First brew on my own.

[finished1]

I am tackling my first brew on my own. I am using a BIAB set up and settled on this recipe for my first choice to brew:

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Raging Red Irish Red Ale
Author: Mysticmead

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Irish Red Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.035
Efficiency: 72% (brew house)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 5.22%
IBU (tinseth): 38.31
SRM (morey): 15.23

FERMENTABLES:
7.5 lb - German - Pale Ale (71.4%)
1 lb - German - CaraAroma (9.5%)
0.5 lb - German - CaraFoam (4.8%)
0.5 lb - German - Melanoidin (4.8%)
1 lb - Honey - (late addition) (9.5%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Crystal, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.3, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 17.02
1 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 21.29

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 152 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 5 gal
2) Sparge, Temp: 170 F, Time: 10 min, Amount: 5 gal
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05
Starter: Yes
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 72%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 59 - 75 F
Fermentation Temp: 62 F
Pitch Rate: 1.0 (M cells / ml / deg P)


This recipe has been published online at:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/170777/raging-red-irish-red-ale

I settled on this brew because I a big fan of Irish reds and looked simple enough to tackle.

I do have a few questions that maybe you guys can help me with. I doesn't not call for secondary fermentation but should I add one? Will it change the color or flavor if I do? If I do add one how long should I do it for to stay within the FG?

I cannot figure out if it requires a sugar for bottling? Should I use one?

Also can you share some great first brew recipes that you have done? I am open to anything. Thanks for your help guys and gals. I look forward to sharing many days of brewing and picking up advice from everyone.

 

[doug293cz]

There is no need to secondary this recipe. You should just leave it in your primary fermenter until you have a stable FG reading two days apart. Then rack to your bottling bucket containing your priming sugar solution, and bottle. Yes, you do need to add priming sugar at bottling. The yeast will have eaten all of the previously available sugar, so you need to add sugar so the yeast can create more CO2 to carbonate the bottles.

Brew on

 

[finished1]

There is no need to secondary this recipe. You should just leave it in your primary fermenter until you have a stable FG reading two days apart. Then rack to your bottling bucket containing your priming sugar solution, and bottle. Yes, you do need to add priming sugar at bottling. The yeast will have eaten all of the previously available sugar, so you need to add sugar so the yeast can create more CO2 to carbonate the bottles.

Brew on

Thanks for the advice.

 

[ancientmariner52]

For good recipes, search for 'SMASH'. Single Malt And Single Hop. It doesn't get any simpler, and can be very tasty. It lets you focus on process without a lot of recipe complications. Welcome to the hobby!

 

[C-Rider]

Sounds good. But if it were my brew I'd be calling it:
"Raging Red German Red Ale"

 

[blubrewbbq]

I brewed this recipe about a year ago. I added the honey at flameout and added 12oz honey malt. Turned out pretty dang good.

I would not worry about a secondary with this recipe.

As for the first I always point people to a good Blonde recipe or a simple APA for the first.

 

[finished1]

Thanks everyone for your input. It does help there is a group of people who are willing to help out.

 

[finished1]

I brewed this recipe about a year ago. I added the honey at flameout and added 12oz honey malt. Turned out pretty dang good.

I would not worry about a secondary with this recipe.

As for the first I always point people to a good Blonde recipe or a simple APA for the first.

Did you let the wort sit before you chilled when you added the honey? How long if you did?

 

[blubrewbbq]

Nope....added it at Flameout. I used local honey so I wanted to make sure I somewhat "sanitize" the honey. So I wanted the wort to be hot when it was added.

 

[RM-MN]

I am tackling my first brew on my own. I am using a BIAB set up and settled on this recipe for my first choice to brew:

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Raging Red Irish Red Ale
Author: Mysticmead

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Irish Red Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.035
Efficiency: 72% (brew house)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 5.22%
IBU (tinseth): 38.31
SRM (morey): 15.23

FERMENTABLES:
7.5 lb - German - Pale Ale (71.4%)
1 lb - German - CaraAroma (9.5%)
0.5 lb - German - CaraFoam (4.8%)
0.5 lb - German - Melanoidin (4.8%)
1 lb - Honey - (late addition) (9.5%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Crystal, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.3, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 17.02
1 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 21.29

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 152 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 5 gal
2) Sparge, Temp: 170 F, Time: 10 min, Amount: 5 gal
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05
Starter: Yes
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 72%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 59 - 75 F
Fermentation Temp: 62 F
Pitch Rate: 1.0 (M cells / ml / deg P)


This recipe has been published online at:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/170777/raging-red-irish-red-ale

I settled on this brew because I a big fan of Irish reds and looked simple enough to tackle.

I do have a few questions that maybe you guys can help me with. I doesn't not call for secondary fermentation but should I add one? Will it change the color or flavor if I do? If I do add one how long should I do it for to stay within the FG?

I cannot figure out if it requires a sugar for bottling? Should I use one?

Also can you share some great first brew recipes that you have done? I am open to anything. Thanks for your help guys and gals. I look forward to sharing many days of brewing and picking up advice from everyone.

Answers to some questions you didn't ask and questions for you to answer.

1. No, you don't really need the carafoam. Your beer will form a nice head without it unless your glassware has soap residue or you wash in the dishwasher with anit-spotting agents.
2. The estimated OG is just that, an estimate. So is the FG. Let your beer have time in the fermenter, like 10 days or more. Use a hydrometer to check to see if it is close to the estimated FG. Check again in a couple days to see that it hasn't changed. After that you can bottle, maybe that day, maybe in another week or 2. Time does nothing but improve beer.
3. The boil time is to reduce the volume of the wort to concentrate it and to isomerize the hops as that adds bitterness. Do you really boil off 2 gallons an hour? I don't. You can increase the boil time to boil off more liquid but add the second hops closer to the end of the boil. I'd suggest adding them at 10 minutes before your boil ends and even 5 minutes will be fine. Either will get you more flavor and less bittering.
4. No you shouldn't make a starter with dry yeast, it depletes the nutrients the yeast was packages with. Rehydrating is much better for it than making a starter.
5. With BIAB the mash thickness isn't important. You can use the full volume of water for mashing if you have room in your kettle. If not you can mash thicker and sparge to get to the right volume (remember about the boil off, probably not 2 gallons) after you remove the grains. Note: Sparging always gets you more fermentable sugars.
6. Honey dissolves into wort better when it is still hot. Temperatures over 150 will ensure pasteurization.
7. Priming sugar needs to be calculated based on the highest temperature your beer was after fermentation. The sugar should be weighed as volume measurements can vary based on how you packed the sugar down. Here's a calculator you can use. http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html