Building First AG Recipe. Advice Needed!

[goudaphunk]

Below is my buddy and I's first AG recipe. We are looking for some feedback in terms of ratios, base malts and specialty malts. Thanks in advance!

70% 2 row
5% C10
5% C60
20% wheat

SAMPLE Hop Schedule:
1 oz. Centennial (60 minutes)
1 oz. Cascade (20 minutes)
2 oz. Crystal (5 minutes)
1 oz Citra (Flameout??? - Not sure if we'll add this or not)

Dry Hop:
1 oz Cascade
1 oz Centennial

 

[solbes]

On the surface it looks fine. It would help if you gave out the projected OG and/or mass of malts. That way we can figure if this is more of a moderate gravity Pale Ale (say 1.052), an IPA (~ 1.065) or even a DIPA (1.080+). Without that its hard to figure if you are hopping heavily, just right, or not enough.

From a malt standpoint, the 20% wheat may be a little high but it will give it some tartness to the finish. Hop schedule looks fine, though could be hop heavy (small PA) or light (huge DIPA) depending on projected gravity.

 

[goudaphunk]

I was thinking about making the following changes.

80% 2 row
5% C10
5% C60
10% wheat.

So if I make those changes above, what formula would I use to calculate original gravity? Or is there a tool I use online that would help. I appreciate any help. I have always bought pre-determined recipes, so I'm looking to deepen my knowledge of how to create my own recipes.

Cheers,
Jimmy

 

[Yooper]

I was thinking about making the following changes.

80% 2 row
5% C10
5% C60
10% wheat.

So if I make those changes above, what formula would I use to calculate original gravity? Or is there a tool I use online that would help. I appreciate any help. I have always bought pre-determined recipes, so I'm looking to deepen my knowledge of how to create my own recipes.

Cheers,
Jimmy

That looks like an American amber grainbill, and it looks good.

One tip on making recipes is first to think of what you want- and determining a style to sort of aim for- and that helps with how much of each type of grain you want. For example, some styles will have up to 15% crystal malt (a well-hopped American amber) and some styles will have 0 crystal malts. So if you know what you're looking for and towards a certain style that helps alot. You don't have to go by style guidelines, of course, but it helps to figure out which grains work in certain combinations of flavors.

Brewer's Friend is a free online calculator that I like a lot, and that can help you determine your amounts and help with hopping schedules.

 

[goudaphunk]

We are definitely looking to make an IPA, so would you recommend reducing the amount of wheat and upping the amount of 2 row? I always heard 90% or so of IPA are usually 2-row.

 

[solbes]

There are many great brewing software programs out there (some of them require payment). I keep a brew log in Excel and use the free Brewers Friend site to build initial recipes.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/

For example, for a mash conversion efficiency of 75%, plugging in the amounts below we come very close to your recipe and a slightly higher than average gravity for an IPA (1.069):

11 lbs 2 row (80%)
.75 lbs C10 (5.5%)
.75 lbs C60 (5.5%)
1.25 lbs wheat (9.1%)

The software will tell you if you are in style in terms of color and gravity. Not necessarily in terms of ingredients. But you can easily tweak things up and down and see how they look. Cheers!

 

[Yooper]

We are definitely looking to make an IPA, so would you recommend reducing the amount of wheat and upping the amount of 2 row? I always heard 90% or so of IPA are usually 2-row.

No. If you're making an IPA, the first thing to go would be most of the crystal malt. You want somewhere between 0%-7% crystal malt in an IPA grainbill.

It depends on the end flavor you're looking for. Many brewers like about 5% crystal malt in many IPAs to balance the hops bitterness, but some of the best IPA recipes out there have more, and some have 0. It really depends on your goals.

I often use about a pound of wheat malt (in a 5 gallon batch) for an IPA for head retention but I'm not a wheat beer fan so I never use more than that. Also, more than a little will lead to hazy beer.

 

[Hamaki]

I don't use wheat in my IPAs and I usually keep the crystal at about 5 - 10%. You might consider Vienna or Munich as well. I suggest you check out some of the recipes on this site for more ideas. They often provide pics and describe the flavor profile.

 

[goudaphunk]

I am going to add some wheat for additional body. It's an experiment.
Thinking this is the grain bill.

85% 2 row 10.5 lbs
5% C60 .75 lbs
10% wheat 1.5 lbs

The OG is 1.064 and FG is 1.016. ABV 6.3 and SRM: 8.26. My next questoin is how would I determine the hop schedule.

POTENTIAL SAMPLE Hop Schedule:
1 oz. Centennial (60 minutes)
1 oz. Cascade (20 minutes)
2 oz. Crystal (5 minutes)
1 oz Citra (Flameout??? - Not sure if we'll add this or not)

Dry Hop:
1 oz Cascade
1 oz Centennial

 

[Yooper]

I am going to add some wheat for additional body. It's an experiment.
Thinking this is the grain bill.

85% 2 row 10.5 lbs
5% C60 .75 lbs
10% wheat 1.5 lbs

The OG is 1.064 and FG is 1.016. ABV 6.3 and SRM: 8.26. My next questoin is how would I determine the hop schedule.

POTENTIAL SAMPLE Hop Schedule:
1 oz. Centennial (60 minutes)
1 oz. Cascade (20 minutes)
2 oz. Crystal (5 minutes)
1 oz Citra (Flameout??? - Not sure if we'll add this or not)

Dry Hop:
1 oz Cascade
1 oz Centennial

I still think 10% wheat is a bit too much- I'd use less- but it's up to you.

Now, for the hops schedule. You generally want to target IBUs of about 40-70 for an IPA. I'd go with 40 for a lower OG beer, and 70 for a higher OG beer, so with you at 1.064, I'd shoot for 50-60 IBUs. That's bitter, but not overly so, and would balance the malt nicely.

A good way to come up with the hops schedule then is to say, well, I want 55 IBUs and many hops additions are near the end of the boil, or even at flame out, in an IPA to get big hops flavor and aroma. So, the bittering charge can be a bit subdued with some IBUs coming late in the boil. I'd do something like this:

.75 oz bittering hops (60 minutes)- or the amount to get 35-40 IBUs with this addition alone
1 oz flavor hops 15 minutes
1 oz flavor hops 5 minutes
1 oz aroma hops 0 minutes
dryhop 2 ounces

There are lots of variables here- some do a big addition as 'whirlpool hops'- steeping the hops in hot wort after the boil, for example- but that is a good basic hops schedule for an IPA.

 

[BrewerinBR]

I think the hops are a little lite for an IPA. You may want to consider adding 1/2 to 1 OZ Centennial at the 30 or 20 minute mark and move the Cascade to 10 Minute. The Crystal Hops seem a little out of place here and I think the citrus of the centennial and cascade are just going to over power them. Consider Amarillo or Simcoe. Otherwise it looks like an okay malt bill. I do not use crystal or caramel malts in my IPAs any more ... at one time I did but not now.

For my IPA I use 12lbs 2 row brewers malt in the main mash, mashing in at 138F. Then 1 lb 6 row and 1 lb oatmeal and 1 lb rice in a cereal mash that I use as the step up to 149F and rest there for 60 minutes. Then I use 1lb of caramelized sugar in the boil at 15 minutes gets the color I like and ups the OG and drys out the IPA making the hops pop. I use 1 OZ Columbus at first wort and 1 OZ Columbus at 60; 2 OZ of Simcoe at 20; 2 OZ Amarillo at 15; 2 OZ Centennial at 5.
After 14 days ferment I dry hop 1 OZ Columbus; at 16 days 1 OZ Simcoe; at 17 days 1 Amarillo and 1 OZ Centennial ... cold crash day 21 and bottle day 22.
Makes a wonderful IPA that slaps the tongue with hops and smells like a fresh hop garden in the early fall...

 

[goudaphunk]

dry hopping should focus on aroma and flavor, correct?
Any websites that you think would be helpful in terms of finding which hops go with what?

 

[BrewerinBR]

Mostly Dry hopping gets you aroma, possible some flavor as some of the oils will get in there. Most hop flavor comes in the last 15 minutes of the boil and even at flame out as the heat will both release and evaporate the oils which provide flavor and aroma.

https://www.hopunion.com/aroma-wheel/

https://www.hopunion.com/hop-varieties/

https://freshops.com/hops/variety_descriptions

http://www.usahops.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=hop_info&pageID=8

http://www.usahops.org/graphics/File/HGA%20BCI%20Reports/Variety%20Manual%207-24-12.pdf

 

[Manzier]

If your making an IPA remove the wheat and only use about 5-10% crystal. Id use 90% pale, 5% C60 and 5% carapils.