Hello friends!
I'm currently fermenting my second batch, which is my own recipe. It's an IPA with Simcoe and Mandarina Bavaria. I want to refine the recipe and experiment with it, to learn more about brewing. But to rework the recipe, I have to have a batch done and ready to drink, otherwise I won't know what I want to change.
For this reason, I'm looking for a recipe to brew between batches. I'd like to use 2 kg of DME on a 12l batch which gives an OG of 1.060, because extract is available in 1 kg bags from my online store and I'd rather not store open bags of extract. I'd like to steep some grains as well, to experiment with them and also because I heard it brings extract beers to the next level. I want to use citra, because I had an IPA with citra and centennial before and the grapefruit aroma was awesome.
I'd like it to be on the low side of (perceived) bitterness, so I thought I might target 25 IBUs, unless malts can offset higher IBUs? This sounds like an American Brown or Amber Ale to me so I think this should be the style I'd go for (advice on other styles are also welcome!). I will ferment at 60F ambient, perhaps with a swamp cooler, using US-05 because I saw this used in other recipes, or Nottingham because I used it before.
I now face two problems: A hop schedule and which and how much grain to steep.
For the hop schedule: I think I'll be going for a 15 min (unless advised otherwise!) 6 liter partial boil. I boil on the stove and keeping 7l at a rolling boil required me to put on the lid from time to time and some insulation on the sides of the kettle, which was a hassle. I'm thinking of a big hop stand and dry hop addition. My problem here is, that I won't be chilling the wort outside of a tap water bath and I'm not entirely sure how to tell this to brewersfriend for IBU calculation. I found the no-chill option but I'm not sure what to put into the "Extended Hop Boil Time" field: perhaps the amount of time I expect the 6 liters to stay above 88°C = 190°F? Do you guys perhaps have some general advice for my hop schedule or even a tried and true schedule you would advise me to use?
For the steeping grains: I don't have any of the typical "Crystal <number>L" malts available in the online shop. I have a lot of CARA type grains such as CARAAMBER, CARAHELL, CARAMUNIC etc. and some others like Melanoidin. Can you perhaps give me a few specialty malt types that I could use, as well as recommended amounts?
Alternatively, I'd also happily take a link to a somewhat similar recipe, no need for me to reinvent the wheel here, that's what my other batch is for!
(Man, do I have a tendency to ask a barrage of questions or what - sorry.) Thanks for any input you can give me!
I'm currently fermenting my second batch, which is my own recipe. It's an IPA with Simcoe and Mandarina Bavaria. I want to refine the recipe and experiment with it, to learn more about brewing. But to rework the recipe, I have to have a batch done and ready to drink, otherwise I won't know what I want to change.
For this reason, I'm looking for a recipe to brew between batches. I'd like to use 2 kg of DME on a 12l batch which gives an OG of 1.060, because extract is available in 1 kg bags from my online store and I'd rather not store open bags of extract. I'd like to steep some grains as well, to experiment with them and also because I heard it brings extract beers to the next level. I want to use citra, because I had an IPA with citra and centennial before and the grapefruit aroma was awesome.
I'd like it to be on the low side of (perceived) bitterness, so I thought I might target 25 IBUs, unless malts can offset higher IBUs? This sounds like an American Brown or Amber Ale to me so I think this should be the style I'd go for (advice on other styles are also welcome!). I will ferment at 60F ambient, perhaps with a swamp cooler, using US-05 because I saw this used in other recipes, or Nottingham because I used it before.
I now face two problems: A hop schedule and which and how much grain to steep.
For the hop schedule: I think I'll be going for a 15 min (unless advised otherwise!) 6 liter partial boil. I boil on the stove and keeping 7l at a rolling boil required me to put on the lid from time to time and some insulation on the sides of the kettle, which was a hassle. I'm thinking of a big hop stand and dry hop addition. My problem here is, that I won't be chilling the wort outside of a tap water bath and I'm not entirely sure how to tell this to brewersfriend for IBU calculation. I found the no-chill option but I'm not sure what to put into the "Extended Hop Boil Time" field: perhaps the amount of time I expect the 6 liters to stay above 88°C = 190°F? Do you guys perhaps have some general advice for my hop schedule or even a tried and true schedule you would advise me to use?
For the steeping grains: I don't have any of the typical "Crystal <number>L" malts available in the online shop. I have a lot of CARA type grains such as CARAAMBER, CARAHELL, CARAMUNIC etc. and some others like Melanoidin. Can you perhaps give me a few specialty malt types that I could use, as well as recommended amounts?
Alternatively, I'd also happily take a link to a somewhat similar recipe, no need for me to reinvent the wheel here, that's what my other batch is for!
(Man, do I have a tendency to ask a barrage of questions or what - sorry.) Thanks for any input you can give me!