Asking for critique on this recipe

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Justmemat

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I've been making mead/wine for a long time and recently transitioned to beer. I'm toying around with this recipe and just want to see if anything stands out as generally a bad idea.



Pre-Boil

4½ Gallons Water

1 lb. American 2-Row Pale Malt



Boil

7 lbs. Pilsen Light DME

1oz El Dorado Hops 60 minutes

1 tsp Irish Moss 20 minutes

1oz El Dorado Hops 10 minutes

1oz El Dorado Hops End of boil

1 lb. Light Brown Sugar



Fermentation


1 package IPA Yeast



Dry Hop

2 oz Lemon Drop Hops 7 days before bottling
 
Recipe looks solid to me...nothing really stands out as obviously bad...just a few things to keep in mind:

You're going to have to mash the 2Row...so it has to be crushed...what temp are you planning on?

Second thing on the dry-hop i would stick to 5 days max...I've had some grassy notes creep in past that time.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!
 
Recipe looks solid to me...nothing really stands out as obviously bad...just a few things to keep in mind:

You're going to have to mash the 2Row...so it has to be crushed...what temp are you planning on?

Second thing on the dry-hop i would stick to 5 days max...I've had some grassy notes creep in past that time.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

I ordered it milled from northern brewer, if for some reason it comes wrong I have a friend that has the necessary tool. I was planning on heating to 170°, but only because that’s the temp I’ve seen in other recipes. I’ve never used 2-row before so I’m kind of shooting from the hip there. I’ll do that with the dry hopping, I chose 7 days for the same reason as the 170°.

Thanks so much for the advice. I’ve asked around a few places and gotten nothing more than a “eh, looks alright to me.”
 
1 pound of 2 row does not give you anything except some fermentables. You can just replace it with a bit more extract, it does not bring any value to this recipe and causes quite some work to be done because of the mash.

I mean, won't hurt either, but does not make any sense to use it in this way.
 
1 pound of 2 row does not give you anything except some fermentables. You can just replace it with a bit more extract, it does not bring any value to this recipe and causes quite some work to be done because of the mash.

I mean, won't hurt either, but does not make any sense to use it in this way.

I appreciate the insight. I chose it because, perusing other recipes, it seems more common than not to use some type of actual grain. I chose that one specifically for its light color.
 
Sorry for the double reply.
Other than more fermentables, what would using more 2-row bring me?
 
Sorry for the double reply.
Other than more fermentables, what would using more 2-row bring me?
Basically, the extract has been made from a very similar malt to 2 row. So you basically don't change anything by replacing extract with 2 row. It is a base malt. If you want to add anything specific, you would want to add speciality malts. Some of them can even be steaped and don't need to be mashed. But you would need to know what you want to achieve with the additional grains, based on that you can choose which one to use.
 
Ohhhh okay. I thought most of the color was coming from the actual grain. The DME looks very white in color, so I thought I needed the grains to get the golden color I’m aiming for.
 
Sorry, double rely again.

So,it turns out I was reading steep and mash as interchangeable. I planned on steeping the 2-row in a grain bag, up to 170° and then removing it. Reading into it, I’m understanding now, that’s going to do absolutely nothing.

So, skipping that, should I just bring my water to a boil with nothing in it and then start my process from there? I already ordered all ingredients listed, should I add another lb of DME in lieu of the 2-row? I severely misinterpreted the purpose of the 2-row apparently.
 
Sorry, double rely again.

So,it turns out I was reading steep and mash as interchangeable. I planned on steeping the 2-row in a grain bag, up to 170° and then removing it. Reading into it, I’m understanding now, that’s going to do absolutely nothing.

So, skipping that, should I just bring my water to a boil with nothing in it and then start my process from there? I already ordered all ingredients listed, should I add another lb of DME in lieu of the 2-row? I severely misinterpreted the purpose of the 2-row apparently.
Good that you asked then!

You cannot steep 2row, as it needs conversion of the starches into sugar which is done via mashing.

Your extract will provide a golden colour, don't worry about it. Extract actually tends to be a bit darker than the corresponding malt so I think your will be good.

1 pound extract does not equal one pound malt. 1pound malt provides less sugars than one pound of pure extract. If you think about it, is self explanatory. The extract is everything extracted from the malt and nothing more. Malt itself includes all the parts of the grain that are going to be discarded after the mash.

I would just hack in your numbers in a calculator like the brewer's friends online recipe calculator and see at which og the recipe ends up. If that's the og that you wanted, You're set! Otherwise add more extract till you got your desired og.
 
Good that you asked then!

You cannot steep 2row, as it needs conversion of the starches into sugar which is done via mashing.

Your extract will provide a golden colour, don't worry about it. Extract actually tends to be a bit darker than the corresponding malt so I think your will be good.

1 pound extract does not equal one pound malt. 1pound malt provides less sugars than one pound of pure extract. If you think about it, is self explanatory. The extract is everything extracted from the malt and nothing more. Malt itself includes all the parts of the grain that are going to be discarded after the mash.

I would just hack in your numbers in a calculator like the brewer's friends online recipe calculator and see at which og the recipe ends up. If that's the og that you wanted, You're set! Otherwise add more extract till you got your desired og.
Yes it is, and even better that you replied. Thank you so much for insight, I’m going to make those adjustments and skip the mash for now. I’ll save that for another batch when I know better how to treat it. I’ll update once it’s finished and let you know how it turned out. Again, thank you!
 
Yes it is, and even better that you replied. Thank you so much for insight, I’m going to make those adjustments and skip the mash for now. I’ll save that for another batch when I know better how to treat it. I’ll update once it’s finished and let you know how it turned out. Again, thank you!
Great, good luck!
 
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