first AG and first attempted recipe, be nice!

[defenestrate]

hey guys. i have one more mash/extract kit left before i go all grain( or atleast try). im going to try the brew in a bag method for sake of simplicity and equipment. now here comes your part. tell me what you guys think, this is just what i tried to throw together, criticism wanted!

now i wanted to do a small batch in my 5 gallon kettle, so bare with me.

american ale, or something like it :cross:

5 # american 2 row
box of corn flakes?
cascade hops (2 oz total)
american ale yeast

60 min boil, 1 oz casade full boil, .5 oz at 20 and .5 at 5.

i entered the info into brew365 to try to get the water i need, and i entered 6 pounds (didnt know what to consider the cereal) and it said i needed 1.8 for the mash and 6 for the sparge, making almost 8 total? seems like i wont be able to use my feeble kettle

thanks guys, and be patient with me haha

 

[WBC]

The grain you have there and the corn flakes is not much fermentables and so I would not go over 4 gallons total preboil water unless you want a extremely weak brew. Check the gravity at the end of the boil and see what you have. Remember to cool it before the reading.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

+1 to WBC

I don't know how to calculate the box of corn flakes, but I think you could make a 3 gallon batch from the 5# of 2-row. Mash the grains and collect 4 gallons of wort, use your 5-gallon pot to boil it down to 3 gallons. At 70% that'll be 1.040.

I'd not be inclined to use 2 full ounces of Cascades in 3 gallons of 1.040 though, unless you're really hopping late. Much more than 25 IBU's in a 1.040 brew based pretty much on 2-row and corn flakes would be excessive.

Maybe try Frosted Flakes for some extra fermentables.

 

[defenestrate]

alright, so go with 4 gallons for the mash, and boil down to 3. ok, i understand about the hops too. yeah, maybe i'll go with the corn flakes and some corn sugar for a little more warmth im going for an american ale, just something a little lighter, but with some amber hue. any other suggestions guys? thanks for the quick resonses.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

alright, so go with 4 gallons for the mash, and boil down to 3. ok, i understand about the hops too. yeah, maybe i'll go with the corn flakes and some corn sugar for a little more warmth im going for an american ale, just something a little lighter, but with some amber hue. any other suggestions guys? thanks for the quick resonses.

Why the corn flakes? Are you simply trying to do this with stuff you actually have on hand?

A half pound of Crystal 40 would do wonders for you.

 

[defenestrate]

i was just going to post that i was going to use crystal 40 instead!! haha. no the reason i was going to try cereal is that i wanted to try something that would maybe make it a little lighter.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

i was just going to post that i was going to use crystal 40 instead!! haha. no the reason i was going to try cereal is that i wanted to try something that would maybe make it a little lighter.

BTP shows that 5# of 2-row and a half pound of crystal 40 would give you a SG of 1.043 at 70%.

Add 1 oz of Cascades (assuming 5.5) at 30 minutes and the 2nd ounce with 5 minutes left and you'll have roughly 31 IBU's.

Sounds like a nice American Pale Ale on the light side.

 

[defenestrate]

the cascades i was looking at at midwest were 7. if i did half oz full boil and another half oz at 30 min, it came to about 21 ibu. i've yet to make a hoppy beer, so maybe i'll try to get it in the high 20's.

maybe i'd be better off going with 4 # of 2 row, and a whole pound of crystal 40?

 

[defenestrate]

and what is btp?

 

[StunnedMonkey]

the cascades i was looking at at midwest were 7. if i did half oz full boil and another half oz at 30 min, it came to about 21 ibu. i've yet to make a hoppy beer, so maybe i'll try to get it in the high 20's.

maybe i'd be better off going with 4 # of 2 row, and a whole pound of crystal 40?

Yeah, at 7 AA BTP shows .5 at 60 and .5 at 30 to be 22.5 IBU's. (They all figure them a little differently.)

Personally I think a full pound of Crystal with only 4# of 2-row would be a bit much, especially since you said earlier that you were going for something a little lighter.

EDIT: BTP is Beer Tools Pro.

 

[defenestrate]

alright, so half crystal and maybe half of something else o nthe lighter side...maybe a half of flaked corn

 

[wilserbrewer]

I would up the 2 row to about 7-8 pounds and try for around 4-4.5 gal post boil w/ a 5 gal pot. The way I would manage this is to collect around 4.25 gallons for the initial boil and keep approx. 3-4 qts of the last runings in reserve, and boiled seperately in a smaller pot stovetop? to add to the the boil as volume reduces. This way your efforts are rewarded w/ a little more brew. This is a bit of a hassle, but it is what I would do to maximize your return. Keep the brewpot at it's limits, but be careful of a boilover! Heck, you got the hops, use em!

 

[defenestrate]

how do you guys feel with just adding the water to the wort post boil? i've done this with every grain/extract kit i've done.

 

[Bobby_M]

The only problem with topping up all grain batches is a major hit in efficiency. It can be done but it just costs a bit more. You'll need to use a bigger grain bill so that your diluted OG is acceptable.