Storm&Anchor clone (partial mash)

[Emiyanez]

Hi all,

I am new in the forum and quite new to brewing, but I am really having fun and learning a lot at the same time. After some extract batches (tweaked with hop additions, dry hopping or some wheat grains to increase body and head retention), I would like to do a partial mash (hopefully not a partial mess). I am living in Switzerland and there is a commercial craft beer around here that I really like. After a lot of reading, I decided to slightly modify a recipe for a standard partial mash IPA in order to make it a bit closer to the "Strom&Anchor" brew that I go crazy about. I would like to have a lower ABV clone so I will be in the lower range for an IPA.

This is the recipe I have in mind but I would like to have some advice from the experts in the forum to try to improve it as much as possible:

General values:
Final volume: 23 litres (5.5gal)
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV (standard): 5.33%
IBU (tinseth): 43.69

Fermentables:
2kg (4.5lb) Maris Otter
0.25kg (0.5lb) CaraMunich I
0.25kg (0.5lb) Flaked Oats
2kg (4.5lb) Light Dry Malt Extract

Hop additions:
75 gr (2.5 oz) Columbus, @ 60min (34 IBUs)
50 gr (1.75 oz) Chinhook, @ 15min (10 IBUs)
20 gr (0.75 oz) Simcoe, @ 0min
20 gr (0.75 oz) Mosaic, @ 0min
30 gr (1 oz) Simcoe, dry hopping for 5 days
30 gr (1 oz) Mosaic, dry hopping for 5 days

Other additions/ingredients:
1 teaspoon Irish moss @ 10min
Safale US-05 from starter

General procedure:
I will mash the grains in 8 litres (2gal) of water at 65°C (150°F) for 60min. I will then boil and do the hop additions in an 8 litres volume as well. 10min before the total boiling time, I will add the Irish moss and the 2kg LDME (4.5lb). I will cool down the mix and transfer it to a plastic fermenter, adding water to a final volume of 23 litres (5.5gals). Pick the yeast from the starter at around 22°C and leave it in primary for a month (taking density measurements to control the fermentation process). I will ferment at 18°C (65°F). No secondary. I will dry hop with the indicated amounts for 5 days, transfer to a bottling bucket and bottle with 6.5gr of table sugar per liter (25 oz per gal).

This is more or less the idea. Any comments, critics or advice for improvement?

Thanks a lot in advance and I am happy to be part of this community!

 

[friarsmith]

Looks good. A few suggestions/ideas:

*I'm not sure if this is a hazy or clear white IPA. If you want to maximize the haze, you might consider putting the flaked oats in a separate steeping bag, then after mashing, gently wring out the oats bag into the kettle. You'll hear differing opinions on this, but it is generally NOT a good idea to wring out steeping bags with barley due to the chance of tannin extraction.

*With the partial wort boil, consider adding half of the DME early in the boil and half in the last 15 minutes. You'll get better bittering hops utilization the first 30-45 minutes of the boil with less viscous wort.

*I've had better results with just rehydrating dry yeasts during the brew day vs making a starter. One pack of US-05 should be enough for this gravity. Just be sure to oxygenate really well. Two rehydrated packs would be better.

*Thanks for the metric conversion. Most of us Yanks don't like numbers easily divisible by 10

 

[Emiyanez]

Thanks a lot Friarsmith!

It is definitely not a hazy IPA in any way. The idea of the flaked oats is coming from a friend that is a quite experinece all-grain brewer, although I am not so sure about including them... He told me that moderate amounts of oats provide a silky/velvety (he is italian and he loves this kind of words) mouth feeling that compensate the sometimes dry feeling of extract batches getting a bit closer to an all-grain brew.

It is great to have such a useful feedback!

 

[Emiyanez]

Hi again,

What do you think about 2.5oz of Columbus @ 60min for bittering? Brewersfriend simulator calculates 34 IBUs but in a different software I get more than 120 IBUs. I would like the beer to be around 40 IBUs so how much Columbus should I add? Which is your experience with IBUs calculators?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[friarsmith]

I've used BF for three years and about 80 recipes. Sounds like you need to check the AA% assigned (or boil time) to Columbus in the worksheet. 2.5oz Columbus at 60 mins is WAY more than 40 IBUs.