Need assistance in recipe construction

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fineexampl

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So in a random act of impulsiveness i ordered 6oz of fresh hops. 2 each of nugget, simcoe, and hallertauer. I figured i'd construct a simple wheat or wit recipe and use some random hops according to whatever i could get.

What i'm looking to assemble is something with the look and feel of a solid Belgian style wheat. The light color, the amber/gold color. Something that has some serious drinkability. Once that's assembled, i want to smash the bloody hell out of it with some rich hops and have the combo of serious drinkability with awesome hops throughout.

Can anyone help here?
 
60% Wheat
40% Pils
15 IBU's using the Hall and dry hop a little bit
Wyeast 3638 and mash low.
that's actually close to a recipe i was looking at. wish i could find it now to compare.

Any suggestions for using up the other hops? perhaps in the same recipe? I don't mind having extra left over. I want to make up a braggot as well, so leftover hops is perfectly fine. If there's leftover when everythings fermenting, i can either freeze or smoke the rest. Hop brownies perhaps?
 
that's actually close to a recipe i was looking at. wish i could find it now to compare.

Any suggestions for using up the other hops? perhaps in the same recipe? I don't mind having extra left over. I want to make up a braggot as well, so leftover hops is perfectly fine. If there's leftover when everythings fermenting, i can either freeze or smoke the rest. Hop brownies perhaps?

I don't see those hops in the same recipe. They just aren't three hops that go together. Maybe a pale ale with nugget as bittering and simcoe as flavor hops, but that's just a guess.

I freeze leftover hops all of the time. If they are sealed, they'll last a very long time in the freezer. If they are opened, using a food-saver will preserve them quite well.
 
I don't see those hops in the same recipe. They just aren't three hops that go together. Maybe a pale ale with nugget as bittering and simcoe as flavor hops, but that's just a guess.

I freeze leftover hops all of the time. If they are sealed, they'll last a very long time in the freezer. If they are opened, using a food-saver will preserve them quite well.
Did some more reading and that seems to be the case. Perhaps two brews will be in order. No harm there.:)
 
You could use the Simcoe for a nice IPA and the nugget to bitter a stout or something.
So many brews so little time.
 
i'm stuck constructing a recipe and need some help.

I'm going to brew a test batch (a gallon or so) of a quinoa brew using some ingredients i have on hand.

What i'd like to incorporate:
Barley malt extract picked up from Whole Foods (food grade extract)
the aforementioned quinoa (i malted it)
some of the same quinoa toasted for color and nutty flavor
the nugget hops for bittering
the simcoe hops for aroma/flavor
Windsor yeast (it's all i've got right now, aside from champagne yeast)

Other stuff i have available:
tamarind puree
guanabana puree
strawberry
blueberry
peach
apple
banana
canned green figs (Oregon brand)
take your pick of any spice (i cook alot)
an assortment of rare and not so rare hot chile peppers (dry and fresh)
various fresh green herbs (homegrown organic)

What i'd like it to be:
A nice full body red ale with a decent head, medium-high hop bitterness and aroma.

What i was planning:
1lb barley malt extract
3/4 lb malted quinoa
1/2 lb toasted (to a nice deep brown/red) malted quinoa
1/4 lb dark brown sugar
1/2 oz nugget hop (bittering)
1/4 oz simcoe (finishing)
1/4 oz simcoe (dry hop)
unknown portion of yeast

I'm sure i have my calculations WAY off here, so if anyone could help a noob reconstruct this or add to it, it would be very much appreciated. I tried to figure it out myself, but the moment the math stepped in i had to step back or risk tossing a brew at the wall.
 
Just a couple thoughts...

Simco may be a trifle overbearing as a flavor hop so watch your quantity.

Windsor finishes really high in my experience...expect a sweet brew with a big FG. :(
 
Just a couple thoughts...

Simco may be a trifle overbearing as a flavor hop so watch your quantity.

Windsor finishes really high in my experience...expect a sweet brew with a big FG. :(
What would you change, if i gave you the listed ingredients? I don't want sweet, so much as i want a full bodied hoppy brew.

feel free to give some constructive criticism. i'm really looking to learn the process better.
 
I'd go along with what Yooper and magnj have already said...plus I'd spend the two bucks and get some Nottingham or Safale yeast - you're going to want something with decent attenuation. Save the Windsor for a hardcore English Ordinary Bitter or somesuch.

Alternately, go ahead with your experimental brew, thats what homebrewing is all about! :rockin:
 
I'd go along with what Yooper and magnj have already said...plus I'd spend the two bucks and get some Nottingham or Safale yeast - you're going to want something with decent attenuation. Save the Windsor for a hardcore English Ordinary Bitter or somesuch.

Alternately, go ahead with your experimental brew, thats what homebrewing is all about! :rockin:
The yeast was recommended to me by the LHBS to not be so harsh with the astringency factor, but i hear what you're saying. I just wasn't sure when i'd get to the brew so i didn't want to not have time and waste the liquid yeast. Still in the air though. No objection to a yeast switch at all.

What about the amounts of grain/extract versus a test batch of 1-2 gallons? Anyone got input on that?:)
 
What i was planning:
1lb barley malt extract
3/4 lb malted quinoa
1/2 lb toasted (to a nice deep brown/red) malted quinoa
1/4 lb dark brown sugar
1/2 oz nugget hop (bittering)
1/4 oz simcoe (finishing)
1/4 oz simcoe (dry hop)
unknown portion of yeast

I'm sure i have my calculations WAY off here, so if anyone could help a noob reconstruct this or add to it, it would be very much appreciated. I tried to figure it out myself, but the moment the math stepped in i had to step back or risk tossing a brew at the wall.
I'm going to change up this recipe somewhat. I'm adding a small bit of malted (if it germinates) spelt or toasted spelt. In place of the brown sugar, i'll use jaggery. I will also be seasoning with star anise and long pepper (akin to black pepper, but different).

Thoughts? Ideas? Improvements?
 
The yeast was recommended to me by the LHBS to not be so harsh with the astringency factor, but i hear what you're saying. I just wasn't sure when i'd get to the brew so i didn't want to not have time and waste the liquid yeast.

Safale and Nottingham are dry yeasts...

At this point my best suggestion would be to read the first few sections of this completely, choose a basic pale ale to start and make five gallons of it.

Good luck. :mug:
 
Safale and Nottingham are dry yeasts...

At this point my best suggestion would be to read the first few sections of this completely, choose a basic pale ale to start and make five gallons of it.

Good luck. :mug:
lol i'm a little past all that. The brew is complete. Hit a gravity of 1.065.

So, now we wait. My Quinoa/Spelt and spice pale ale is in the primary and away we go. :rockin:

edit: did i mention i build a grain mill for this? yeah, kinda made one. pasta roller and a dremel and a trip to the dollar store for cutting boards well spent. bong!
 
lol i'm a little past all that. The brew is complete. Hit a gravity of 1.065.

So, now we wait. My Quinoa/Spelt and spice pale ale is in the primary and away we go. :rockin:

edit: did i mention i build a grain mill for this? yeah, kinda made one. pasta roller and a dremel and a trip to the dollar store for cutting boards well spent. bong!

Wow impressive wort and homemade mill! Have you figured out your efficiency on it?

I will be really interested to hear about how this brew tastes, and could you post the spice amounts you used? and/or your final recipe? I'm very interested in brewing with some extra ingredients also.

Cheers!
 
Wow impressive wort and homemade mill! Have you figured out your efficiency on it?

I will be really interested to hear about how this brew tastes, and could you post the spice amounts you used? and/or your final recipe? I'm very interested in brewing with some extra ingredients also.

Cheers!
I absolutely will post the entire recipe once it's transcribed from my notes. A lot of it was improvised, which is how i live my god forsaken life.

roughly...
1gal test batch.
Spices ended up being: star anise, nutmeg, indian long pepper, dried orange peel. S.A i used 2.5 stars, nutmeg was just eyeballed. maybe a 1/4tsp? Long pepper was about 8-9 sticks broken up (hard ass spice!). The orange peel was about half an orange-worth.
Out of a 5qt boil reduced to 3qts i added back some preboiled water. There was more trub than expected. The strainer i used has 2 layers of screen so i thought it would work better, but it was about the same as any strainer (maybe a tiny bit better?).
The jaggery (3/4lb) was interesting to work with. It's ALOT like honey when added to the boil. You get the same kind of foamy residue on top of which i scooped off.
1lb barley lme, pale, food grade (from Whole Foods, part of the experiment)
1lb malted quinoa, of which i toasted 1/3.
1/4lb or so of malted spelt (stinky ass ****! if this beer sucks i will blame the spelt).
I ended up using the Windor yeast against all the suggestions here (no effense guys) as it was either that or champagne yeast or driving 45min to get just yeast. I went with the cost effective method.

So it's all done. Now to wait for the lock to start bubbling. :mug:

Beers consumed:
1 of my homebrewed Trappist clones
3-4 Sierra Nevada Kellerweizen
Weyerbacher Quad
and anything else i forgot about

Albums played to stimulate fermentation:
The Slackers: Redlight and Self Medication
Frank Zappa: Hot Rats
The Turtles: Battle Of The Bands
Blue Cheer: Vincebus Eruptum
TV Eyes: (debut)
The Baseball Project: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails
Desert Sessions Vol.9-10
 
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Whoa!
 
So, i have the foam already in the airlock. What to do? Get clever. 7-11 sells these metal Slurpee straws that, as luck would have it, fit tightly inside the tubing i have laying around for siphoning and they fit right into the rubber stopper. Out with the lock, in with the metal Slurpee straw, couple inches of tubing on the end of that. Than i took the tubing and attached it to a racking cane and into sanitary water in an empty growler. Woohoo!
 
Not much of an update, but i thought i'd share this pic from this thread's outcome. This is my own Inca Pale Ale. Quinoa, spelt, jaggery, etc. etc. and finished with a secondary addition of canned figs. OG was about 1.065 as i recall and a final gravity of 1.025. I chilled one 12oz bottle and am drinking it as i type. It's reeeeeeally freaking good!

This is my first from scratch brew with my own homemade malts and my own recipe. Creamy ass head on this, mega protien haze, and the aroma of creamy jaggery. It's nice and smooth with a good hop finish. A bit of alcohol in the finish, but no astringency that i can detect. This is good stuff that is going to improve with age. I must make more of this someday!


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