The brewer provides this lit of Ingredients on their website - can I convert to a recipe?

[dmtaylor]

Time in the fermenter is probably not super critical. Depends how picky you are about your hoppy beers. I'm not picky. If you are, then get it while it's freshest.

You don't need to measure OG until after the boil like normal. Up to you if you want to test pre-boil and adjust for volume difference.

You're lucky if you have never yet experienced the horror of chlorophenol, which tastes like medicine and Band-Aids. You can continue to try your luck, or add Campden to your water before you brew to eliminate the chlorine. I too brewed for several years before it happened to me, but once it did, I began adding Campden and haven't had problems since. Chlorophenol can occur with both extract and all-grain brews. Filtering is a good idea too.

 

[z-bob]

I use potassium metabisulfite powder to dechlorinate my mash water (just a pinch), and usually use vitamin C in my sparge water. Either will work. They are really cheap insurance against chlorophenol. I have forgotten to dechlor my sparge water before and got away with it, but I know my water has chloramine in it so I just got lucky that time.

If you buy bottled water or filtered water it should be dechlorinated already. But with the filtered water, you might wanna use K-Meta or Campden anyway just to make sure.

 

[Nubiwan]

I love Toronto & Ontario but have only ventured up there about 3 times and cannot say I have ever tasted that beer. However thank you for the reference, it allowed me to complete more research. My recipe above will result in something closer to an American pale ale, quite citrusy and an orange copper color, whereas from pictures I can see that the actual Mill Street beer is decidedly gold in color, and based on descriptions, is more about the malt and not so much the hops. As such, here is a new version of the recipe that I think will come out much closer to the real thing:

4 kg Canadian Organic pale 2-row
400 g US grown Organic Crystal 40
400 g US grown Organic Munich
28 g Cascade (boil 60 minutes)
10 g Bravo (boil 5 minutes)
WLP830 German Lager yeast

I do believe my recipe will give 5.0% ABV unless your first-time efficiency is better than about 70%, which would be uncommon for first-timers. Whichever recipe you try, cheers and good luck!

Can't believe it's been over a year since I requested this and still to tackle my first BIAB. I've simply not got the time to do all grain, and kit and kilo are simply too quick and easy with, for me at least, more than acceptable results.

Anyway, here I am, with a little "lockdown" time on my hands. Seriously contemplating a BIAB assault. Couple of questions. Can I have the grain bill to half my final volume? Say 3 gallons is 3/5 of the grain bill? I don't have immediate access to a 10 gallon plus pot.

I also read elsewhere that other grains (Golden Promise) are better suited for IPA styles than 2-row. Is this the case. Should I just stick with the 2-row?

 

[z-bob]

@Nubiwan: Recipes scale pretty well but maybe not perfectly. Going from 5 gallons to 3 should be fine. 2-Row vs Golden Promise? Just use the one you have. Either will work but they'll be different. Brew both and tell us which you liked better

 

[Nubiwan]

I love Toronto & Ontario but have only ventured up there about 3 times and cannot say I have ever tasted that beer. However thank you for the reference, it allowed me to complete more research. My recipe above will result in something closer to an American pale ale, quite citrusy and an orange copper color, whereas from pictures I can see that the actual Mill Street beer is decidedly gold in color, and based on descriptions, is more about the malt and not so much the hops. As such, here is a new version of the recipe that I think will come out much closer to the real thing:

4 kg Canadian Organic pale 2-row
400 g US grown Organic Crystal 40
400 g US grown Organic Munich
28 g Cascade (boil 60 minutes)
10 g Bravo (boil 5 minutes)
WLP830 German Lager yeast

I do believe my recipe will give 5.0% ABV unless your first-time efficiency is better than about 70%, which would be uncommon for first-timers. Whichever recipe you try, cheers and good luck!

Was wondering why you switched the hop schedule from your original recipe at the top? Cascade V Bravo is reversed. Was it intentional or in error?

Further, my LHBS does not supply Bravo hops. Is Columbus a decent substitute?

If I have a big enough vessel, can I just skip sparge, or is Sparging a good way to extract more sugars from bag?

Probably getting a 13 Gallon Kettle tomorrow, so excited about this.

 

[dmtaylor]

Was wondering why you switched the hop schedule from your original recipe at the top? Cascade V Bravo is reversed. Was it intentional or in error?

Further, my LHBS does not supply Bravo hops. Is Columbus a decent substitute?

If I have a big enough vessel, can I just skip sparge, or is Sparging a good way to extract more sugars from bag?

Probably getting a 13 Gallon Kettle tomorrow, so excited about this.

I reversed the hop schedule once I found out that Mill Street 100th Meridian isn't known for being a particularly hoppy beer. But of course if you love citrus then you can do it the first way and you should be very happy with it.

I think Target would be an ideal substitute for Bravo. Columbus is good but is a strong hop. If you go this route, I would definitely use Columbus for bittering to keep the hop character more refined.

You can skip sparge if you like, just expect a small hit on efficiency. If you could add an extra 500 g of 2-row, that would work out fine.

Hope you enjoy. Cheers.

 

[Nubiwan]

I reversed the hop schedule once I found out that Mill Street 100th Meridian isn't known for being a particularly hoppy beer. But of course if you love citrus then you can do it the first way and you should be very happy with it.

I think Target would be an ideal substitute for Bravo. Columbus is good but is a strong hop. If you go this route, I would definitely use Columbus for bittering to keep the hop character more refined.

You can skip sparge if you like, just expect a small hit on efficiency. If you could add an extra 500 g of 2-row, that would work out fine.

Hope you enjoy. Cheers.

Well, I got enough grain to do 2 x 5 gallon batches, so I think I will reverse hops in each batch to see how it goes. Could I get some recommendations on strike and mash temps, and strike volume for a 5 gallon batch? I have a 10 Gallon kettle. Is it big enough. Should I consider Sparging for efficiency sake? How would I adjust strike volume for sparging? Cheers all. Getting excited about my first bagger.

Finally, do I mash and boil for an hour? That just a general guide, or specific to the grain I am using? Can I ask why some people do it for 45 minutes, even less (30 mins)?

 

[dmtaylor]

Well, I got enough grain to do 2 x 5 gallon batches, so I think I will reverse hops in each batch to see how it goes. Could I get some recommendations on strike and mash temps, and strike volume for a 5 gallon batch? I have a 10 Gallon kettle. Is it big enough. Should I consider Sparging for efficiency sake? How would I adjust strike volume for sparging? Cheers all. Getting excited about my first bagger.

See my previous responses.

Finally, do I mash and boil for an hour? That just a general guide, or specific to the grain I am using? Can I ask why some people do it for 45 minutes, even less (30 mins)?

This is entirely up to you. Personally I've been mashing for only 40-45 minutes for the past 15 years and happy with my results. I haven't played much with shortening the boil as there will be a brewhouse efficiency impact from this but you can try it. That's really the only impact, should not have any noticeable flavor impact.

 

[Nubiwan]

See my previous responses.



This is entirely up to you. Personally I've been mashing for only 40-45 minutes for the past 15 years and happy with my results. I haven't played much with shortening the boil as there will be a brewhouse efficiency impact from this but you can try it. That's really the only impact, should not have any noticeable flavor impact.

Thanks again DM. Really appreciate you helping me out here:

Will look atop for water volumes. I forgot you got into some detail earlier.

If I may ask another few novice questions. Hopefully, not already answered above. I dont think so....

1. When and how do you take a SG reading? After you mash? After you cool down? Both?
2. How do I know what my SG should be at any point in the process? Brewersfriend caclulator?
3. Does a hydrometer still work at high temps (mash / boil), or do you need the refractometer for that?
4. Will SG after mash, be any different from SG after the boil-prior to pitching? I assume it has to be because volume will have decreased - yes?

Cheers

 

[dmtaylor]

If I may ask another few novice questions. Hopefully, not already answered above. I dont think so....

1. When and how do you take a SG reading? After you mash? After you cool down? Both?
2. How do I know what my SG should be at any point in the process? Brewersfriend caclulator?
3. Does a hydrometer still work at high temps (mash / boil), or do you need the refractometer for that?
4. Will SG after mash, be any different from SG after the boil-prior to pitching? I assume it has to be because volume will have decreased - yes?

Many people test SG between mash and boil. I usually don't but if you're curious, then go ahead and measure. After boiling and chilling the wort is the most critical time to measure of course. But yes there is a relationship between SG and volume. Multiplied the two should stay constant, like SG1 x V1 = SG2 x V2. So if you know your boiloff rate (like 3 liters per hour or whatever) you can use the pre-boil SG1 & volume V1 to predict the post-boil SG2 based on that with your expectation for post-boil volume V2.

Brewers Friend or similar calculators or software are certainly helpful. Many people like BeerSmith, and if I wasn't already deeply invested in StrangeBrew (yeah it's Canadian, hoser!) then I'd probably be using either BeerSmith or Brewer's Friend.

A hydrometer is severely affected by temperature. Samples must be cool for hydrometer to read accurately. Temperature is also a consideration with refractometer, but the advantage with refractometer is that since you only need like 3 drops of liquid, it cools down in a matter of about 10-20 seconds so you don't even need to worry about it. For that reason if measuring hot liquids, refractometer has the advantage. But for utmost accuracy, a hydrometer is still the most reliable, since it actually measures specific gravity, as opposed to a refractometer which measures a totally different property of refraction of light through the liquid, which approximately equates to percent sugar but will not always match exactly a hydrometer. That being said, I use both and I really do love my refractometer, it's "close enough" and extremely easy to use.

 

[bracconiere]

When and how do you take a SG reading? After you mash? After you cool down? Both?

i take it you take this recipe seriously, and haven't tried anything since Dec 2018? lol , i personally think 600g's of crystal 60, AND 600g's of Munich would be way to dark for a even an amber and probably just a bad brown......in a 5 gal batch anyway.....

 

[dmtaylor]

i take it you take this recipe seriously, and haven't tried anything since Dec 2018? lol , i personally think 600g's of crystal 60, AND 600g's of Munich would be way to dark for a even an amber and probably just a bad brown......in a 5 gal batch anyway.....

Yep, hence part of the reason I updated it in post #6 to 400g each instead.

 

[bracconiere]

Yep, hence part of the reason I updated it in post #6 to 400g each instead.

one thing i learned trying to make 'amber' or 'light' beers back in the day crystal malt be potent stuff.....i'd probably go for 4oz's 60, and 8oz's 20l munich for a 'light amber'....but take it for what it's worth, i plan on brewing a 10 gallon batch tomorrow and plan on just using 4oz's black patent in a 10 gallon batch for a 'brown' sorta.....don't have any crystal on hand or i'd toss 8oz's in.....along with the 20lb's pale malt.....

 

[Nubiwan]

i take it you take this recipe seriously, and haven't tried anything since Dec 2018? lol , i personally think 600g's of crystal 60, AND 600g's of Munich would be way to dark for a even an amber and probably just a bad brown......in a 5 gal batch anyway.....

Not quite so. Been brewing extracts all year. This my first BIAB.

That is interesting to note though, since I have no experience in the AG process. What if the crystal were 40? Any major difference? It may be all my LHBS had in stock.

 

[Nubiwan]

i take it you take this recipe seriously, and haven't tried anything since Dec 2018? lol , i personally think 600g's of crystal 60, AND 600g's of Munich would be way to dark for a even an amber and probably just a bad brown......in a 5 gal batch anyway.....

I plugged these numbers (5kg CDN 2-row, 0.5 kg crystal 60, 0.5 kg CDN Munich 60) into the brewers friend SRM calculator, and it returns a range of srm values of about 12. Doesn't appear that dark. Is that calculator not correct? Did I do it right, I wonder....

My grain was delivered blended and milled in that ratio. Wasn't specific when I ordered it. Assume I could adjust my grain bill by adding more 2 row, if it is necessary.

 

[Nubiwan]

I finally got around to brewing this using what was ultimately very close the the recipe provided by @dmtaylor.

It was my first BIAB, so there were some efficiency issues just getting my kettle up to mash temp, my water volumes were off for various reasons I need not go into. Add to this that the entire grain bill was sent to me partially mixed, so my quantities had to be somewhat estimated.

Regardless, I went from grain to glass in about 17 days. I'm simply not patient enough to let beer sit, and do it's thing. I don't have the space in my fridge to crash, but my ferment temps are around 64, so it's usually resulted in decent extract results for me. Plus, I am not dealing with an oxygen free process, at bottling time, plastic fermenter buckets etc., so I am eager to get the stuff conditioning in the bottle. I am not sending anything to competitions either.just wanna nice beer.

Anyway, I was initially attempting to clone 100th Meridian, by Mill Street In Toronto, and while I am not sure I have come close to the actual taste, my beer tastes great, and I am in the general vicinity. I do happen to have an original beer in my fridge. I might just do a side by side. On memory alone, my beer feels like it might be a tad more bitter in after taste, and a later cascade addition or dry hopped cascade, may have helped, to give it just that hint of IPA style tartness or fruit, the original subtly has.

I might well taste them side by side, and realize they are miles apart. My intent, again, was not to clone, but to make something similar.

In the end, I am delighted with my results. I'll post a picture. I'll do the side by side too, give the wife the original to finish, maybe have her try both together too, and report back.

 

[Nubiwan]

My clone

 

[Nubiwan]

The original

 

[Steven Barrett]

@Nubiwan yours looks better! Does the original have a brewed on date? If not, it’s possible the original is a few weeks/months old and its aroma and bitterness has faded with time, compared to yours which you are drinking fresh.

 

[Nubiwan]

@Nubiwan yours looks better! Does the original have a brewed on date? If not, it’s possible the original is a few weeks/months old and its aroma and bitterness has faded with time, compared to yours which you are drinking fresh.

Did a side by side "taste test" last night, and while it was hardly scientific, beyond us both knowing what was being sampled, prior to the test, we blindfolded and tasted each beer. We both identified the original, but agreed that mine is in fact just that slight bit more bitter. Otherwise, remarkably close to the original taste. The underlying amber quality is very, very similar. I will check my bittering hops on the original recipe, and adjust next time I make it.

Not sure where to find this dating on a can @Steven Barrett but will take a look. Very happy with my beer, and will probably make this one again.

 

[dmtaylor]

Very happy with my beer, and will probably make this one again.

Great to hear! Glad it came pretty close on the first try. Cheers!

 

[Steven Barrett]

Did a side by side "taste test" last night, and while it was hardly scientific, beyond us both knowing what was being sampled, prior to the test, we blindfolded and tasted each beer. We both identified the original, but agreed that mine is in fact just that slight bit more bitter. Otherwise, remarkably close to the original taste. The underlying amber quality is very, very similar. I will check my bittering hops on the original recipe, and adjust next time I make it.

Not sure where to find this dating on a can @Steven Barrett but will take a look. Very happy with my beer, and will probably make this one again.

Check the bottom of the can.

 

[Nubiwan]

Great to hear! Glad it came pretty close on the first try. Cheers!

Yes - good shout by you for the recipe. Make sure I don't ditch my batch notes.

 

[Nubiwan]

@Nubiwan yours looks better! Does the original have a brewed on date? If not, it’s possible the original is a few weeks/months old and its aroma and bitterness has faded with time, compared to yours which you are drinking fresh.

Better lighting!