Help with Recipe

[mlgtrumpet]

Hey folks, I am a newer brewer -- only have about 5 batches under my belt. Wondering if anyone can help me make sense of this recipe? I am an extract brewer and I am trying not only to make this recipe, but jazz it up a bit.

RECIPE

Pilsner Malt – 96.97%.
Acidulated Malt – 3.03%
Vanguard Hops – 9.5 BU
Vanguard Hops – 3.2 BU
San Francisco Lager Yeast

Process:
Mash @ 151F
Fermentation @ 68F
Technical Specs:

3.3 SRM
20 IBU
11.46 OG
2.50 FG
Reverse Osmosis Water/Hard Water Blend

Thanks for any help/pointers you can provide!!
Matt

 

[Pie_Man]

For extract brewing, just use 100% Pilsner malt extract. The acidulated malt is probably for pH control during the mash and is not needed for extract.

Now, how much pilsner malt extract? The gravity numbers are in degrees plato. Every degree plato is basically .004. Here's a calculator, http://pintwell.com/2011/nov/02/calculate-specific-gravity-plato/.
For this recipe, that's a 1.046 OG. If you are making a 5 gallon batch, you'll need 46 x 5 = 230 gravity points. Dried pilsner malt gives about 43 gravity points per pound, so 230/43 ~ 5.33 pounds of Pilsner DME. If you using LME, divide the 230 by 36. The extract manufacturer should list the points per gallon (ppg), which is the number of gravity points that 1 pound of extract will contribute to 1 gallon.

The yeast in the recipe is probably WLP810, San Fran Lager Yeast. It ferments at a temperature range between a trypical lager yeast and an ale yeast.

 

[chickypad]

Pie Man has you situated with the grainbill. It appears the hop info isn't complete - there is no listing of times for the additions. Also not sure what they mean by BU , if that is supposed to be HBU? (or AAU). At any rate, it looks to be 2 additions. I would guess it's a 60 min bittering and a late addition, say 10 min. Looks like Vanguard is typically around 6% AA so you would hit the listed 20 IBU with something like 0.5 oz at 60 min and 1 ounce at 10 min.

One thing I would say is that 68 sounds fairly warm for that yeast. As was mentioned, it's the typical yeast used for a California common/steam beer - so lager yeast that ferments well at ale temps. I'd still shoot for low 60's though.

 

[Pie_Man]

+1 on what Chickypad said about the hops and fermentation temp. I missed those aspects in my initial analysis .

The ideal fermentation temperature for WLP 810 is 58-65, http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew/listings. Temperature control is important to make good beer. If those temperature are too low for your fermentation setup, you can try a clean ale yeast like US-05 or WLP 001 which ferment a little warmer.

 

[mlgtrumpet]

Hi!

This is great info, thanks for chipping in everyone. I appreciate this forum so much! I am going to contact the guy I got the recipe from to ask about the weird stuff. This is a CA Common recipe, so you guys were spot on.

M

 

[chickypad]

If it's a Cali common I think it does needs something else as far as character malts, and you already said you're looking to "jazz it up". You may want to check out the recipe database for some ideas (would be in the Amber hybrid section). Yooper has an Anchor steam clone with crystal 60, and she also lists her competition winner which is a version of Jamil's recipe from brewing classic styles.