill IMO.

And for this style, I would much rather have one grain and four different hops vs. four different grains and one hop... not that I would do either. I'm not a SMaSH fan at all. There's beauty in blending when it comes to IPAs.

 

[StarksChef]

If my calculations were correct it should come around 75 ibu. But I just didn't taste that in the gravity sample. My question is does everyone use mesh hop bags during the boil, or just chuck 'em in? Is there any advantage either way? Or I just love big hops lol.

 

[JordanThomas]

Pellets? I just chuck them in. I use a paint strainer back over my big funnel when I pour it into the fermenter. That keeps the big chunks out, but it isn't even necessary considering it will all compact nicely after a few weeks.

 

[neosapien]

looks a bit like a rogue dead guy clone. i'd say you probably made a pretty tasty beer.

 

[StarksChef]

Sounds like you made beer! Yippeeeee!

Still my favorite post lol! Yippeeeee!
Might have to make that my sig.

 

[ThatGeekGuy]

It's kind of hard to go wrong. One of the LHBS has a beer on tap called Grain Room Surprise, made from the dribs and drabs of grains left over from the customer self-serve grain scoop pails. Never the same, always pretty good....

 

[StarksChef]

So I put this one in the keg last night. Looks/tastes great.

Two questions though.
1. Is a TG of 1.019 to high. My house got really cold and I feel like it might have stalled it. SG WAS 1.055.
2. I have never keg conditioned before. I since my schedule got out of whack due to a vacation I have two batches ready. My black IPA is kegged and will be force carbed. I sanitized the keg boiled and added 3 oz. of dextrose to the keg and racked on top of it. How long should it take to carb, and is this the right procedure/ammt. Of sugar?

Thanks for all your help guys. Maybe in a few more batches I will be posting in the big boy threads lol.

Oh, also will the priming sugar kick start the yeasties and help lower the t.g./ over carb the beer?

 

[unionrdr]

That FG is def a bit high. For an OG of 1.055,I'd expect it to get down to 1.012-1.014. The sugar might help,but you need a decent amount of yeast to get it to finish. Racking it off the yeast cake usually isn't a good idea either.