Summer beer recipe, few questions!

[mitrrek]

Hey everyone, I'm a sort of beginner home brewer here but have been reading about it for a while and finally decided to actually do it seriously. This is my first all-grain batch because it just seemed like extracts was cheating. Well anyway on to the important stuff, my dad is coming down to visit me in May and I figured I'd make him a batch of beer that we can bring down to the beach and . I used Beersmith 2 and the adaptation of someones recipe that I found on here with a few changes(if I find out who I'll edit with the credits).


In case you didn't want to read all that, my question is how does this look so far? Anything I should cut back on/add more of? Any other ideas?

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Dads Brew
Brewer: Tim
Asst Brewer: 
Style: American Wheat or Rye Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0) 

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.48 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.73 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal   
Bottling Volume: 4.78 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 3.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 33.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 71.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
5 lbs                 Pale Malt (Briess 2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)    Grain         1        50.0 %        
5 lbs                 Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)                Grain         2        50.0 %        
0.30 oz               Magnum [13.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min         Hop           3        15.0 IBUs     
1.67 g                Grains of Paradise (Boil 15.0 mins)      Spice         7        -             
2.92 oz               Zested Lemon Peel (Boil 15.0 mins)        Spice         6        -             
0.8 pkg               Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) [25.00 m Yeast         9        -             
0.50 oz               Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min          Hop           8        2.0 IBUs      
0.40 oz               Zythos [10.92 %] - Boil 15.0 min         Hop           5        8.1 IBUs      
0.30 oz               Palisade [7.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min        Hop           4        8.4 IBUs      


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs
----------------------------
Name              Description                             Step Temperat Step Time     
Mash In           Add 12.51 qt of water at 161.4 F        150.0 F       75 min        

Sparge: Fly sparge with 4.55 gal water at 168.0 F
Notes:
------
12.5 brix

Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading.


Tim

 

[day_trippr]

With that much wheat, you might want to add rice hulls to the mash...

Cheers!

 

[TheCatman]

Only bittering hops?

 

[mitrrek]

With that much wheat, you might want to add rice hulls to the mash...

Cheers!

Haha, well I was trying to keep the estimated IBU around 29ish. So I should dial back the wheat a bit huh? By how much, if you don't mind me asking?

Only bittering hops?

Should I add some strictly aroma hops as well? Zythos is listed as aromatic&bittering, same with Cascades. The Magnums are the one with the high alpha acids.


Thanks for your input guys, much appreciated.

Tim

 

[TheCatman]

You have less than an ounce of hops for more than 5 gallons of wort. Having all of it at the beginning of the boil will give you no hop flavor or aroma at all.

I'd add the zythos at the same time as the lemon peel, and the cascade sometime in the last 5 minutes. Just increase the quantites to keep your target IBUs the same. That's personally what I'd do if this was my recipe

 

[mitrrek]

Thanks for the prompt response Catman. I updated it a little, took 2 lbs off the grain bill as well as added more hops. Does that look a little better? Trying to figure out all grain is hard. But I guess I have to learn at some point

Tim


Edit: I could substitute palisade hops instead of the magnum, I'd be able to add more hop weight that way but it wouldn't be as bitter.

 

[TheCatman]

For such a big batch, I'd leave the grain bill how it was. By dropping the 2 lbs, your target OG dropped to 1.038. That's VERY light, unless that's what you're going for lol

Not sure if it's a typo, but it says Cascade at 55 min. I'd move that all the way to the end of the boil (5 min), which will contribute no IBUs, but give you some awesome aroma. Since that would drop your overall IBUs, add as much palisade as needed at 60 min (alongside the magnum) to get your IBUs back up to where you want.

 

[bailiff48]

My biggest suggestion would be to use fresh lemon zest instead of dried lemon peel. With the profile you have, there's not much malt or hop complexity so you should be okay with zesting only one lemon.

Regarding the hops, it really depends on what you are going for. Do you want the spice of the Grains of Paradise and lemon to come through more prominently than the hop aroma? If so, then I think you are fine where you are at, but if you want some added citrus/hop aroma, then yes, definitely up your late hop additions. Add some Cascade or Tettnang at flameout for a good combination.

Ok, I lied. Biggest suggestion is to not over-think it. What you have will produce a fairly mild wheat beer with some citrus aspects to it. You will brew it and soon you will drink it. Most likely you and your father will enjoy it. Could it be improved, well, yes. The fun of all grain brewing (and brewing in general, really) is to try something, see how it turns out and learn from it! The more you do all grain, the more you will learn about the individual ingredients. Above all, enjoy it!

 

[day_trippr]

Haha, well I was trying to keep the estimated IBU around 29ish. So I should dial back the wheat a bit huh? By how much, if you don't mind me asking?[...]

The rice hull suggestion was to help avoid a stuck mash, not to cut down the grain bill. Unless you're pretty confident in your lautering system in the face of that much wheat, it's a cheap and effective way to make runoff go smoothly...

Cheers!

 

[mitrrek]

The rice hull suggestion was to help avoid a stuck mash, not to cut down the grain bill. Unless you're pretty confident in your lautering system in the face of that much wheat, it's a cheap and effective way to make runoff go smoothly...

Cheers!

I've never heard that, thanks for the tip. I'll look into that!

Also, I updated the recipe again with the 10lb grain bill and the hops. Will this produce a hoppy beer? Thanks for all the help you guys, I'll take all the tips and hints in mind. I know that it's about trial and error but I'd rather get it as right as possible the first time then go from there.

 

[TheCatman]

1.048 OG and 33.6 IBU should be pretty well balanced, I think. Maybe even a little on the malty side. Sounds good to me

 

[mitrrek]

Do you mean hoppy? I used this scale to see that flavor. Obviously it's not completely accurate but I'm aiming for a little more on the hoppy side.