First Recipie Adjustment - BeerSmith User

[RhoadsRunner]

Hey everyone,

I've been reading the forum for some time...so, in essence you all have taught me everything I know about beer brewing! Hope y'all can help me out here. I'm working on a Muddy Pig Oatmeal Stout clone from the preset BeerSmith recipe list.

The original recipe can be found here:

http://www.beersmith.com/Recipes2/recipe_298.htm

The local brew supply store didn't have everything on the list like was called for, so I need to make some adjustments. This is my first recipe adjustment, so I wanted to run it by the pros. Can anyone give me sense of what really matters when adjusting and what doesn't? Or a general approach (i.e. adjust IBU first, then SRM, then...etc)??

Here's what I actually bought vs the suggested recipe:

Roasted Barley: I have 412-450 Lovibond (converts to ~582 SRM) not 300 SRM
Cluster Hops: I have alpha 6.8% not 7%
Williamette Hops: I have alpha 4.7% not 4.8%
Amber DME: I have 10.2 SRM not 12.5 SRM
Dark LME: I have 25.4 SRM no t 17.5 SRM
Yeast: I have Safale US-05 Dry Ale Yeast not Edme Ale Yeast

SO, what does this mean for the recipe? I made adjustments in BeerSmith as follows:

Roasted Barley: use 3.8 oz not 8 oz
Cluster Hops: BeerSmith says use 0.98 oz instead of 1 oz...I'm thinking that's too close to 1 oz to care
Williamette Hops: same deal...calculated to use 0.97 oz instead of 1 oz. Maybe I'll withhold one pellet...
Amber DME: still using 2 lbs
Dark LME: using 6.6 lbs still
Yeast:...didn't have a choice; went with other ale yeast.

Brings my final "stats" to:
Est. Original Gravity: 1.066
IBU: 29.1 (not 29.4)
Color: 27.7 SRM (not 27.5)
ABV (est): 6.6% (not 6.59%)

Any insights or critiques would be welcome! I think I'll relax, not worry, and have a homebrew while I wait for a response and crack some grains!

Thanks in advance!!
William

 

[zzARzz]

Your new numbers are so close that there will be very little difference between what the recipe states and what your final product will be. BeerSmith is great for getting an idea of how much of an ingredient to use, when and where in order to keep the brew's specs inside a specific range for that style, but it's unnecessary to become a "slave to the numbers," so to speak. As long as you follow proper brewing procedures you'll have a tasty beer on your hands.

 

[RhoadsRunner]

I think you're right...it's sitting in the primary now and it smelled tasty last night!

The other hiccup was what to do with the oats!?! I got towards the end of the boil and realized that the Rx called to add them at the end of the boil. I wasn't sure what to make of this...I was torn between throwing them in there and either straining them as I transferred to the fermenter or just leaving them. Went with the latter, otherwise there'd be opportunity to add to the flavor!

Most other stout recipes I've seen call to add the oats with the grains for a 30 minute or so steep, so this BeerSmith one is different. I'm planning on straining them when I transfer to the secondary...

Only time will tell. It's bubbling away now, so there's that.

WjR

 

[zzARzz]

You could roast them and add them to the secondary to get some flavor out of them. There are plenty of threads on here on how to roast/cure oats. Oats are often added to the mash in order to convert some of the starches in them into fermentables in addition to adding color, body and flavor. I think you'll be fine with adding them in the secondary, however, as long as you are sure they are sanitized and not exposed to any wild yeasts or bacteria; maybe put them in the oven @ 180F or so for 10-15 minutes and allow them to cool in a sealed, sanitized container just before adding them to the secondary.

In the future you should add them to the steep of your specialty grains after roasting/curing them in order to avoid the extra steps. If I had to guess, that was likely the intention in the BeerSmith recipe.