My First Brew - suggestions? (ipa/apa)

[dbrulet]

So, tomorrow I will be doing my first brew! Pretty excited to give this all a try. I have helped a friend do a few AG brews but I will be doing an extract brew based on the ZD Clone recipe posted by SkeezerPleezer seen here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/three-floyds-zombie-dust-clone-303478/

Here is my recipe and process...I would love your thoughts, critique to anything I post below. Thanks!!

OG - 1.056
FG - 1.015
Color - 11 SRM
ABV - 5.5%
IBU - 92(seems a little high...)

Grain Bill

7.5lbs - Pale LME
1.00lb - Munich Malt 10L
.5lb - carafoam
.5lb - cara/crystal 60L
.5lb - Melanoiden Malt

Hop Bill

.75oz Citra - 60min
1.00oz Citra - 15min
1.00oz Citra - 10min
1.00oz Citra - 5min
1.00oz Citra - 1min
3.00oz Citra - 7-day Dry Hop

Misc

1 whirlfloc tablet - 15min
.5tsp yeast nutrient - 15min

Yeast

SafAle - S-04

Here is how I plan on doing this thing...feel free to add input! I have a 10gal kettle so I was hoping to do a full boil.

Steep grains in bag for 30min at 155deg in 5gal water
Sparge with 170deg - 1.5gal water

Bring to full boil

60min
Remove from heat - add 2.5lb - LME
Return to boil - add first citra addition

Other hop additions along the way

15min
Add whirlfloc and yeast nutrient

10min
add remaining 5lb LME

flame out

I bought the coiled chiller from NB

Cool to 100deg or less

Pour wort into the 6.5gal carboy(all pre-sanitized of course)

add any additional water to make the 5gal mark from boil-off(should I do this??)

Aerate a bit

Add yeast once temp is near 75 or below

Seal and lock.(add water to lock)

Let sit for 7+ days in cool basement until FG reached.

Then either siphon to secondary or just leave and dry hop for 7more days.

I think I can handle the rest from here...

Thoughts?? Things I forgot or should change?

Thanks!!!!
- Dan

 

[BxBrewer]

"Steep grains in bag for 30min at 155deg in 5gal water"-- I would steep in about 2 gal of water not 5 with your 2.5 lbs of grain.

Have some DME on hand to boost your fermentable sugars. Most LME is a mix of a couple of different base malts. They don't always give the correct fermentable sugars.

 

[FatsSchindee]

You say to add 2.5 lbs LME at 60 min, but not when to add the rest... I assume you're doing a late extract addition - so add at flameout or 5-10 min prior?
Also, if you want five gal of finished beer, you should top up to 5.25 or 5.5 to account for loss to trub and the dry hops (or, if you're doing a full volume boil, try to add enough water pre-boil to account for that, so you end up with 5.25 or 5.5 post-boil. But if this is your first brew, you may not know your rig's boil-off rate yet... You can do a test run with only water and see how much you lose to boil-off in 60 minutes, then add that much to your initial amount).

 

[dbrulet]

Thanks! So then should I add the extra water to the boil?

 

[dbrulet]

Oh yea...forgot that...added the other 5lbs at 10min to go. Thanks for the other pointers! I will test the boil tonight and also make sure my burner/gas works and all that fun stuff.

 

[FatsSchindee]

Thanks! So then should I add the extra water to the boil?

Yes, before the boil. For example, my size pot and electric stove burner burns off just about 1/2 gal over 60 min, so I'd do a 6 gal boil if I wanted to be putting 5.5 gal into the fermenter.
Also, change the values in whatever software you use (if you are using any, or do the math the old school way!) for the boil and fermenter volumes, as it will affect your IBU, SRM, and gravity numbers (not too much for only a 1/2 gal difference, but slightly)... You can find some free recipe calculators online (I have been using www.brewersfriend.com for mine) if you don't have any software or an online calc already.