My First Recipe Attempt - any advice?

[lorvan]

Hey all, I'm planning this for a brewday tomorrow. Any advice on my recipe? I designed in BeerSmith, and am aiming for an Amber ale - a good balance between hoppy and malty. Small batch, BIAB. I should also note that I'm using what I have on hand, so if you think I need to adjust, I can change ratios etc, but don't have a lot of other ingredients on hand! Thanks


Batch Size (fermenter): 2.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated FG: 1.015 SG
Estimated Color: 11.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 38.8 IBUs
Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
2 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) (48.5 %)
12.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) (18.2 %)
10.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) (15.2 %)
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) (12.1 %)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) (6.1 %)
0.40 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - FWH 17.2 IBUs
0.30 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min 14.3 IBUs
0.20 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min 7.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg US-05

Mash for 77 min @ 154F

 

[mspindler]

Well, that's over 18% crystal which seems like alot. I'd cut the crystal in half and use more vienna. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of crystal...

 

[lorvan]

Thanks for your input... What I'm trying to do is have a balance between the malt and hop... I know it can be done so that the sweetness isn't overpowering... Yooper's broken leg house amber does this, and though I haven't made it myself, it sounds like a great beer.


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[Demus]

I'd also throttle back on the crystal 20. If you're after malty try mashing a little warmer, say 156. Crystal 20 gets you sweet, not necessarily malty. There is a difference....


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[Yooper]

It takes some practice to go heavy on the crystal malt, but in no case should you go over 15%- and even then only if it's heavily bittered and hopped so the beer is balanced. In my case, it's a special case and the caramel flavors are key, but it is bittered to balance well and in generally it's not a great idea!

You've only got bittering hops (all at 30 minutes or earlier) and no hops flavor or aroma additions, so it's already not balanced well although it should be bittered enough.

Mashing at 154 may mean it's especially cloying.

I'd change up the hopping, reduce the crystal, and reduce the mash temperature for sure.

 

[lorvan]

Oh boy, perhaps I'm in over my head...

Thanks for helping me out, I appreciate it! I'm still a noob but I always want to try my own way, for better or worse.

I'll have a look at your recipe again, Yooper, for some hopping inspiration - I am still restricted by what malts I have in the house at the moment, so that's why I can't just use your recipe. I'm just a little conflicted with the two different pieces of advice - higher or lower temps? I thought the higher temp will get me a sweeter and fuller-bodied beer, but I'm not sure...

 

[Yooper]

Oh boy, perhaps I'm in over my head...

Thanks for helping me out, I appreciate it! I'm still a noob but I always want to try my own way, for better or worse.

I'll have a look at your recipe again, Yooper, for some hopping inspiration - I am still restricted by what malts I have in the house at the moment, so that's why I can't just use your recipe. I'm just a little conflicted with the two different pieces of advice - higher or lower temps? I thought the higher temp will get me a sweeter and fuller-bodied beer, but I'm not sure...

Yes, a high temperature mash would favor a sweeter and fuller bodied beer- BUT if you've got a ton of crystal/caramel malts, that will happen and if the mash temp is too high, it'll be a sickly sweet 'thick' beer.

Good beer is all about balance- balance of sweet malts, bitter hops, etc- so you want to make sure you have the right balance. You can play with the ingredients, and since you're leaning to sweet, then mash lower so it fully attenuates. That will make a big difference!

 

[lorvan]

Awesome, thanks so much! I'll post back my recipe after I play with it a bit...

 

[Demus]

Don't let us scare you from experimenting! Just remember the sweetness from crystal malts and high mash temps is different. I find a warmer mash to just be full bodied and malty, not necessarily that sweet. Lower number crystal malts just seem straight sweet, but of course even that depends on the brand and how it was made. The best way to learn is read a lot and experiment for yourself. Also keep in mind the purpose of each ingredient you use. C20 is for adding body and sweetness without too much color. C120 is more in line for the outcome of your amber. Good luck and enjoy!


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[lorvan]

Ok, here's what I did:

- scaled back C20
- increased Vienna
- copied hops schedule from Yooper's BLHA
- lowered mash temp

Batch Size (fermenter): 2.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.054 SG
Estimated FG: 1.012 SG
Estimated Color: 11.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 37.6 IBUs
Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
2 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) (48.5 %)
12.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) (18.2 %)
15.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) (15.2 %)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) (12.1 %)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) (6.1 %)

0.60 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min 28.5 IBUs
0.40 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min 6.9 IBUs
0.20 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min 1.9 IBUs
0.20 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min 0.4 IBUs
0.20 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Steep 0.0 min 0.0 IBUs

1.0 pkg US-05

Dry hop .5 oz each Willamette and Cascade 7 days

Mash for 75 min @ 150F

Looking forward to this "learning experience" lol! If it doesn't work out, I've already learned a lot... and it's a small batch, so oh well... Thanks again for your help

 

[Omahawk]

2 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) (48.5 %)
12.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) (18.2 %)
15.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) (15.2 %)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) (12.1 %)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) (6.1 %)

0.60 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min 28.5 IBUs
0.40 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min 6.9 IBUs
0.20 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min 1.9 IBUs
0.20 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min 0.4 IBUs
0.20 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Steep 0.0 min 0.0 IBUs

Check your malt %s and alpha %s.

The malt % calcs are off - just making sure this isn't affecting your gravity and SRM calcs. The crystal levels look better on this go, but %s are wrong.

Is it just a coincidence that your Willamette and Cascade are the same alpha, or is that a typo? Just confirm it's not affecting your IBU calcs.

 

[kh54s10]

Check your malt %s and alpha %s.

The malt % calcs are off - just making sure this isn't affecting your gravity and SRM calcs. The crystal levels look better on this go, but %s are wrong.

Is it just a coincidence that your Willamette and Cascade are the same alpha, or is that a typo? Just confirm it's not affecting your IBU calcs.

Just looked at my inventory and I have Willamette at 4.3% and Cascade at 6.8%

The difference would make a pretty large change in the bitterness, flavor and aroma.

 

[lorvan]

Yea, sorry. My post was a bit sloppy... I just copy pasted my original post and didn't adjust the percentages, just weights. It should be correct in beersmith


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[lorvan]

Update: my toddler found my fermenter in the cold pantry... And well, anyone with kids knows how that can go. It developed some king of infection. I'm dissappointed, I was looking forward to learning from this one, even if it didn't quite work out too tasty.