How do I vary malt amounts to my batch size?

[tinkoh]

I've got an idea for a Strawberry Blonde I want to make. I've used several extract kits in the past but I want specific hops for this so I'd like to buy all the ingredients on their own rather than have extra hops from some random kit with the appropriate grains.

There's tons of recipes out there for the malts in a Strawberry Blonde but while they give good suggestions for the type, they seem to use wildly different amounts. I see 8lbs LME in one where some use the standard 3.3lbs. The amount of steeping grains varies even more wildly.

Is there a rule of thumb for the gravity points that comes from malts? I see 3.3lbs of LME contributes 36 points on Google, and I found a chart that I inferred 5-6 points per lb of steeping grains from, but I feel I should ask before ordering anything. I also am unsure what to figure my FG would be, which makes any OG calculations from this info irrelevant (haven't used my new hydrometer on a beer yet) but I imagine a good OG is 1.050.

Thanks in advance.

 

[waldoar15]

Download a copy of Beersmith.

 

[IslandLizard]

How to Brew (old online version) or new 4th Ed. book.

 

[RPh_Guy]

A recipe calculator is very helpful.

I use Brewer's Friend https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator

It may seem intimidating at first ... but that's because there's so much it can do.

 

[tinkoh]

Thanks guys. Turns out steeping grains add very little to the gravity. 7lbs LME in a 5gal brew with 2lbs steeping malts hits 4.7% which is great, it's what I'm going to use.

 

[IslandLizard]

Thanks guys. Turns out steeping grains add very little to the gravity. 7lbs LME in a 5gal brew with 2lbs steeping malts hits 4.7% which is great, it's what I'm going to use.

Steeping grains such as crystal malts add 32-35 points of gravity per pound, darker roasts a few points less. That's not "very little." But you also don't want to use a lot of them, so they indeed don't add up much. 2 pounds of steeping grain in a 5 gallon 1.050-1.060 batch is definitely on the high side, and for more than a few styles too much.

Also note the difference between steeping grains and grains that need to be mashed.

See:
http://beersmith.com/blog/2009/03/22/steeping-grains-for-extract-beer-brewing/
http://beersmith.com/grain-list/