My first all grain recipe, constructive criticism.

[Biscuits]

Like the title says, this is my first attempt at a recipe I created completely on my own. It will be a 1 Gallon batch as I would like to try and hone in the recipe before I ramp up to 5 gallons.

Style (Intended): American Pale Ale
O.G. = 1.045-60
F.G. = 1.010-15
IBU = 30-45
Color (SRM) = 5-14
ABV = 4.5-6.2

INGREDIENTS:
1.75. lbs - Pale 2-row American Malt
2 Oz. - Caramel Malt 10-40
1 Oz. - Torrified Wheat
Irish Moss

HOPS:
½ Oz. - Cascade
- ¼ Oz. @ beginning of boil
- ¼ Oz. @ last 15 mins of boil
-
YEAST:
American Ale

Will mash @ 151* for 60 mins

 

[stratslinger]

I'd suggest, particularly for an APA, that you consider substituting Munich 10L for the Caramel in this recipe - and maybe swap it a in for a little of the 2-Row, making it something like:
25oz 2-row (83%)
4oz munich (13%)
1oz wheat (3%)

This should prevent the Caramel from coming across with too much sweetness, potentially interfering with the hops, and keep the same kind of color contribution you'd get from an equal amount of Crystal 10. It could also dry things out a bit, which may be good or bad depending on your personal taste, since Munich is another base malt and is thus more fermentable than Crystal.

I don't have any calculators with me, so I can't speak so much to the hops - but that sounds right, for a fairly hoppy 1 gallon batch.

 

[Poobah58]

Looks fine. I say go for it!

 

[jtdrowns]

I would move the 15 min addition closer to flameout, like 5 mins or less. Or keep the 15 min addition and add a 5 min or less addition.

 

[Terek]

I would add a bit of munich. Mabe cut the caramel bill in half and put in some munich. Also, mabe another hop as well. I have found cascade can be a bit "grassy" when used alone. I like to mix it with chinook or mabe a bit of citra. Belma mixes well too. My go to pale ale recipe is this:

2-row 9#
munich 1#
80L 1#

1 oz Cascade 60 min
1/2 oz of ea. cascade/citra 5 min

thats for 5 gal though

 

[Biscuits]

I'd suggest, particularly for an APA, that you consider substituting Munich 10L for the Caramel in this recipe - and maybe swap it a in for a little of the 2-Row, making it something like:
25oz 2-row (83%)
4oz munich (13%)
1oz wheat (3%)

Thanks, I will consider it, if nothing else, I will keep it in my back pocket for the next version.

I would move the 15 min addition closer to flameout, like 5 mins or less. Or keep the 15 min addition and add a 5 min or less addition.

I was thinking the same thing actually..gonna move them to 5 mins.

 

[Biscuits]

I would add a bit of munich. Mabe cut the caramel bill in half and put in some munich. Also, mabe another hop as well. I have found cascade can be a bit "grassy" when used alone. I like to mix it with chinook or mabe a bit of citra. Belma mixes well too. My go to pale ale recipe is this:

2-row 9#
munich 1#
80L 1#

1 oz Cascade 60 min
1/2 oz of ea. cascade/citra 5 min

thats for 5 gal though

I like the idea of a second hop...that is going in my notes for the second version, I think at this point I am going to keep it as simple as possible to get a baseline. The munich malt seems very similar to Carmel, except that carmel is supposed to help with mouthfeel and head retention...does the munich maybe come across different?

 

[he-brew28]

I recently brewed my first all grain recipe, which was also my first all grain period. Designed to be a lemon honey wheat I used 8 oz of Carmel malt. Which is a higher ratio than you have but mine turned out way too dark for what I intended

 

[Biscuits]

I recently brewed my first all grain recipe, which was also my first all grain period. Designed to be a lemon honey wheat I used 8 oz of Carmel malt. Which is a higher ratio than you have but mine turned out way too dark for what I intended

What kind did you use? I was planning on going with 20L, right in the middle of the light and medium range.

 

[he-brew28]

What kind did you use? I was planning on going with 20L, right in the middle of the light and medium range.

I also used 20L. Mine was about the perfect color when I transferred from primary to secondary but has really darkened since. It's been 2 weeks since I brewed it.

 

[pdog44450]

I recently brewed my first all grain recipe, which was also my first all grain period. Designed to be a lemon honey wheat I used 8 oz of Carmel malt. Which is a higher ratio than you have but mine turned out way too dark for what I intended

How big was the batch? If it was a 1 gallon batch, that will be an extremely sweet beer.

 

[Biscuits]

How big was the batch? If it was a 1 gallon batch, that will be an extremely sweet beer.

He can correct me if I am wrong but I think he did a regular 5 gallon batch. He is just saying that his ratio was less than the one I have for my small batch.

 

[Beerthoven]

I really don't like Munich in American pale ales (or Ambers), but that is just my preference. A very good APA I brew with some frequency is 85% american 2 row, 7.5% crystal 40, 7.5% victory or biscuit. OG = 1.052, about 40 IBUs. Bitter with something clean. For 5 gallons I late hop with 0.5 ounce of centennial at 10 mins, and 0.5 ounce centennial + 0.5 ounce cascade at flame out. Easy drinking and good all year 'round.

 

[Hujo]

I think the recipe looks fine, especially since it's your first. IMO, just brew it, take detailed notes on both process and tasting, and adjust, brew it again, etc. Everybody's going to have different opinions about this and that, but it doesn't really matter where you start, it's how you take it from there that matters. Good luck!

 

[Biscuits]

I think the recipe looks fine, especially since it's your first. IMO, just brew it, take detailed notes on both process and tasting, and adjust, brew it again, etc. Everybody's going to have different opinions about this and that, but it doesn't really matter where you start, it's how you take it from there that matters. Good luck!

I appreciate that. I think I am going to follow your advice and just brew it more or less how it is. Only thing I am going to adjust is the hop schedule depending on what AA I get when I actually buy the hops, my schedule on the recipe was just a guesstimate. Right now my main goal is to get a foundation to build on to it and create something that is totally mine. That being said, on the next version I will definitely be looking back to this thread for inspiration, so I appreciate all of the feedback from everyone.

 

[Biscuits]

Update on the brew.

I had a few scary moments today, but I think in the end it all worked out.

First, I decided to do a BIAB method rather than try and rig up some kind of mash tun for a 1 gallon batch. So because of this, I adjusted my mash water down from 1.5 gal. to 1 gal. since I wouldn't have any mashtun loss. No problem there, seemed like a perfect amount.

I came in a little hot on the mash, strike temp was @161*, so I had to stir it down to @152*...it seemed to hold the temp in my boil kettle pretty well but towards the last 20 mins of the mash I was skeptical so I stirred it gently and it looked like my thermometer dropped by about 10*, so i lit the burner and put it on the lowest setting I could to try and bring the tempt back to where it needed to be. It was nerve racking but I think it worked out.

Also, I guess I was so excited to finally have a brew day that without thinking about it, I added my first addition of hops to the mash!

The next issue I ran into was that my smaller brew pot doesn't have graduation marks on it, so I had no idea how much wort was in there after the mash and I had to guesstimate on how much water to sparge with. I eyeballed it and took a sample for pre-boil gravity...YIKES it was @ 1.010! :smack:

So I decided to turn the heat up and give it a vigorous boil and try and evaporate off some of the water.

Since I added my first addition to the mash like a moron, I decided to adjust my hop schedule to 1/4 oz @ boil and 1/8 oz @ 10 minutes left in the boil as opposed to at 5 mins. Not sure how much of a difference this will make, but as I had it calculated, I would have been on the higher end of the IBU range for this style so, I think it will be fine.

All said and done, I took a FG reading and it was right at 1.060 so I am pretty happy, I even had exactly 1 gallon go into the fermenter bucket. :rockin:

Now it is just a matter of time.

 

[Biscuits]

Took my hydro reading today. FG is 1.010, spot on but I am getting a banana aroma which is probably because it fermented at too warm a temperature. I know US-05 likes it around the mid 60's but I just couldn't sustain that temp in my home. I am going to have to look into building a fermentation chamber of some sort. More $$!

There was also quite a bit of stuff still in suspension so I through it in my mini fridge at a medium temp to cold crash. I want to bottle it in the next few days and move on.

 

[aprichman]

Took my hydro reading today. FG is 1.010, spot on but I am getting a banana aroma which is probably because it fermented at too warm a temperature. I know US-05 likes it around the mid 60's but I just couldn't sustain that temp in my home. I am going to have to look into building a fermentation chamber of some sort. More $$!

There was also quite a bit of stuff still in suspension so I through it in my mini fridge at a medium temp to cold crash. I want to bottle it in the next few days and move on.

Use a swamp cooler. Put your carboys in a plastic tub with some water in it. Put a damp towel around the carboys making sure the bottom of the towel (I use a cotton tshirt) is submerged in water. This alone will bring the temp down by a few degrees. You can drop the temp further by using a fan and using frozen water bottles placed in the water.

 

[Biscuits]

Use a swamp cooler. Put your carboys in a plastic tub with some water in it. Put a damp towel around the carboys making sure the bottom of the towel (I use a cotton tshirt) is submerged in water. This alone will bring the temp down by a few degrees. You can drop the temp further by using a fan and using frozen water bottles placed in the water.

I might do that on my next batch, although I am considering turning my mini-fridge into a fermentation chamber with an STC-1000. For now, I am cold crashing in the mini fridge to get some of the sediment that is still suspended to settle. Hoping 24 hours does the trick, then I will bottle. I might also consider using a different yeast, something that likes higher temps as an alternative.

 

[aprichman]

I might do that on my next batch, although I am considering turning my mini-fridge into a fermentation chamber with an STC-1000. For now, I am cold crashing in the mini fridge to get some of the sediment that is still suspended to settle. Hoping 24 hours does the trick, then I will bottle. I might also consider using a different yeast, something that likes higher temps as an alternative.

Fermentation chambers are really nice because you never have to worry about checking the temperature. Swamp coolers work but you have to check them fairly often when the fermentation is really active. One of my next upgrades is going to be a chest freezer with a STC-1000. It will be nice to not have to wake up in the middle of the night to check on things

 

[Biscuits]

Fermentation chambers are really nice because you never have to worry about checking the temperature. Swamp coolers work but you have to check them fairly often when the fermentation is really active. One of my next upgrades is going to be a chest freezer with a STC-1000. It will be nice to not have to wake up in the middle of the night to check on things

I agree. I am actually in the process right now of trying to repurpose an old lap top into BrewPi...it's supposed to be better than the STC-1000, but if it becomes too much of a pain I will just go with the STC