First AG -Nut Brown Ale!!

[aaronlawson]

Hey,
Getting ready to do my first all grain this Saturday. I was thinking of just doing an all grain version of the last beer I brewed so I could compare, but when I got to the LHBS I was overwhelmed by the possibilities and ended up going with two specialty grains I had never used before (because they needed to be mashed). I'm shooting to do a mellow, malty and aromatic Nut Brown Ale. Here the recipe I came up with using Beer Alchemy

Feedback much appreciated!

-Aaron

Southern Brown Ale (All Grain)
Selected Style and BJCP Guidelines
11B-English Brown Ale-Southern English Brown Ale
Min OG: 1.035 SG Max OG: 1.042 SG
Min FG: 1.011 SG Max FG: 1.014 SG
Min IBU: 12 IBU Max IBU: 20 IBU
Min Color: 19.0 SRM Max Color: 35.0 SRM

Recipe Overview
Wort Volume Before Boil: 6.08 US gals Wort Volume After Boil: 5.28 US gals
Volume Transferred: 5.28 US gals Water Added To Fermenter: 0.00 US gals
Volume At Pitching: 5.28 US gals Volume Of Finished Beer: 5.02 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.031 SG Expected OG: 1.036 SG
Expected FG: 1.011 SG Apparent Attenuation: 69.9 %
Expected ABV: 3.4 % Expected ABW: 2.6 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 17.7 IBU Expected Color: 20.7 SRM
Mash Efficiency: 75.0 % Approx Color:
Boil Duration: 60.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 64 degF
Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % When
UK Pale Ale Malt 6.00 lb 85.7 % In Mash/Steeped
German Carafa II 0.50 lb 7.1 % In Mash/Steeped
Belgian Biscuit Malt 0.50 lb 7.1 % In Mash/Steeped
Hops
Variety Alpha Amount Form When
UK Fuggle 5.7 0.8 oz Bagged Whole Hops First Wort Hopped
UK Fuggle 5.7 0.2 oz Bagged Whole Hops 15 Min From End

Yeast
Wyeast 1187-Ringwood Ale

Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Full Mash
Schedule Name: Single Step Infusion (68C/154F)
Step Type Temperature Duration
Rest at 154 degF 60

 

[Blender]

A lot of times with the 1st all grain you may not hit 75% efficiency. You might get some DME or add some base grain to make it up. How many IBU's you figuring for with the FWH? I have read that it is about equal to an addition at 40 minutes.
Good Brewing......All Grain is definately fun.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

That's really a great sounding recipe. I might have to follow your lead on this one. I have some carafa III in the closet, might use a pinch less than you did here since it's darker.

I will also be adding more 2 row... I need around 4.5 - 5% ABV to be happy

 

[aaronlawson]

A lot of times with the 1st all grain you may not hit 75% efficiency. You might get some DME or add some base grain to make it up. How many IBU's you figuring for with the FWH? I have read that it is about equal to an addition at 40 minutes.
Good Brewing......All Grain is definately fun.

According to Beer Alchemy I should get around 17 IBUs from the Fuggles. Thanks for the feedback, I'll let you guys know how the brew day goes...


I'm a bit leary of the Ringwood yeast. My best friend's brewery used it (as did many others) and it could produce some crazy beers (Buffalo Brewing's Limerick, anyone???) Since it's so GD cold where I live I probably have to worry more about Ringwood sticking than it producing crazy esters -my last two beers fermented at 59-62F!

-Aaron

 

[malkore]

I'd add another pound of base malt just to cover yourself, since you have no idea what your efficiency is gonna be like on your first brew. everyone's system and 'style' is a little different and affects the efficiency.
I seem to get pretty good efficiency out of my system.

the other option is grab a bit of DME, and if your pre-boil OG is lower than it should be, you can add a little DME to fix it to your 1.035 target.

or, do neither, and just enjoy the AG experience. just make sure to note the process so you can figure out what you need to do next time to nail the OG.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I'd add another lb or two of the pale malt. Also, you should think about using a little Victory malt. That's where the nutty flavor will come from - maybe 1/2 lb or so.

 

[Got Trub?]

If you are shooting for a traditional beer you need to drop the late hop addition, this is all about the malt balanced with only bittering hops. Your mash temp will be important as you will want some body when it is done. I have no experience with the Ringwood yeast, I use either Wyeast 1968 or Nottingham for all my English beers. The former floculates like the devil and leaves your beer so clear you would think it was filtered.

 

[aaronlawson]

Brewing this, my first AG today...

This isn't going so well -I screwed up because it's my first time with this set up (it has a huge false bottom that caused considerable adjustments). My mash hit 162 at one point, I don't have any iodine to see if conversion occurred or not. Some advice -is this thing ruined? The 162 happened early in the mash and the temp was over 160 for 5 minutes or more!!

Help!!

-Aaron

 

[Orfy]

I think it'll be fine. You may end up a bit malty.

http://www.brewsupplies.com/mashing_temperatures.htm

 

[aaronlawson]

I think it'll be fine. You may end up a bit malty.

http://www.brewsupplies.com/mashing_temperatures.htm

Cool, I like malty! How will I know if conversion didn't happen? I'm draining the mash tun now and it's definitely sweet (AND STICKY)!

-Aaron

 

[Orfy]

Let the force be with you, Have faith.


(or use an hydrometer)

 

[aaronlawson]

Good news!! Checked post sparge collected wort and SG was 1.040. Added 1 gallon of water to get volume of 6 gals for boil and SG was 1.034 (both adjusted for temp). This is above my target preboil garvity of 1.031.

Very strange, like my last batch I am getting higher efficiency than I would have expected for an AG beginner. I calculate the efficiency of this batch at 80% (using Beer Alchemy). Could it be the water I use (very minerally well water) or the grinder at the LHBS?

I don't usually succeed at things like this...

Hope the beer turns out!

Thanks for the help.

-Aaron

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Could be the temperature conversion as well, it's not always as accurate as it should be. But good job and congratz! Sounds like a successful brew. You should try to get enough pre-boil from your sparge next time. Adding water isn't the best solution.

 

[aaronlawson]

Could be the temperature conversion as well, it's not always as accurate as it should be. But good job and congratz! Sounds like a successful brew. You should try to get enough pre-boil from your sparge next time. Adding water isn't the best solution.

Seefresh,

Just for clarification: why is it best to get all my wort from the sparge? Based on Papazian and others I've read, doesn't this risk over sparging and extracting bitter, husky flavors when I'm using only 7 lbs of grains? My information may be old, or the authors' worries may be due to erroneous assumptions, but I'm curious to know.

I also changed the recipe a bit, based on feedback about the hops:

Boiling hop .75 oz Willamette at 4.7 % AA (60 minutes)
Boiling Hop .25 oz Willamette at 4.7 % AA (30 minutes)


Expected IBUs 15.4 -similar to what I had before but hops are all boiled long enough to eliminate any potential hop aroma.

Brew hasn't started fermenting yet because my house temperature was 61 when I woke up! Benefits of living in a very rural area: wort chiller extremely effective when well water is 45F, down side: it's damn cold up here!

Thanks again for the help -I did use both the force and the hydrometer.

-Aaron

 

[FSR402]

Seefresh,

Just for clarification: why is it best to get all my wort from the sparge? Based on Papazian and others I've read, doesn't this risk over sparging and extracting bitter, husky flavors when I'm using only 7 lbs of grains? My information may be old, or the authors' worries may be due to erroneous assumptions, but I'm curious to know.

I also changed the recipe a bit, based on feedback about the hops:

Boiling hop .75 oz Willamette at 4.7 % AA (60 minutes)
Boiling Hop .25 oz Willamette at 4.7 % AA (30 minutes)


Expected IBUs 15.4 -similar to what I had before but hops are all boiled long enough to eliminate any potential hop aroma.

Brew hasn't started fermenting yet because my house temperature was 61 when I woke up! Benefits of living in a very rural area: wort chiller extremely effective when well water is 45F, down side: it's damn cold up here!

Thanks again for the help -I did use both the force and the hydrometer.

-Aaron

If you're batch sparging you don't really need to worry about that. You wont really rinse it enough to do that. Now if you used like an extra 5 gallons then you may have a problem along with a really long boil time.