My first recipe

[smccarter]

I'm new to the homebrewtalk forums, but have been brewing beer - mostly extract - for several years. I've recently decided to step it up a knotch and come up with my first recipe, and figured that since I had access to these forums I'd get some opinions about it and hear what you all had to say about it. Advice is appreciated.

Fermentables:
5lb 2 row pale malt
.5lb Vienna malt
3.3lb LME - amber
1lb DME - light

Hops
.5 oz Columbus - 60 minutes
.75 oz Columbus - 25 minutes
1 oz Cascade - 10 minutes
.5 oz Cascade - Dry hop

Brewtarget says...
OG 1.075
IBU 61
ABV 7.3
SRM 7.1

 

[bobbrews]

First post! Welcome!

What are you going for? An IIPA?

What yeast are you using and what specific goals did you have in mind for this beer?

At first glance, and with no additional info, I'd say replace the Amber DME with Extra Light DME (adding half of the extract late), nix the 2-row and vienna unless you're mashing them (instead steep some light crystal and corn sugar), up the late and dryhop additions, and add another late hop for variety.

 

[smccarter]

Yes to the IIPA

Wyeast 1335 Ale yeast. Harvested from previous batches.

I live in Pensacola, FL. We have a brew pub called McGuires Irish Pub here and the current seasonal is an IPA. I've had a number of glasses and that's the style I'm looking to brew.

I will be mashing the malt. Like I said, I want to move away from all extract brewing to partial mash. I've been an extract brewer for a number of years and want to try something new. I've recently brewed 2 partial mash kits - a True Brew American Pale Ale, and a Surly Bitter Brewer kit from Northern Brewing. I wanted to come up with my own recipe and brew it next. Something that I can brew a number of times with tweaks to see how different grains, extracts, hops, additives affect the beer. Just to experiment and to get a handle on things before investing in the equipment I'll need for all grain batches.

 

[hopmonster2189]

If you're limited on amount of grain you can mash I'd use as much base malt as you can, then just steep any crystal or specialties after the mash in your boil pot, that would be kind of a pain though. that being said here's how I made the switch from extract to partial mash,

I have a 7.5 gal pot so I mash in a 5 gal paint strainer bag ($2 at hardware store) with about 4 gal water and can fit ~12 lbs grain in a bucket wrapped in a sleeping bag to insulate. Then dunk sparge in enough water to bring me to 6 gal for a full boil. So I can brew anything under bout 1.055 with just grain, and toss in DME late if I want higher gravity. It's really easy and I only had to buy the strainer bags. Hope this helps.

 

[smccarter]

I brewed this beer last Saturday. I have to say the wort tasted great. Very sweet with a bitter and spicy back. I used the Wyeast 1335 ale yeast that I harvested from an earlier kit that I got from Norther Brewer. Initial fermentation in a glass carboy. Wow... This is the first time I've fermented in a carboy... always in a plastic bucket in the past. Man is the yeast working hard.

Hopefully the initial taste from the wort is an indication of how good the beer is going to taste.

This will be a base recipe that I'll modify over time. Hopefully I can come up with something uniquely my own and something that I can reproduce at will.

This was my first all grain brew as a matter of fact. I have to say that all of the worrying was for nothing. It went very well. It was like I'd always been brewing that way.