Putting together first recipe

[Tritonal]

I'm trying to get my first home made recipe going on and would like some input. I am shooting for an IPA. Hoppy with a punch. I am using beer smith and here is what I have so far

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: MOAB
Brewer: Jeremy Wesley
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: Extract
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 3.67 gal
Post Boil Volume: 3.38 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.087 SG
Estimated Color: 13.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 56.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 0.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
5.00 gal Distilled Water Water 1 -
1 lbs Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 2 7.7 %
8 lbs Amber Liquid Extract (12.5 SRM) Extract 3 61.5 %
4 lbs Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 4 30.8 %
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 9.2 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 6 15.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Mt. Hood [6.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 7 7.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 8 16.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 9 4.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 10 3.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 Yeast 11 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs
----------------------------

Sparge: Remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Notes:
------


Hopefully that all comes out right. Any thoughts or opinions on how this might turn out? I plan on picking the stuff up Tuesday to start on Friday or Saturday.

 

[Kyle66605]

Looks good, can't wait to hear how it turns out. Only thing I would add is some Irish moss

 

[LittleBroBrews]

What kind a flavors and aromas are you aiming for? That's some decent hops but you might be able to simplify the hop regime and get a better yield and save some money in the process.

 

[Tritonal]

Kyle I had already thought of that I just couldn't find it in the app to throw it in. Littlebro I was originally thinking of a more fruity full flavored IPA, something that really balances the hoppyness with some fruitness. Thats why I went with a double dose of Cascade.

I have also considered dry hopping the last Cascade but I am still up in the air about that. How would you suggest simplifying it? I'm all for saving money and getting better yields

 

[JR_Brewer]

Overall, looks pretty good, but here are 2 quick things...

First thing - Wheat. Not sure why you have wheat in an IPA. I've done a wheat IPA before, but in that case you need 30-50% wheat in the grain bill. 1 pound doesn't add enough to really "wheat up" the taste, but it's going to make your beer cloudy. Also, if you're set on using wheat, it needs to be mashed before the boil to convert the sugars.

Second thing - Hops. A lot of people will argue that 30 minute hops don't do much for you. If you want bittering, you should boil them ~60 mins, and if you want aroma, you need to shoot for the end of the boil and flame-out. If it were me I would push the 45 min --> 60 mins, 30 min --> ~15, and 15 min --> 0-5 minutes (or even dry-hopping). Also, IMHO, the delicate flavor/aroma of a noble hop like Saaz will be overwhelmed by these other hops. I would use a "C" hop like cascade, citra, columbus....

Best of luck!

 

[logan3825]

I am one of those people who wouldn't use hops between 60m and 20m. I will admit that they do something but not much. I don't think Mt. Hood or Saaz work very well with Cascade. Although I am not really familiar with Mt. Hood. I might change your hop schedule to

1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 60m
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.0 %] - Boil 15m(maybe move to 10m)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10m(maybe move to 5m)
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.0 %] - Boil 5m(maybe move to dryhop)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - dry hop

That is probably on the low end of hopping for a beer starting out this big.

I personally would go with 2 packets of US-05 over the Wyeast 1056. They are similar yeasts and dry is easier to work with. If you are going to use 1056 make a big starter.

I still think you might need more hops depending on the IBU you are shooting for. Your recipe looks more like an IIPA instead of an IPA. I would go with something like Warrior or Magnum for the bittering hop. More bang for your buck on the bittering. Both should give a clean bitterness. 1oz of Cascade is definitely not enough and 1oz Centennial at 10% will probably still make a pretty sweet beer. Bitterness is more about BU/GU ratio than IBU. The ratio of bittering units to original gravity units.

My guess is your FG will end up close to 1.020. I personally like to be closer to 1.010 but that may be a little low for what you want. If you want to end up lower add a 1/2 to 1 pound of table sugar. I brew with a Belgian mindset where you don't want the beer to be to filling. That may not be to style in this instance.

 

[logan3825]

Also I would drop the amber extract and go with all pale then add in some crystal 40 or something around there. Darker extracts don't ferment as well. I only use darker extracts if I want something like Marris Otter, Munich, or I am making a stout. Even with stout I only use amber.

Also also, you should probably only put in about 3 pounds of extract for the whole boil. Add the rest at flameout.

 

[Yooper]

Also I would drop the amber extract and go with all pale then add in some crystal 40 or something around there. Darker extracts don't ferment as well. I only use darker extracts if I want something like Marris Otter, Munich, or I am making a stout. Even with stout I only use amber.

Also also, you should probably only put in about 3 pounds of extract for the whole boil. Add the rest at flameout.

Me too! I'd definitely recommend not using amber extract, especially in an IPA, and using .5-.75 pound of crystal 40L. I'd get rid of the wheat, unless you have some other base grain to mash along with the wheat. You can steep crystal malt, though, and it'd be fine alone.

Use 1 pound of extract per gallon of water in the boil, and add the rest of the extract at flame out.

As for the hopping, that looks like a muddy bunch of bitter flavors. You won't taste the saaz over the other hops, and adding much of the hops early in the boil means bittering but not much flavor. Some hops work great together, but adding every hop variety together means muddying of flavors and aromas without any benefit.

I'd change up the recipe like this:

.75 pound crystal 40L (steeped)
3.5 pounds LME (at boil)
1 oz cascade 60 minutes
1 oz centennial 15 minutes
1 oz simcoe 10 minutes
1 oz cascade 0 minutes
8.5 pounds extract 5 minutes left (or at flame out to not mess up the boil, stirring well)
Dryhop 1 oz centennial and 1 oz cascade 5-7 days before packaging

 

[Tritonal]

...this is my third attempt to type this up, my comp has frozen once and chrome has crashed twice...

I went with wheat as it says in this thread
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/recipe-formulation-ingredients-descriptions-164140/

that it gives a nice head which seems like a good idea. I used Amber because Beersmith said it was used in IPAs

Hop wise I took a random stab in the dark, I was really at a loss there. I pretty much added hops that gave the characteristics I was looking for in the beer and added enough to get me into the green area on beersmith for IBU.

Looper - you say to use 8.5lbs of extract at 5 minutes left. Doing so brings my ABV up to 12.6% using that recipe. I'd like to keep it close to 8-9% if possible. Lowering the 8.5lbs to 3 puts me at 8.6%. Also would that 8.5lbs be the same extract that I add at boil? In this case Pale Ale extract

Thanks for yalls help. Maybe some day in the future I'll give that first recipe a shot just to taste the mess it might be

 

[Yooper]

...this is my third attempt to type this up, my comp has frozen once and chrome has crashed twice...

I went with wheat as it says in this thread
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/recipe-formulation-ingredients-descriptions-164140/

that it gives a nice head which seems like a good idea. I used Amber because Beersmith said it was used in IPAs

Hop wise I took a random stab in the dark, I was really at a loss there. I pretty much added hops that gave the characteristics I was looking for in the beer and added enough to get me into the green area on beersmith for IBU.

Looper - you say to use 8.5lbs of extract at 5 minutes left. Doing so brings my ABV up to 12.6% using that recipe. I'd like to keep it close to 8-9% if possible. Lowering the 8.5lbs to 3 puts me at 8.6%. Also would that 8.5lbs be the same extract that I add at boil? In this case Pale Ale extract

Thanks for yalls help. Maybe some day in the future I'll give that first recipe a shot just to taste the mess it might be

You are the one who posted the recipe- and said you're using 12 pounds of extract. It doesn't matter when you add it- it's got the same amount of sugar. If you want a lower alcohol beer, then certainly use less extract. I went with YOUR amounts.

 

[Tritonal]

You are the one who posted the recipe- and said you're using 12 pounds of extract. It doesn't matter when you add it- it's got the same amount of sugar. If you want a lower alcohol beer, then certainly use less extract. I went with YOUR amounts.

thats odd. Looking at em both they have the same amount but one says its 8.9 the other is at 12%...OHHHI see where I goofed I put the first 3.5 as 8

It's now perfectly at 8.6%

 

[Yooper]

thats odd. Looking at em both they have the same amount but one says its 8.9 the other is at 12%...OHHHI see where I goofed I put the first 3.5 as 8

It's now perfectly at 8.6%

You made me laugh. Thanks for that!

That's a fairly high ABV- you may very well know this, but make sure you make a huge yeast starter, or use more than one package of yeast. Consult a yeast pitching calculator (yeastcalc.com or mrmalty.com's yeast pitching calculator) to make sure you have enough yeast for a higher OG beer. Also, aerate your wort like the dickens!

One thing I'd seriously consider is taking out a pound or two of the extract, and subbing with corn sugar. That will keep the ABV where you have it, but keep the body from being way too "thick" with such a large amount of extract. That's really good in an IPA- you want it quaffable and not thick bodied.

 

[Tritonal]

I had plans on 2 packets of us-05. I was hoping to be able to get a stirplate from http://www.stirstarters.com/ this week but funds are allocated else where. Next batch I'll have it for sure!

 

[Yooper]

I had plans on 2 packets of us-05. I was hoping to be able to get a stirplate from http://www.stirstarters.com/ this week but funds are allocated else where. Next batch I'll have it for sure!

The two packages of S05 should work very well for you.

 

[logan3825]

I went with wheat as it says in this thread
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/recipe-formulation-ingredients-descriptions-164140/

that it gives a nice head which seems like a good idea. I used Amber because Beersmith said it was used in IPAs

Amber can be used in IPA's. It will probably not ferment as well as a lighter extract would. May brewers use a lighter extract and use steeping grains to adjust the color because it gives them more control over the color and flavor. Extract has a tendency to darken during the boil.

The wheat is probably unnecessary. You should get enough head with the extract.

 

[Tritonal]

Amber can be used in IPA's. It will probably not ferment as well as a lighter extract would. May brewers use a lighter extract and use steeping grains to adjust the color because it gives them more control over the color and flavor. Extract has a tendency to darken during the boil.

The wheat is probably unnecessary. You should get enough head with the extract.

Thats good to know. I've wondered why so many recipes that seemed 90% extract use only a 1lb or so of grains to steep.

 

[logan3825]

I use no grains at all in some recipes.

I make an American Black ale where I use

8oz Black Malt
8oz Caramunich II
6lb Gold LME
2LB Gold DME
8oz table sugar
1.5oz Centennial 60m
.75oz Amarillo 15m
.75oz Cascade 15m
.75oz Amarillo 10m
.75oz Cascade 10m
.5oz Amarillo 5m
.5oz Cascade 5m
US-05

I make an American wheat where I use
6lb Wheat DME
8oz table sugar
1oz Citra 15m
1oz Citra 10m
1oz Citra 5m
rest 45m before cooling
2oz Citra Dry hop 12 days
US-05

Stout
6lb Amber LME
8oz Black malt
8oz Chocolate malt
1lb lactose
1.5oz Northern Brewer 60m
S-04

 

[Yooper]

Thats good to know. I've wondered why so many recipes that seemed 90% extract use only a 1lb or so of grains to steep.

Think of it this way- even AG brews may only use a pound or so of specialty grains!

I often compare brewing to spaghetti sauce. Weird, I know, but work with me!

When you make marinara sauce, like I am today, you use about a bushel of tomatoes. That's easily more than 90% of the base. Just like with brewing, your extract (which would be the "base malt") is 90% of the base.

Then you add your seasoning (specialty grains) which gives it the "spaghetti sauce flavor" instead of a tomato juice flavor. With brewing, you use the specialty grains for your "seasoning".

Here's a grainbill from a recipe I'm drinking right now (10 gallons!):
23 pounds two-row (base malt)
.75 pound amber malt

Really! That's it for the grainbill. Sure, some grainbills are more complex- but the basics are the same. You use your base grains (or extract) for the vast majority of the recipe, and use a very small proportion of specialty grains for color and flavor.

 

[JR_Brewer]

I went with wheat as it says in this thread
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/recipe-formulation-ingredients-descriptions-164140/

that it gives a nice head which seems like a good idea.

Wheat still will need to be mashed. If you're looking for head retention, I like to use carapils, which doesn't need to be mashed, just steeped.

 

[Tritonal]

Alright I brewed this up today! I used DME instead of LME for the last 5 minutes of the boil and I think it turned out good. I ended up with an OG of 1.100 which is a bit off the 1.086 I needed but from what I have read that isn't unusual to be off for an extract batch. Then only real mistake I can think I made is a got a little mixed up on my timers and added my 15minute hop at 30minutes but immediately removed it and readded at the right time. Hopefully that wont have much effect on the taste.

About 2 hours after pitching my 2 packets of yeast I am already getting some activity in the airlock! So heres hoping all went well! Thanks for everyones helps