ejg700
Member
I'm pretty new to AG brewing. So far, I have about 10 batches under my belt. I have yet to make an enjoyable beer. They have all been drinkable, but not quite enjoyable. I keep making stupid mistakes... Too high temp on the fermentation... Too low mash temps... Adding flavoring extracts with potassium sorbate, and wondering why my gravity stalls out at 1.034, lol! (that one was the best!) Adding too much flavoring extracts... The list goes on. Anyway, I know that it's a learning experince, and I'm hoping that I have all of the really dumb mistakes behind me. I decided I was going to take as much care, and consideration in making my next beer. I wanted something that was extremely malty,with a thick, shaving cream head. I also wanted a good hop balance that wasn't too overwhelming. This is what I came up with:
10# Golden Promise
1# Melanoidin? malt
1# Golden naked oats
1# Honey malt
1.5# biscuit malt
.5# Aromatic
.75# Crystal 60
.5# Coffee malt
.5# Chocolate
I mashed at 149-50 for 30 minutes, and 156 for 45 minutes. I mashed with 5.2 gallons of water so I could "no sparge," in hopes of a maltier beer. I figured with such a relatively large grain bill, the first runnings would be pretty high gravity. They were. 4.5 gallons@ 1.079 I did do a 1.5 gallon sparge, and set that aside in a separate vessel, as top off. I boiled the separate mini wort for 30 minutes to remove any nasties that might spoil the final product. I used 1oz of Summit hops, boiled separately for 60 minutes, and strained as well. I'm not sure which IBU calculator is the most accurate, as I've gotten widely varying results- so I decided to use taste as an indicator- infusing the hop tea until the desired hop level is achieved. It seems as though using a tea ball, or hops bags, I don't get full hop utilization. I know if I had a bigger brew kettle, none of those extra steps would be necessary
The first time I tried the taste method, I didn't account for all of the hop residue floating around in the wort- so my IBU's were waay lower than I thought they'd be. After the addition of the hop tea, and top off wort, gravity was still at 1.079, and if I were to estimate, the IBU's are sitting somewhere between 25-30. Right now it's sitting in my spare bathtub being chowed away on by hungry US-04 troops@64 degrees. One oz of cascade will go in the fermentor once the vigorous fermentation dies down.
To all the experienced AG'rs out there, what what you have done differently- besides buy a bigger brew pot? Were any ingredients in the grist too much for what I'm trying to accomplish? How do you think this beast will turn out? If it means anything, it's the best tasting/smelling/looking wort, I've produced so far
10# Golden Promise
1# Melanoidin? malt
1# Golden naked oats
1# Honey malt
1.5# biscuit malt
.5# Aromatic
.75# Crystal 60
.5# Coffee malt
.5# Chocolate
I mashed at 149-50 for 30 minutes, and 156 for 45 minutes. I mashed with 5.2 gallons of water so I could "no sparge," in hopes of a maltier beer. I figured with such a relatively large grain bill, the first runnings would be pretty high gravity. They were. 4.5 gallons@ 1.079 I did do a 1.5 gallon sparge, and set that aside in a separate vessel, as top off. I boiled the separate mini wort for 30 minutes to remove any nasties that might spoil the final product. I used 1oz of Summit hops, boiled separately for 60 minutes, and strained as well. I'm not sure which IBU calculator is the most accurate, as I've gotten widely varying results- so I decided to use taste as an indicator- infusing the hop tea until the desired hop level is achieved. It seems as though using a tea ball, or hops bags, I don't get full hop utilization. I know if I had a bigger brew kettle, none of those extra steps would be necessary
The first time I tried the taste method, I didn't account for all of the hop residue floating around in the wort- so my IBU's were waay lower than I thought they'd be. After the addition of the hop tea, and top off wort, gravity was still at 1.079, and if I were to estimate, the IBU's are sitting somewhere between 25-30. Right now it's sitting in my spare bathtub being chowed away on by hungry US-04 troops@64 degrees. One oz of cascade will go in the fermentor once the vigorous fermentation dies down.
To all the experienced AG'rs out there, what what you have done differently- besides buy a bigger brew pot? Were any ingredients in the grist too much for what I'm trying to accomplish? How do you think this beast will turn out? If it means anything, it's the best tasting/smelling/looking wort, I've produced so far