Should I eliminate a grain or two?

[Beerens]

I am trying to build a house ale. The recipe may be too complex to start with and I was thinking about taking one or more grains out of the bill. I wanted to start with a simple recipe and then build it up. Which grain(s) would you take out and why? Any other suggestions would be appreciated as well. Cheers!

Batch Size: 5.00 gal

8.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 80.00 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
0.50 lb Golden Naked Oats (10.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
0.50 lb Pale Chocolate (200.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.50 %
0.25 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) 2.50 %

0.50 oz Horizon [12.00 %] (60 min) Hops 20.9 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (15 min) Hops 14.7 IBU
1.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale

Mash at 152

 

[Double_D]

Take out the oats, chocolate (both), and the victory. Reason: you want something simple you can build on. With those specialty malts you're always going to be leaning towards some random style or another. If you just start with the pale and the crystal (I'd use 20 instead of forty, that way you just get a little caramel sweetness and less color) you can diversify into literally anything from IPAs to stouts. My basic brew is an english style bitter. 20# two row, 2# honey malt, amarillo hops and wyeast 1028. -man I should have proof read this before posting.

 

[bierhaus15]

Recipe looks pretty good as is for an American brown though it could be tweaked some. I'd take out the victory malt - with MO you really dont need any victory as your getting good biscuit malt flavor already. I'd also up the crystal malt to 0.75lb or 8% for more caramel flavor to balance out all the chocolate malts there. The oats are fine where they are but aren't really necessary, unless you are looking for a creamier mounthfeel. The pale chocolate and chocolate malts are spot on. Looks like a tasty beer.

 

[rjwhite41]

I agree with Double D. Start simple and you can build from there.

 

[Nugent]

I agree with Double D. Start simple and you can build from there.

I'm moving more and more into the simpler is better camp. Start off with a SMaSH and build from there.

 

[Golddiggie]

Pull the oats and chocolate malts out... 4oz of Victory malt will give it a slight biscuit or toasted flavor to the brew. I would increase the MO to either 9# or 10#, if you want something of moderate strength...

From what I've seen, most house, or pub, ales are more of a pale ale. With the chocolate malts in your recipe, it's in the porter/stout color range (21+). I would try to keep it under 12 if it was me.

You could go for either 60L Caramel malt, or get some of the crystal Maris Otter (55L) for the batch. That would get you to ~8.6 SRM for color (with 10# of MO and the 4oz Victory)...

The next brew I make is actually going to be:
12# UK 2 Row
1.25# Crystal Maris Otter (55L)
1oz Target (10.50%AA) 60 min
1oz Fuggles (4.00%AA) 20 min
.5oz Fuggles Whole (4.10%AA) dry hop ~7 days
Scottish Ale (Wyeast #1728)

Mash at 150-152 for 90 minutes, sparge for 10-15 minutes.

I made a slightly different version of this not too long ago, with 1# 45L crystal and the 4oz victory malt... With 11# base malt.. Came out damned good. So I plan to see how this version comes out.

 

[bierhaus15]

It would probably help if we knew what type of beer the OP is looking for. Simpler usually is better for Pale ales/bitters/ipa. Though for an American brown that's not a bad recipe. Marris Otter and victory is redundant in proper english ales.

 

[rjwhite41]

I'm moving more and more into the simpler is better camp. Start off with a SMaSH and build from there.

My beer got a lot better when I started going simple. Especially when I started using technique instead of ingredients to get the flavors I'm looking for. I always shake my head when I see recipes that take up my whole screen.

 

[Golddiggie]

It would probably help if we knew what type of beer the OP is looking for. Simpler usually is better for Pale ales/bitters/ipa. Though for an American brown that's not a bad recipe. Marris Otter and victory is redundant in proper english ales.

It would be easier if we knew what kind of ale the OP is looking to make...

As for victory malt along with MO... Maybe he's looking for more biscuit character than just MO will give the brew... I'm adding it to UK 2 Row (no MO) in my recipe. I might remove it and just increase the crystal MO a little bit... Actually, that sounds like a better idea, so that I can see what the crystal MO brings to the brew... I am planning on using it in a SMaSH recipe, along with regular MO at some point...

 

[Beerens]

I was looking for a beer that was a bit on the roasty side, but accessible to most people. Something drinkable with a smooth mouthfeel and a bit of sweetness. I did not want a pale ale though. I was looking for something more. That is why I thought about adding the chocolate for the roasty and some oats to smooth it out.

I have gone and tweaked it a bit by eliminating the victory and am considering eliminating the oats as well. I liked the idea of kicking up the crystal to give it some sweetness.

I hear what you guys are saying about keeping it simple. I am concerned about how long it will take to build up a recipe from scratch. I can only brew once a month. If I start with a smash how long will it take me to get to where I want to go?

Thank you all for the advice!

Cheers

EDIT: I am looking for more malty than roasty.

 

[Golddiggie]

You could use a small amount of roasted barley in it instead of the chocolate... Try the crystal MO (Rebel Brewer stocks it), which is a 55L caramel malt.

I usually plan 2-4 weeks on the yeast before bottling, depending on the OG... For what you're looking to make, I'd say 3-4 weeks on the yeast would be good. Depending on how tight you can control the fermentation temperatures to not get off flavors. I would taste it after 2 weeks as well as check the SG... Again at closer to 3 weeks to see how it's progressing (especially first time with a recipe)... If the SG is identical, then you have your FG. Then it's just a matter of how it tastes compared with what you want.

 

[Double_D]

I am concerned about how long it will take to build up a recipe from scratch. .

Buy this book: "Designing Great Beers" by Dan Brown. It has history on specific styles, what types of malt are usually included as well as what was used to make the beers at the competitions with ratios of malt and specific grain bills. Read the book and you'll be writing your own recipes in no time. Take all these suggestions with a grain of salt or you'll never be confident on your own.