Getting ready for my first all grain; Is there anything wrong with my recipe?

[Gemadrken]

Hey all, I made the following recipe and I'm looking to brew it later this weekend.

I'm just wondering if anybody see's any impactful issues in my formulation. I want a slightly bitter, heavy hop flavor and aroma beer; mostly fruity flavors and aromas



IPA All grain 5 gallon batch

Goal: Light but noticeable body, slightly retained head, balanced bitterness with heavy hop flavor and aroma

Yeast: Wyeast 1056 (with starter) or Safale US-05
Fermentation temp 65-70f
Recipe:
Base malt:
12 lbs Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt (American- Pale 2-Row)
Specialty malt:
1lb crystal malt 30L
1lb carapil malt (American)
Mash temp: ¬158
Mash Time:¬60 minutes W/ Sparge

Yeast:
Hops: Cascade, Chinook, Simcoe

Boil:
60-
1.5oz chinook
15-
1oz Simcoe
1oz cascade
1oz Chinook
0-
1oz cascade(floral, citrus, spicy, grapefruit)
2oz Simcoe(Earthy, Citrus, Pine, Passion fruit, berry)
Dry Hop (added day 4, remove day 7; either by removing the bag or re-racking)
2oz Simcoe
1oz cascade
Extras:
Wirfloc tablet


Estimated Stats:
OG- 1.077
FG- 1.023
ABV 7.03%
SRM- 7.57 (semi-deep golden color)

Total Ingredients
11lb 2-Row American Pale malt
1lb Crystal Malt 30L
1lb carapil Malt (American)
2.5oz Chinook hops
5oz Simcoe Hops
3oz Cascade Hops
1 Wirfloc Tablet
Yeast Safale US-05 or Wyeast 1056 with yeast starter

Mash RO Water; 5.54ph; for 5 gallons
5g CaSO4 (Calcium Sulfate/Gypsum)
5g CaCL2 (Calcium Chloride)
5g MgSO4 (Magnesium Sulfate)
=(ppm)
Ca- 132
Mg- 25
Na- 0
Cl- 127
SO4- 250

Mash Temp: 158f 60 minutes, 1.25qt/lb =4.35 gallon strike water
Sparge:1.65-2.15 gallon 160f water

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

That's a decent amount of crystal malt. I'd personally drop the carapils, keep the crystal 30 and maybe sub a couple pounds of Munich or Vienna for some 2 row. I'd also adjust the mash temp to 152°F.

 

[Gemadrken]

That's a decent amount of crystal malt. I'd personally drop the carapils, keep the crystal 30 and maybe sub a couple pounds of Munich or Vienna for some 2 row. I'd also adjust the mash temp to 152°F.

I appreciate the advice! I'm a very technical learner; what purpose will each malt serve me? Why the exlusion of carapils and the addition of Munich or Vienna?

Based off what i'm looking for; do you have a suggested final adjusted grain bill?

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

I appreciate the advice! I'm a very technical learner; what purpose will each malt serve me? Why the exlusion of carapils and the addition of Munich or Vienna?

Based off what i'm looking for; do you have a suggested final adjusted grain bill?

I don't see the necessity in using carapils when brewing all grain. It provides unfermentable sugars which you can create by adjusting your mash temp. Higher mash temp = less fermentables/higher FG, Lower mash temp = more fermentables/lower FG. With that being said, your original mash temp of 158F is pretty high and would create a full bodied beer with a high FG; not exactly something you're looking for when making an IPA.

As far as the Munich and Vienna go, I think it adds subtle color and malt flavors to the beer without being distracting. I don't like my IPA's to be 90%+ 2 row malt. Here's the grain bill of an IPA I brew from time to time.

1.064 OG

9.00 US 2 row
2.00 Vienna
1.00 Munich Light
0.75 Crystal 40

 

[Gemadrken]

I added the Carapils because I use it as a specialty grain in extract brewing; I see why it would be less desired in an all grain ipa.

What is your mash temp for your typical IPA grain bill?

After a little more research i'm looking at 148-149 mash temp

 

[Yooper]

I like the hopping, but I'm unclear on the dryhopping schedule.

Dryhopping should be done right before packaging, so if you're going to dryhop for 5-7 days, bottle immediately after. I'm not sure what you meant by "remove the hops", so I wanted to clarify that.

I generally mash my IPAs at 150-152, but that's because that's what works for me with my system and my chosen yeast strains. I think that would be a good place to start if you're unsure of how well the yeast strain will attenuate with your mash temp and system.

For your water, if you want to increase the sulfate make sure you keep the chloride under 100 ppm, ideally under 50 ppm. You don't want a minerally taste in the finished beer. Shoot for a mash pH of 5.3-5.4, and consider getting rid of the calcium chloride and the magnesium sulfate (you don't need either, as the calcium is up over 100 ppm and you don't need the magnesium.).

 

[Gemadrken]

I like the hopping, but I'm unclear on the dryhopping schedule.

Dryhopping should be done right before packaging, so if you're going to dryhop for 5-7 days, bottle immediately after. I'm not sure what you meant by "remove the hops", so I wanted to clarify that.

I can see how I may have been unclear; or possibly entirely incorrect. I'll see if I can clarify:

I've gotten in the habit of fermenting my 5 gallon batches in a 6.5 gallon bucket; i've found it easier to aerate and the type of head space has prevented the blow-outs I was getting from carboys. My idea was that after ~4 days of fermentation I would dry hop in a mesh tea ball and remove that tea ball containing the bulk of the hop particulate as I racked to a secondary fermentor.

6.5gallon bucket --> Day 4 add hop ball --> ~day 7 remove hop ball and re rack to 5 gallon carboy until bottling (with priming sugar atm)

I've been doing well with wort aeration and yeast starters so my fermentation have been quick and strong.

I'm very open to any advice on dry hopping; I've brewed about 13 "things" between beers-wine's thus far and done an enormous amount of research; but i've yet to dry hop. That is why I was planning on dry hopping "conservatively" by using the tea balls. Once again though, I'm all ears!

I generally mash my IPAs at 150-152, but that's because that's what works for me with my system and my chosen yeast strains. I think that would be a good place to start if you're unsure of how well the yeast strain will attenuate with your mash temp and system.

For your water, if you want to increase the sulfate make sure you keep the chloride under 100 ppm, ideally under 50 ppm. You don't want a minerally taste in the finished beer. Shoot for a mash pH of 5.3-5.4, and consider getting rid of the calcium chloride and the magnesium sulfate (you don't need either, as the calcium is up over 100 ppm and you don't need the magnesium.).

I also appreciate the water advice; previously I was basing my #'s off of http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/ 's calculations. I will take your advice over the calculators though. I will also take your advice on the mash temp.

Thank you! I look forward to seeing what you say about my dry hopping

I study chemistry, biology and physics so feel free to get as complicated as you want

 

[Yooper]

I can see how I may have been unclear; or possibly entirely incorrect. I'll see if I can clarify:

I've gotten in the habit of fermenting my 5 gallon batches in a 6.5 gallon bucket; i've found it easier to aerate and the type of head space has prevented the blow-outs I was getting from carboys. My idea was that after ~4 days of fermentation I would dry hop in a mesh tea ball and remove that tea ball containing the bulk of the hop particulate as I racked to a secondary fermentor.

6.5gallon bucket --> Day 4 add hop ball --> ~day 7 remove hop ball and re rack to 5 gallon carboy until bottling (with priming sugar atm)

I've been doing well with wort aeration and yeast starters so my fermentation have been quick and strong.

I'm very open to any advice on dry hopping; I've brewed about 13 "things" between beers-wine's thus far and done an enormous amount of research; but i've yet to dry hop. That is why I was planning on dry hopping "conservatively" by using the tea balls. Once again though, I'm all ears!





I also appreciate the water advice; previously I was basing my #'s off of http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/ 's calculations. I will take your advice over the calculators though. I will also take your advice on the mash temp.

Thank you! I look forward to seeing what you say about my dry hopping

I study chemistry, biology and physics so feel free to get as complicated as you want

My point is that either dryhop in secondary, or skip it altogether. You want to bottle immediately after the dryhopping, and not age the beer.

Dryhop for 5-7 days, then rack to the bottling bucket and immediately package the beer. There is no advantage to dryhopping, and then aging the beer so that the aroma you just added fades.

You can use tea balls if you'd like, or not. I generally don't use a bag for dryhopping in the fermenter, but I"m an old winemaker and have no issues with racking. Others use bags or tea balls, and that's fine as long as they are "loose" in the bag.

I generally dryhop at about day 7-10 and then package at day 12-15 or so. I like to dryhop once the beer is done and clear (or clearing well), and then dryhop for 5 days or so.

If you have no issues with chemistry, I'd skip the EZ water calculator. It's, well, easy , but it's not that accurate. I'd highly recommend bru'nwater. Just the "water knowledge" page is worthwhile, but the calculator is great. The predicted mash pH is always pretty darn close, while EZ's has been as much as .3 off- which is so far off that it's pretty useless to me.

You can go down a rabbit hole with water chemistry, but some simple advice would work here. If you are going higher with the sulfate, go very low with the chloride (under 100ppm almost always, but even 50 ppm if you have a high sulfate content); you never need to add magnesium; mash pH is THE important thing and not the flavor ions as if your mash pH is too high, the only flavor that will come across is astringency; and one last thing about 'salts':

Just like cooking with spices, those salts are for flavors or 'seasonings' if you will. Just like with table salt, less is more much of the time. You won't ruin a beer by not adding calcium sulfate, but you can absolutely ruin it with too much. The salts you are adding are to enhance the flavor of a good beer. The base beer should be good first, and the mash pH is a huge part of that. Once you have that, you can tweak the salt additions a little to further enhance the base beer.

 

[Gemadrken]

My point is that either dryhop in secondary, or skip it altogether. You want to bottle immediately after the dryhopping, and not age the beer.

Dryhop for 5-7 days, then rack to the bottling bucket and immediately package the beer. There is no advantage to dryhopping, and then aging the beer so that the aroma you just added fades.

You can use tea balls if you'd like, or not. I generally don't use a bag for dryhopping in the fermenter, but I"m an old winemaker and have no issues with racking. Others use bags or tea balls, and that's fine as long as they are "loose" in the bag.

I generally dryhop at about day 7-10 and then package at day 12-15 or so. I like to dryhop once the beer is done and clear (or clearing well), and then dryhop for 5 days or so.

If you have no issues with chemistry, I'd skip the EZ water calculator. It's, well, easy , but it's not that accurate. I'd highly recommend bru'nwater. Just the "water knowledge" page is worthwhile, but the calculator is great. The predicted mash pH is always pretty darn close, while EZ's has been as much as .3 off- which is so far off that it's pretty useless to me.

You can go down a rabbit hole with water chemistry, but some simple advice would work here. If you are going higher with the sulfate, go very low with the chloride (under 100ppm almost always, but even 50 ppm if you have a high sulfate content); you never need to add magnesium; mash pH is THE important thing and not the flavor ions as if your mash pH is too high, the only flavor that will come across is astringency; and one last thing about 'salts':

Just like cooking with spices, those salts are for flavors or 'seasonings' if you will. Just like with table salt, less is more much of the time. You won't ruin a beer by not adding calcium sulfate, but you can absolutely ruin it with too much. The salts you are adding are to enhance the flavor of a good beer. The base beer should be good first, and the mash pH is a huge part of that. Once you have that, you can tweak the salt additions a little to further enhance the base beer.

Thank you so much, I honestly really appreciate your time invested in delivering your advice! I will apply it in my next brew; my first all grain this weekend. I've been working with extracts to solidify my fermentation, boil and sanitation technique as to not spoil additional mash hard work.

I'll post an updated version of my recipe and update this thread as the brew goes on. I'll report in detail on how it turns out

Thank you man!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Final Recipe (so far)

IPA All grain (not named)

Goal: Light but noticeable body, slightly retained head, balanced bitterness with heavy hop flavor and aroma. Heavy fruit aroma and flavor.


Estimated Stats:
OG- 1.069
FG- 1.016
ABV 7.03%
SRM- 7.89 (semi-deep golden color)

Yeast: Wyeast 1056 (with starter) or Safale US-05
Fermentation temp 65-70f

Recipe:
Malt:
9.00 lbs. Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt (American- Pale 2-Row)
2.00 Vienna malt
1.00 Munich Light
.75lb crystal malt 30L
Mash temp: ¬158
Mash Time: ¬60 minutes at 1.25qt/lb. =4.35 gallon. Strike Water at 172f
Sparge: 1.65-2.15 gallon 160f

Yeast:
Hops: Cascade, Chinook, Simcoe

Boil:
60-
1.5oz chinook
15-
1 oz. Simcoe
1 oz. cascade
1 oz. Chinook
1 Wirfloc tablet
0-
1 oz. cascade (floral, citrus, spicy, grapefruit)
2 oz. Simcoe (Earthy, Citrus, Pine, Passion fruit, berry)

Fermentation:
Primary-7-10 days in primary container
Secondary-Re rack at day 7-10
-Add Dry Hops @ day 10
+2 oz. Simcoe
+1 oz. cascade

Packaging:
priming sugar ~5oz
Bottle @ day 15



Total Ingredients:
9.00 lbs. Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt (American- Pale 2-Row)
2.00 Vienna malt
1.00 Munich Light
2.5oz Chinook hops
5 oz. Simcoe Hops
3 oz. Cascade Hops
1 Wirfloc Tablet
5oz priming sugar
Yeast Safale US-05 or Wyeast 1056 with yeast starter

Mash RO Water; 5.3ph; for 6 gallons
2.2g CaSO4 (gypsum)
1.2g CaCL2 (Calcium Chloride)
^Per 5 gallons; adjust for more
= (ppm)
Ca- 50
Mg- 10
Na- 5
Cl- 45
SO4- 105