First all grain recipe need help

[medixlux]

Hi guys,
I got my first brew ever recipe that i made and i was wondering if you guys can tell if this recipe will be any good for the style of beer. It's a all grain recipe with batch sparging.
Beer Type: Kolsch beer

batch size : 3.5 gallons
boil size : 5.5

Grains: German Pilsener 4.85 lb
German Vienna 2.31 lb
total : 7.15
Hops: hallertau AA 4 0.5 oz 60 min
hallertau 0.8 oz 15 min

yeast: German ale kolsch WLP 029


strike water 2.2 gallons
1 step sparge 1.7 gallons
2 step sparge 2.75 gallons


Expected OG 1.056
Expected FG 1.014
Expected Abv 5.61 percent
IBU 23.83

that's it

thank you for any advice

Chris

 

[Lefou]

I usually put my recipes into a calculator and set for BJCP style. Your recipe doesn't account for a minimum efficiency and the grain amount seems slightly off, but to the heavy side, but maybe that's your preference.
Your hopping schedule and numbers seem fine.

I typically use a 70% brew house efficiency for my work. Your Kolsch would fit the style calculation if your recipe was 70% Pilsner, 30% Vienna by weight for a 4 gallon batch. Seems good to me.

 

[medixlux]

i think i have a hard time understanding. because i scaled down the recipe from a bigger batch.
and the size of this batch is 3.5.
so what would be the correct way? by the way i never brewed before
thank you

 

[Lefou]

I use an online calculator called Brewers Friend.
Your grain weights are very close to Kolsch style for a 4 gallon batch. You could reduce your grain weight for 3.5 gallons to be more precise, but I see nothing wrong with the basic recipe.
Your choices for grain, yeast, and hopping is good for Kolsch style.

 

[Torrefaction]

+1 for Brewer's Friend. Trial version is free! It's super helpful, esp. for weird sized batches.

 

[medixlux]

Actually I did use brewer's friend. But let me check again. Thank you..

 

[Lefou]

Using Brewers Friend for Kolsch style 5B, I used 4.25lb German Pilsner and 2lb German Vienna for a 3.5 gallon brew.

I batch sparge. I vorlauf until the wort is clear, empty first runnings to the kettle, then sparge again with the rest of my water. I typically get minimum of 70% efficiency so this is how my calculations are set for me. I don't spend a lot of time sparging, but pay more attention to mashing thickness, mash time, and boil time. If I hit my minimum gravity in the style range I'm satisfied.

 

[medixlux]

OK got it now. So it doesn't really matter how much exact sparge water you need.

 

[Lefou]

How will you mash? Is it infusion or step mash?
The majority of your wort is first runnings, but some of the mash water will be absorbed by grain. It's good to know how much water you will need.

I do step mashing on the stove and will use 2 quarts of water per pound of grain. My batches are usually four gallons of wort. Six gallons of total bottled water will be fine for my use because I cool and dilute my wort to desired gravity. Up to this point all my beers have been low ABV ales, light SRM.
Brewers Friend has good calculators and you can use them for your own brew day. One of the most useful is the mash infusion, strike water, and rest schedule calculator. Very handy for batch sparge.

 

[medixlux]

i was thinking doing the same procedure as Larry from beer and bbq. I guess that's step mashing if i'm correct.

 

[BEER-N-BBQ_BY_LARRY]

i was thinking doing the same procedure as Larry from beer and bbq. I guess that's step mashing if i'm correct.

I do infusion mashes only (so far).