No Crystal. Strange OG. Will this be OK?

[nickrjsmith]

Hi,

I did a brew tonight but realised last min I had no Crytsal left. I substituted the 200g of crystal with 100g of Amber?


Ingredients
------------------

Mash
---------------
3.8kg Pale Malt
100g Amber Malt
200g Maize
100g Flaked Barley

Boil
-----------------
40g WGV Hops
25g Fuggles


I will dry hop 35g of Goldings


a) I've never done a brew with no crystal before so what can I expect?
b) Will this be too much Amber?
c) The OG of this batch is 1052 which seems pretty high. Is this down to the Maize and Barley? Or is this down to my new mashtun in a coolbox?

thanks for any help.

n

 

[Reno_eNVy]

a) Really? Wow. Well you're going to have slightly less body (depending also on mash temp) and less malty sweetness that is characteristic of crystal.

b) Nah definitely not too much. 100g of amber is only ~2.4% of your total grist. In my opinion you could have gone with more.

c) What was your expected OG? What is your brewhouse efficiency %?

 

[barrog]

With no crystal couldn't you just up your mash temp and/or boil down some first running?

 

[boostsr20]

What mash temps? I like to mash little higher if I'm not using crystal and making a beer under 1.050.

 

[Calder]

a) I've never done a brew with no crystal before so what can I expect?

What were you making, what yeast. Probably lose a little sweetness, but may not notice it. I brew a number of beers without crystal, and don't even think about it.

b) Will this be too much Amber?

I don't know what Amber is. 4 ozs of anything is not too much ....... If it was Peat smoked Malt, you might be reaching the limit of drinkability; but it's not.

c) The OG of this batch is 1052 which seems pretty high. Is this down to the Maize and Barley? Or is this down to my new mashtun in a coolbox?

I don't think I have brewed anything below 1.055 in the last couple of years.

4.2 Kgs = = 9.25 lbs. @ 80% efficiency =~277 points. In 6 US gallons (5 UK gallons) = 1.046. To get 1.052, you would need to be at 95% mash efficiency, which is pretty high; certainly higher than I have ever had. possible to make a beer that low

 

[nickrjsmith]

Thanks guys.

I'm thinking that I could have used more Amber now... but at least i didn't use too much.

I checked the Gravity again this morning. After adding 300g of demerera sugar at the end of the boil, i'm now at 1058. Which is about right for the sugar. I just think the OG after the grain was pretty high.

I mashed around 145 for 90 mins. A little low... would this have had any affect on the OG?

 

[boostsr20]

Not really. It just means your wort is going to be really fermentable. Your not going to get much sweetness and you should have a dry beer depending on yeast.

 

[nickrjsmith]

Interesting.... I used a Windsor Ales Yeast and this doesn't attenuate fully that often, leaving a few point of gravity left over... and a sweeter beer. I think this yeast may be a perfect mash for the low temp mash.

What do you guys think?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Oh... you're using Windsor. Yeah it actually should have the effect you're describing. Keeping it cool (low 60's) and without big temperature changes will help as well.