Second AG brew, how does my recipe sound?

[RippaBitta]

Hi All,

I have posted previously on username RippaBitta, but it didnt seem to want to work today so I signed in through Facebook. So this isnt my first post on this forum. Anyhow...!

After many extract brews, partial brews (BIAB) and my first AG brew which turned out to be a great success , I have decided to make up a second batch.

In my previous posts I noted that I malted my own barley, so the ingredients I am working with are fairly basic. My first AG brew used 15kg of untoasted base malt and I ended up with a ABV% of 4.8, a total of 50 litres. Hops used were Vic secret for bittering and El Dorado hops for flavour and aroma. My only problem with the brew was that it is a bit tooo bitter..this may be due to the large addition of Vic secret hops (50g 60 min boil), it has quite a high AA of 15.9%.

This brew will be as follows:

10kg of untoasted base malt barey
1.8kg of roasted barley (Amber), it's 1.8kg due to fact thats all i had left to roast.
1kg of rice malt syrup
50g of Cascade hops for 60 min boil
50g of Cascade hops for 15-20 min boil

This will be brewed in a mash tun.

Hoping to end up with a similar total to my previous batch ~50 litres.

I would like to know whether I should go with the Cascade or something else like Warrior or Galaxy. I would like to purchase a single hop for both hop additions. I did a pale ale with Cascade and really enjoyed the citrus notes it gave.

I am adding the rice malt syrup to help with smoothness and to bump up the OG a bit, anyone used this malt before? I have read a few positive posts regarding this ingredient addition.

Any further advice would be much appreciated, I am planning on making this brew this Friday.

Cheers!

RippaBitta

 

[guitarguy6]

This is personal preference but I love cascade. In my ale recipes I usually add some at 10min, 5min and flame out. You can get 1lb of each centennail and cascade for about $12 each and make a lot of good ales with them. To me 1.8kg seems like a lot of roasted barley depending how much you roasted it. I put 1/2lb roasted barley into a 12lb grain bill of a brown ale and thought it was to much.

 

[djfriesen]

This is personal preference but I love cascade. In my ale recipes I usually add some at 10min, 5min and flame out. You can get 1lb of each centennail and cascade for about $12 each and make a lot of good ales with them. To me 1.8kg seems like a lot of roasted barley depending how much you roasted it. I put 1/2lb roasted barley into a 12lb grain bill of a brown ale and thought it was to much.

Assuming it's self-roasted (did I understand the OP correctly?), and "amber", it's only gonna be around 35L. This shouldn't be a problem at 15% of the grist, I wouldn't think. I assume the roasted barley you used was ~300L?

 

[guitarguy6]

Assuming it's self-roasted (did I understand the OP correctly?), and "amber", it's only gonna be around 35L. This shouldn't be a problem at 15% of the grist, I wouldn't think. I assume the roasted barley you used was ~300L?

Ya I missed the amber part. I used roasted barley from my LHBS which I think was 300L.

 

[ong]

I'm wondering about your previous recipe -- that is an awfully low ABV for 15kg of grain in a 50l batch. Did you take OG and FG readings? I wonder if the home-malted grain has lower potential extract than commercial?

 

[ong]

But to answer your question, if this is going to be a pale ale, or something of that ilk, it could use a bit more hops (to my taste, anyway). I show about 17 IBUs for a 50l batch. This would be kind of American lager-level hoppiness (but maybe that's what you're going for).

 

[RippaBitta]

I think you must be right ONG, this was my first attempt at malting barley and I am not sure whether I let the grain malt to its full potential before drying!

Definitely a learning experience which I am willing to try again to better improve my final gravity.

 

[RippaBitta]

This is personal preference but I love cascade. In my ale recipes I usually add some at 10min, 5min and flame out. You can get 1lb of each centennail and cascade for about $12 each and make a lot of good ales with them. To me 1.8kg seems like a lot of roasted barley depending how much you roasted it. I put 1/2lb roasted barley into a 12lb grain bill of a brown ale and thought it was to much.

Cheers guitarguy6, seems my LHBS only has CITRA and CASCADE of the citrus hops so no CENTENNIAL.

I will side with the CASCADE!!

Cheers,

RippaBitta

 

[RippaBitta]

Quick Update:

Beer was held in primary for 10 days @ around 22 degrees celcius.

OG: 1.052 FG: 1.008 = ~5.8 % ABV.

Bottled on 10th day of primary, was dry hopped with an additional 100g of Centennial 4 days prior to bottling.

Today I popped one open just for scientific purposes...wanted to know whether I was dealing with a ruined batch or an absolute treasure.

Luckily I am dealing with the later, the beer has satisfactory carbonation and holds a beautiful golden colour along with a creamy head. The beer is mildly bitter and has hints of orange throughout. I would say this is one of my most successful brews, its so well rounded. The clarity of the beer is passable also, hopefully with time it will clear further. In my next batches I will include additions of irish moss and gelatin to help with the clarity.

Can't wait to see how this beer will taste in a month.

Cheers and Merry Christmas.

RippaBitta

 

[RippaBitta]

I must add that I did change the recipe slightly, 2kg of rice malt syrup was added along with an additional dry hop of 100g centennial.

100g centennial was used during the boil at stages of 60/20/10 and 5.


RippaBitta