Grain on the brain.

[lawty1023]

I am going to brew my first non kit extract recipe. It will be an IPA but i wanted to know what happens when you use more or less grains in the boil? I have a pound of 2row and 8oz. of crystal. I was only going to use 8oz. of the 2 row but wanted to know the affects of using more or less grains

 

[Rbeckett]

Crystal contribute a lot of color and flavor but very low percentage of fermentables. The 2 row is you unkilned base malt that is converted to fermentables during mash and lauter. How big of a batch are you planning? Looks like a very small quantity of grain for a regular 5 gallon sized batch. But I could be way wrong since I am trying to recall the discussions of malts and crystals and grain bill quantities off the top of my head.
Bob

 

[GPB]

1lb of 2-row will only yield .5 ABV, in application. Consider using two cans, about 6 to 6.6 lbs, of LME. Mini-mash the lb of 2-row and the crystal with the LME for 30 minutes at 150/152 degrees F in 2 gallons of H2O. Sparge with 1 gallon of water at 180F. Bring to boil after sparging, add hops, boil for 50 minutes, add hops, boil for 10 more minutes, and terminate boil. This will yield you around 4.5% ABV.

 

[geer537]

i wanted to know what happens when you use more or less grains in the boil?

I am assuming this is a typo but just in case- do not boil the grains. Only steep them. Boiling the grains would extract tannins that you would not want in your beer

 

[mredge73]

Save the 2-row since you won't need its diastatic power to convert crystal since crystal cannot really be converted more than it already is. Crystal is often used in IPAs; so use it as instructed above. It will give you some body, contribute to color, and add caramel flavors. (It won't hurt anything to use the 2-row if you still want to use it; it will add some fermentables that you will need to account for)

Here is a quick datasheet on malts:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malts_Chart

Here is a discussion on diastatic power that you may want to read about. Some speciality malts require a % of base malts like 2-row to be added with them to allow conversion.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/diastatic-power-recipe-considerations-186501/

 

[lawty1023]

The word boil was a typo. thanks for all the great info.