First try at a RIS

[shanecb]

I'm brewing up my first attempt at a RIS, to be aged until winter. I was hoping to get some feedback on the recipe before I made it, as I haven't made a RIS (nor a beer this big before).

Batch Size: 2.5gal
OG: 1.109
IBU: 74

Grains
5lb 2-row
1.5lb Midnight Wheat
1lb Munich
1lb Crystal 60
1lb Light DME (for a gravity boost)
0.5lb Flaked Wheat
0.5lb Chocolate Malt

Hops
1oz Nugget at 60min
1oz Nugget at 10min
2oz Nugget at Flameout

Mash/Fermentation
Mash at 150 degrees F for one hour. Ferment around 68 with a starter of WLP007 Dry English Ale yeast.


Thoughts, tips? Think I'm an idiot for some reason?

One small concern I have, is that BeerSmith has it calculated to do a single 1.77gal batch sparge. That seems like an awfully low volume to me, and was wondering if that would cause any issue. For reference, my preboil volume needs to be 3.72 gallons.

 

[jbsg02]

With that grain you should be mashing around 3.3 gallons of water at around 1.25 qt/lb, you'll lose quite a bit to grain absorption, but those numbers are probably pretty close. I'm pretty new to AG myself, but I would plug your numbers into ez water calculator or Bru'n Water. That's a lot of dark grains and your ph might get too low. Maybe a more experienced brewer can chime in here and correct/affirm me.

 

[shanecb]

Thanks for mentioning the pH of the mash. My solution (though I don't know if it's a good one) was going to be to put the dark grains in the mash after 30min, to give the base and other specialty grains a chance to convert before a drop in pH. Though it probably would make more sense to just adjust the pH.

 

[jbsg02]

It really depends on your water, do you know your water profile?

 

[shanecb]

I actually have a sample on the way to Ward Labs right now to get it checked out, but I do have a water report for my city (Pittsburgh) from 1992 that can serve as a general reference for now.

Calcium 32
Magnesium 6
Sodium 20
HCO3-- 45
Sulfate 72
Chloride 31
Total Dissolved Solids 179

All in ppm