First BIAB Recipe, Need opinions and help!

[Chrispy92]

Checked gravity again today and its at 1.018
Will give it a few more days and see, it may not drop much further...

Have sorted grains tonight for batch number 2! As below

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Amber Ale

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American Amber Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 12 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 14.75 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.042
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: 1.009
ABV (standard): 5.5%
IBU (tinseth): 36.29
SRM (morey): 18.1

FERMENTABLES:
2.013 kg - American - Pale 2-Row (74.2%)
0.1 kg - German - Carafa I (3.7%)
0.1 kg - United Kingdom - Dark Crystal 80L (3.7%)
0.25 kg - United Kingdom - Amber (9.2%)
0.1 kg - United Kingdom - Cara Malt (3.7%)
0.15 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (5.5%)

HOPS:
8 g - Chinook, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 23.7
6 g - Mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 8.48
5 g - amarillo, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.6, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 1.95
6 g - mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 2 min, IBU: 1.45
5 g - Galaxy, Type: Pellet, AA: 14.25, Use: Boil for 1 min, IBU: 0.7

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temp: 67 C, Time: 60 min

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

Again any advice or wisdom on this batch?
Can't wait to do this all again now that I have learnt some lessons and have had some great suggestions from you guys to make things much much easier!

 

[Chrispy92]

Ok don't mean to spam with posts, but todays brew day was a great success! 3.5 hours to get it all done. Hit all my number perfectly again with a slightly higher OG, think i boiled off a little too much.

OG hit 1.053

Used a grill cake tray and steel colander to squeeze the wort down and sparged with 77'C water to hit 15L pre-boil.

Hit 12L bang on again after an hour boil, lost a bit more after whirlpooling I think and left about .5L in the bottom as trub.

With the hops used what do you guys think I should dry hop with?! I have all of the below:
Cascade
Chinook
Galaxy
Amarillo
Hersbrucker
Cluster
EKG
Fuggles

I dont know much about each ones flavor profile... was thinking some Amarillo and Chinook?

 

[Chrispy92]

Hey guys quick priming question as I don't have the ability to make a priming solution I will be priming straight into the bottle with table sugar.

Does the dark ale need more sugar to get a decent carbonation? OG 1.062 FG 1.014?

I plan to bottle into 330ml bottles, if someone could help even with how many grams per litre or gallon and I can work out the rest! Just don't know about this style

 

[dmtaylor]

Don't be in too big of a hurry. I would wait at least 3-4 more days to ensure the final gravity truly is final at 1.014. If it decreases at all over the course of a few days, it's not ready yet and you need to wait longer. Otherwise your bottles will likely gush or even explode dangerously. Wait a few more days to be safe. I cannot stress this enough.

You need 2 tablespoons of sugar per gallon, or about 1/2 teaspoon per 12 ounces. For 330ml bottles (about 11 ounces), use just slightly less than 1/2 teaspoon. If you have a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon for cooking, use that but only fill it like 9/10 of the way up. That should work!

After the bottles are capped, you should also very gently turn the bottles over many times over the course of about 24 hours to ensure the sugar dissolves well into the beer. Otherwise again, it could cause gushers.

 

[Chrispy92]

Checked the gravity again today at 1.014, third day in a row so went ahead and bottled. Thanks for the conditioning info dmtaylor! Smells fantastic, taste is a bit metallic but couldn't tell if it's just young/ something to do with my head cold/ or a combination of both!

I'll be sure to check back in after a few weeks and let you guys know how it is!

 

[dmtaylor]

Checked the gravity again today at 1.014, third day in a row so went ahead and bottled. Thanks for the conditioning info dmtaylor! Smells fantastic, taste is a bit metallic but couldn't tell if it's just young/ something to do with my head cold/ or a combination of both!

I'll be sure to check back in after a few weeks and let you guys know how it is!

Good to hear. The metallic thing.... could it be from your water source? Does your water or ice taste metallic? If not, it's probably fine and it might not turn out too noticeable in the final beer. Enjoy.

 

[Chrispy92]

Hmm no I don't think so, my other beers have not had this taste. I just had an uh oh moment putting all my equipment away, I purchased a cheap aluminium stock pot and carrying it to the cupboard It was giving off this horribly strong metallic smell... Is jt possible for the pot itself to leech out metallic compounds into the beer!?

I do hope not... Time will tell though

 

[TexasWine]

Hmm no I don't think so, my other beers have not had this taste. I just had an uh oh moment putting all my equipment away, I purchased a cheap aluminium stock pot and carrying it to the cupboard It was giving off this horribly strong metallic smell... Is jt possible for the pot itself to leech out metallic compounds into the beer!?

I do hope not... Time will tell though

Prior to using it to brew, did you boil water in it to form an oxide layer? If not, you might have found your culprit.

 

[Chrispy92]

Prior to using it to brew, did you boil water in it to form an oxide layer? If not, you might have found your culprit.

I did not, didn't even think about it being an issue.

Hmm well I'll see what happens when I crack one in a few weeks. Hopefully the same thing hasn't happened to my second batch too.

 

[Chrispy92]

Oh my goodness, chucked one in the fridge to try today (been in the bottle for just over a week). Really low expectations, thinking it would be metallic, bitter and undrinkable. Was planning on having to leave it age for a month or so... Cracked the cold one, poured into a glass, ruby dark bronze hues as it poured into my glass where it became as black as anything with a small chocolate brown head. Not fully carbed. Smelled delicious (as did the pre bottle sample). Took a sip, and oh my this beer is absolutely delicious! I've been reading all these things after brew day about too much chocolate malt or too much specialty malt in general and was kinda worried... But this beer couldn't be smoother, big hits of dark chocolate and coffee, nice mellow bitterness and hop flavour comes through perfectly.

Cheers to you guys!!
Have another cold conditioning in the fridge for the misses to try when she's home from work and I'll take a picture.

Wish I made more than 3 gallons!!

 

[RM-MN]

Oh my goodness, chucked one in the fridge to try today (been in the bottle for just over a week). Really low expectations, thinking it would be metallic, bitter and undrinkable. Was planning on having to leave it age for a month or so... Cracked the cold one, poured into a glass, ruby dark bronze hues as it poured into my glass where it became as black as anything with a small chocolate brown head. Not fully carbed. Smelled delicious (as did the pre bottle sample). Took a sip, and oh my this beer is absolutely delicious! I've been reading all these things after brew day about too much chocolate malt or too much specialty malt in general and was kinda worried... But this beer couldn't be smoother, big hits of dark chocolate and coffee, nice mellow bitterness and hop flavour comes through perfectly.

Cheers to you guys!!
Have another cold conditioning in the fridge for the misses to try when she's home from work and I'll take a picture.

Wish I made more than 3 gallons!!

Me too since then you would have had enough to share.

Try to save a few bottles for 3 to 6 months to compare the flavor when fully mature.