If you had these grains...(2nd time around)

[hilljack13]

I have asked before on this topic, but I find myself with some random grains and no clue what to do. I am not the best recipe builder so I come seeking advice.

If you had these grains on hand, what are some possible brews to come with...
5lbs Pale Ale
5lbs Munich I
5lbs Biscuit malt
5lbs Smoked cherrywood malt
5lbs Caramunich II

I have some ideas for the pale ale and munich, but lost on the others. I know they shouldn't be used in >10% (+/-) but with so much on hand I feel I'm going to end up putting some in the trash.

I like just about any ale. Love lagers and pils but I have diacetyl issues I'm trying to figure out. I use dry yeast only.
On hand: S-04, S-05, S-189, S-23, 34/70, K97, Windsor, Voss. Have some Novalager on order and T-58 inbound. Ton of hops, mostly German and English varieties, and Saaz.

I think a few 1 gal batches could get me through some of this...so what crazy concoction would you do?

PS--If I had to order a few lbs or so of something to make a recipe work I would swing it.

 

[Brewskey]

I have asked before on this topic, but I find myself with some random grains and no clue what to do. I am not the best recipe builder so I come seeking advice.

If you had these grains on hand, what are some possible brews to come with...
5lbs Pale Ale
5lbs Munich I
5lbs Biscuit malt
5lbs Smoked cherrywood malt
5lbs Caramunich II

I have some ideas for the pale ale and munich, but lost on the others. I know they shouldn't be used in >10% (+/-) but with so much on hand I feel I'm going to end up putting some in the trash.

I like just about any ale. Love lagers and pils but I have diacetyl issues I'm trying to figure out. I use dry yeast only.
On hand: S-04, S-05, S-189, S-23, 34/70, K97, Windsor, Voss. Have some Novalager on order and T-58 inbound. Ton of hops, mostly German and English varieties, and Saaz.

I think a few 1 gal batches could get me through some of this...so what crazy concoction would you do?

PS--If I had to order a few lbs or so of something to make a recipe work I would swing it.

You could make something like an English Bitter with the pale ale malt and maybe a little Munich or Biscuit. Ferment with S-04. Which English hops do you have?

 

[Dland]

If you like lagers and pilsners, it would be good to get some pilsner malt. If you have diacetyl issues, this can mostly be solved on the cold side, after the wort has been put in fermentor. It would be good to know your cold side process if you want advice with that.

You have a good selection of yeast. What to use would depend on anticipated fermentation temperatures. Most of the malts you list are kind of on the heavy/sweet/malty side, which can be great, but not really base malts for most types of beer, maybe used in total at 10-30%. I often brew pilsners with 100% high quality pilsner malt.

I remember how it was when I started brewing though, reading descritions of all the fancy malts and figuring I had to brew with all of them.

You probably know your taste in hops. A lot of the current trends in craft/homebrew emphasize a lot of hops in general, and flower tasting dry hops. This is cool but for some of us the novelty has worn off. If going for lagers or quafable ales, keeping hops to a dull roar makes for good easy drinking beer.

Looking at what you have, and since you are doing small batches, maybe try this:

80% Pale Ale
20% Munich

Add 10-20 IBU hops at first wort, or begining of boil if you prefer.
Ad another 5-10 IBU halfway though the boll.

If you can easily keep the temp below 60F,use S189 on the cooller side or 34/70. 34/70 works well warmer, but if your are fermentring at higher temps S-04 or US-05 are good choices. It is good to look at yeast packet and use reccomended fermentation temps as a guide. Fermentaion temps matter.

What to do with the other malts? maybe use them at 5% or so at a time and/or make a heavy brew, which would have to be aged for a while to come into its prime. I'll admit though, I still have 5# of Special B I don't know what to do with. I'm saving it in case the food runs low, or when we get chickens again.

 

[AlexKay]

It’s easy to get rid of 5 pounds of Special B. Just make big batch of a Belgian Dubbel. I’m thinking 50 bbl should do the trick.

 

[MaxStout]

5 lbs smoked cherrywood + 5 lbs Munich I would make a nice Rauchbier, if you like those. That cherrywood malt is nice, smoother than beech, IMO.

 

[lumpher]

5 lbs smoked cherrywood + 5 lbs Munich I would make a nice Rauchbier, if you like those. That cherrywood malt is nice, smoother than beech, IMO.

This. That's what I immediately thought about. Now I'm wanting a Rauchbier... After using cherrywood malt, I never went back to beechwood smoked. Authentic or not for any smoked beer (except peat-smoked), that's my choice because cherry is so much smoother and tastes much better.

 

[hilljack13]

If you like lagers and pilsners, it would be good to get some pilsner malt.

I have ~25-30lb of Beszmaltz pilsner

Special B

Not sure what that is. Cheap?

5 lbs smoked cherrywood + 5 lbs Munich I would make a nice Rauchbier, if you like those. That cherrywood malt is nice, smoother than beech, IMO.

I can try that. I don't think I have had a Rauchbier, but if that what comes from the gains.

 

[MaxStout]

Rauchmalt also makes a nice addition to a porter, at about 10-20% of the grist.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I have asked before on this topic, but I find myself with some random grains and no clue what to do. I am not the best recipe builder so I come seeking advice.

If you had these grains on hand, what are some possible brews to come with...
5lbs Pale Ale
5lbs Munich I
5lbs Biscuit malt
5lbs Smoked cherrywood malt
5lbs Caramunich II

I have some ideas for the pale ale and munich, but lost on the others. I know they shouldn't be used in >10% (+/-) but with so much on hand I feel I'm going to end up putting some in the trash.

I like just about any ale. Love lagers and pils but I have diacetyl issues I'm trying to figure out. I use dry yeast only.
On hand: S-04, S-05, S-189, S-23, 34/70, K97, Windsor, Voss. Have some Novalager on order and T-58 inbound. Ton of hops, mostly German and English varieties, and Saaz.

I think a few 1 gal batches could get me through some of this...so what crazy concoction would you do?

PS--If I had to order a few lbs or so of something to make a recipe work I would swing it.

An American Amber Ale 22 litres
Grain bill

Malts (5.2 kg)​

2.2 kg (42.3%) — Crisp Light Munich Malt — Grain — 11 SRM

2.2 kg (42.3%) — Muntons Pale Ale Malt — Grain — 3.2 SRM

400 g (7.7%) — Weyermann Caramunich II — Grain — 63 SRM

400 g (7.7%) — Castle Malting Chateau Biscuit — Grain — 25.5 SRM

American hops and either US05 or Voss.

 

[hilljack13]

You could make something like an English Bitter with the pale ale malt and maybe a little Munich or Biscuit. Ferment with S-04. Which English hops do you have?

EKG and Fuggles. 1lb each.

 

[hilljack13]

I like the idea of the Rauchbier and Amber Ale. Time to play around with the software inputs.

 

[hilljack13]

Looks like, and I didn't know, the Rauchbier uses lager yeast. I haven't tried S-23. Would that be a good recommendation or one of the other two?

Also thinking of adding some caramunich ii for color. Good or bad idea?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Because you have smoked malt you don’t have to use it. The 4 other malts give you a huge number of beer options. Use them.