Recipe from Scratch

[Asylum88]

Hi All,

Below is the extract recipe I created myself from scratch using Brewers Friend. I already brewed this last night and it is now fermenting. I want this to be an IPA but might of used too much steeping grains and may be too malty/sweet for an IPA. Would this be an American Amber Ale instead? What do you guys think of this recipe?

Batch size:
2 gallons

Starting Water:
2.5 gallons

Fermentables:
3.15lbs of Maillard Malts Gold Extract - 4L 36PPG
0.5lbs of crushed Briess 10L Caramel Crystal Malt (this was steeped until close to boil)

Hops:
0.1oz Amarillo 7.8AA - 60min
1oz Cascade 7.2AA - 15min
2oz Cascade 7.2AA - 1min
3oz Amarillo 7.8AA - 1min

Finings:
Half a Whirlfloc tablet at 10min left in boil

Yeast:
Safale US-05 American Ale Yeast - Dry
I did not rehydrate. I just poured on top of wort evenly. I never rehydrate dry yeast.

Final ABV should be 6.2 percent

IBU around 60

 

[kh54s10]

It is more the Gold extract than the C-10 steeped that make this one more amber. So, you will have a nice India Amber Ale..

Not rehydrating for that batch is probably fine. But I would suggest doing it for 5 gallon batches.

Long ago I read on a Fermentis pack? , not to rehydrate. Then the same day in searching the internet, found a video of a lab tech for the same company saying that you SHOULD rehydrate......

 

[Asylum88]

It is more the Gold extract than the C-10 steeped that make this one more amber. So, you will have a nice India Amber Ale..

Not rehydrating for that batch is probably fine. But I would suggest doing it for 5 gallon batches.

Long ago I read on a Fermentis pack? , not to rehydrate. Then the same day in searching the internet, found a video of a lab tech for the same company saying that you SHOULD rehydrate......

Sounds good! Thank you for the info. I only do 2 gallon batches but if I attempt a 5 gallon at some point, I will make sure to rehydrate.

 

[Asylum88]

Does anyone else have anything they want to say about my first recipe I created from scratch? I am pretty excited to see how it turns out!

 

[mtnbrwr]

Looks pretty good. I didn't see any dry hops in your recipe, which are by no means required, but typical of an IPA (even if your recipe leans more towards Amber). When building your IPA malt bills, go with what you like. Some people really like a super simple clean malt bill, others like to throw malts at it that will provide more character, but can somewhat contradict hops. I prefer a little more malt in mine, so I think what you have should turn out quite tasty.

Also, I have both rehydrated and not rehydrated for 5 gallon batches and I haven't seen much of a difference. If/when you jump up in size, just go with what makes you feel comfortable and I promise that will make your beer taste better.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Does anyone else have anything they want to say about my first recipe I created from scratch?

There appears to be a related thread over here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/steeping-grains-question.653542/#post-8358512 so hopefully I won't offer too many "conflicting" ideas .

Would this be an American Amber Ale instead?

Probably not. The malts and malt flavors that are typical for an amber ale are missing.

What do you guys think of this recipe?

I like the aromas / flavors from Amarillo & Cascade hops. The beer may be a little sweet due to the high percentage of C 10. Looks like you may end up with a interesting "strong" pale ale.

Steeping
For the steeping process, are you adding the crystal / roasted malts at "flame-on" then removing them at around 160F? There are a couple of kit makers that use this approach and it works well.

But be aware that there are three different ways to steep (and a couple of variations of those ways).

With crystal / roasted malts, one can "cold steep" them overnight. For some people, this results in flavors that are more appealing.

One can also steep crystal / roasted malts at around 150F for around 30 minutes. Many kit makers use this approach as the time / temperature is similar to a partial or full mash. This is often the steeping process that people mention in homebrewing forums.

Boil time
Especially with hop forward styles, DME/LME doesn't need to be boiled, just pasteurized (for safety). So boil times for extract based recipes can reasonably be 30 minutes or 15 minutes. Consider removing the 60 minute hop addition and adjusting the 15 minute hop addition to get the desired level of bitterness.

Hop timing
With traditional aroma and flavor hop timings (15 and 5), I tend to get less intense, but more durable, flavors and aromas. Oxidation is less of a concern.

With whirlpool hops, I tend to get much more intense flavors and aromas - which can be a lot of fun. But oxidation becomes a major concern.

Dry yeast - rehydrate or not?
For the dry yeast that I use (three different yeast labs), in mid-2018, the instructions for yeast usage are noticeably different between the labs. One recommends pitching dry (or re-hydrating), one lab recommends re-hydrating (but it's ok to pitch dry), and the other lab recommend re-hydrating (and I didn't see a mention of pitching dry).

Links:

• Tips for Excellent Extract Beers: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=31159.msg405242#msg405242
• Making Fantastic Extract Beers indistinguishable from All-Grain: http://barleypopmaker.info/2015/07/...eers-indistinguishable-from-all-grain-part-1/
• 15 minute boil: http://beerandwinejournal.com/15-minute-pale-ale/
• hop stand / hop sampler experiments at Basic Brewing Radio (various podcasts in 2018). IIRC, the March 1, 2018 episode describes their approach to "no boil" recipes for learning about "hop steep" or "whirlpool" hop flavors / aromas.
• https://fermentis.com/fermentation-solutions/you-create-beer/
• http://www.lallemandbrewing.com/products/
• https://mangrovejacks.com/collections/craft-series-yeasts