Recipe...take a look. Critique away.

[wannabwright]

Ok so I have done a few extract kits and we are bottling the latest today. We have added some extras to our last few batches. I have an empty primary now so headed to the lhbs and they are nearly out of kits, I blame Christmas. So...I got a lil crazy and went out on a limb to experiment. Had the guy plug it into the beer tools and this is what I have. It's certainly no style or type that I'm looking for and you experienced brewers will likely roll your eyes at my newness but these are some things that I like the sound of the characteristics of and I'm throwing em together tell me what ya think.

6.6 lb dark lme
1lb golden light dme
1lb dark Candi sugar syrup
1 lb lactose
1lb barley flakes
1 lb crystal 150
1 lb honey malt
.5 oz warrior
should give me og 1.085 to sg 1.021
abv 8.39%
this is by far the biggest beer I have tried. Others have all been 4-5.4%
so.....?

 

[wannabwright]

Out? Thanks...again!!!

 

[Yooper]

Well, it'll certainly be sweet. I assume that's what you're going for?

I come up with 1.073 for an OG (extract, since it's not a partial mash) with IBUs of 23. If you add some two-row to mash the grains, I come up with 1.083. That is so sweet my teeth hurt just thinking about it!

 

[BigEd]

Ok so I have done a few extract kits and we are bottling the latest today. We have added some extras to our last few batches. I have an empty primary now so headed to the lhbs and they are nearly out of kits, I blame Christmas. So...I got a lil crazy and went out on a limb to experiment. Had the guy plug it into the beer tools and this is what I have. It's certainly no style or type that I'm looking for and you experienced brewers will likely roll your eyes at my newness but these are some things that I like the sound of the characteristics of and I'm throwing em together tell me what ya think.

6.6 lb dark lme
1lb golden light dme
1lb dark Candi sugar syrup
1 lb lactose
1lb barley flakes
1 lb crystal 150
1 lb honey malt
.5 oz warrior
should give me og 1.085 to sg 1.021
abv 8.39%
this is by far the biggest beer I have tried. Others have all been 4-5.4%
so.....?

Well, what would you like to hear? Congratulations on having the chutzpah to put together your own recipe.......but if you want an honest answer it's a mess. While the recipe may on paper yield a high OG only 2/3 of that is composed of fermentable ingredients. The beer's ABV will be in the 6% range, not 8.39%. The lactose, crystal and honey malts will give a ton of residual sugars and as Yooper said a very, very sweet beer and a 1/2 oz of Warrior is probably not going to give enough bitterness to balance off all that leftover sugar. The barley flakes have been added to the OG by the software but unless you mash them with base malt you are only going to get them wet. They will contribute no fermentable sugars unless their starches have been converted. If you have already purchased this stuff maybe you can go back to the store and buy a couple of pounds of pale malt to do a mini-mash with the barley flakes and enough hops to get the IBU number up to about 40-50% of the OG to provide a little flavor balance. If you haven't yet bought the list why don't you tell us the color, flavor, body, etc you want in the beer and you will certainly receive some good suggestions.

 

[wannabwright]

That's what I wanna hear, nothing in particular. I'm not trying to get anything specific out of this exactly. I'm ok w the 6 vs 8. And I am indeed going for sweet. I have just added some of the items that I have read about and I lime the idea/sound of their characteristics and decided to experiment a little on my own. I very much value the knowledge and opinions I have found here and so wanted to run it by y'all and see what feedback I get. Don't worry...I won't make ya drink any..not that I could if I wanted to. Just a I'm a newb taking a stab at figuring out some of these flavors and characteristics by playing with them and hoping I end up with something I can drink and will learn from and improve upon. Will take your mash into consideration for sure. I wanted the barley for a better head and mouthfeel...a little chewy, sorta. Keep em coming. I can take it! Or is this just stupid and y'all think why she wanna go and do that when there are so many fail proof recipes out there already? Thanks again!
Jill

 

[wannabwright]

I am definitely going for sweet this go round. Sorry, dint realize I already told you this in previous post.

 

[ChshreCat]

I second that it'll be sweet. Really sweet. Especially since you're only using a half ounce of hops. I'm assuming that's all going in at 60? Or are you holding some of it out for flavor and aroma additions?

 

[Yooper]

That's what I wanna hear, nothing in particular. I'm not trying to get anything specific out of this exactly. I'm ok w the 6 vs 8. And I am indeed going for sweet. I have just added some of the items that I have read about and I lime the idea/sound of their characteristics and decided to experiment a little on my own. I very much value the knowledge and opinions I have found here and so wanted to run it by y'all and see what feedback I get. Don't worry...I won't make ya drink any..not that I could if I wanted to. Just a I'm a newb taking a stab at figuring out some of these flavors and characteristics by playing with them and hoping I end up with something I can drink and will learn from and improve upon. Will take your mash into consideration for sure. I wanted the barley for a better head and mouthfeel...a little chewy, sorta. Keep em coming. I can take it! Or is this just stupid and y'all think why she wanna go and do that when there are so many fail proof recipes out there already? Thanks again!
Jill

Oh, I'm all for doing your own recipe!

I guess I would recommend thinking about what you want, and going with it. The flaked barley is great for head retention and mouthfeel, but you'll have to add some two-row to mash it with.

Candi sugar ferments out pretty well, and lactose is non fermentable. So they almost sort of cancel each other out, if that makes sense.

Candi sugar provides fermentables and no residual mouthfeel or flavor, but you're adding back mouthfeel and head with the flaked barley. Which also sort of cancel each other out.

Dark crystal is very raisin-y and will be tasty, but probably cloying in that quantity with all the other sweet things. Same with the honey malt.

You definitely don't have enough bittering hops to balance all that malt, so the beer will finish cloyingly sweet.

I'd probably take out about 3 ingredients to start with. All of the ingredients are good, but sometimes "less is more" is really true. Maybe pick out the ingredients that will give you a good beer with the characteristics you really want.

I mean, I like spaghetti, and butterscotch, and grilled cheese. But not all in the same dish at the same time.

 

[wannabwright]

Lhbs just suggested all at 60. Nothing is set in stone...at all.

 

[ChshreCat]

Agree with Yooper completely. Lots of great ideas, just not all of them work together. And you need more hops.

 

[wannabwright]

Sent you a PM too, Yooper but this is just copy and pasted...Thanks so much for your advice regarding my italian grilled cheese and something else recipe. I am totally open and hoping for suggestions so it was well received. I am wanting something sort of heavy/dark but with a creamy feel and quite sweet. Almost cloyingly so...think southern tier creme brulee stout. I am not looking to clone this, just get a similar sweetness/creaminess. I am very new still and have done a few kits and bumped up some of them to make them my own. I have been quite happy thus far! I was including lactose for some creamy mouthfeel as well as some added sweetness, the syrup was just mainly to get a higher abv, the barley im hoping for creamy mouth/body and head retention. The honey and crystal was mainly for sweetness and caramel flavor and some color. I am totally open to leaving some of this out if you feel it is overkill or waste. I am all for saving me some money! I just wanted to explain kind of where I was going with each of these. The hops are simply what was recd from my lhbs as I stated i wanted my hops understated and not bitter, just some balance. I have taken your advice and gotten a pound of 2 row to mash in (partial mash will be a first for me) my barley. I also picked up a bit of black patent...mostly cuz I want to name it black patent stilletto and didn't really feel right without adding a lil of that in to keep it true to it's name...I know, dorky, right? Anyway, that is what I have. I am a sponge and will take any advice ideas etc that you are willing to share. I love this new hobby, it is soon becoming addicting as there is sooooo much to learn and try! Thanks for everything! Can't wait to hear from you and brew this up!

 

[yuval]

Maybe you should cut in half the candy sugar, lactose, the dark crystal and honey malt and double, maybe triple the amount of hops, 0.5 oz bittering, 0.5 oz flavor. 0.5 oz aroma, it will still be sweet but more balanced. Oats can be good for creamy mouthfill

 

[wannabwright]

I did listen though and make some adjustments accordingly. I did half the crystal, half the honey, and added about a pound of 2 row and quarter lb of black patent. Been in primary for about 10 days and og was 1.082 today reads 1.032. Hope to get it to at least 1.030. Tastes great though! To me anyway, sweet, for sure...but that's part of what I was looking for! I can't wait for it to finsh and mellow. May add some vanilla n let it sit in a secondary for awhile. Thanks for the tips y'all. That's the great thing bout beer...there's something for everyone! You can make what ya like and plAy around w it. Cheers!