What to brew next?

[clklez3]

I have brewed a milk stout, American Pale Ale, oatmeal stout, IPA, Weizenbier(the Weizenbier is still fermenting). All of those were extract. I have also brewed a blonde ale. That was a mini mash . I have a 5 gallon brew pot and I am brewing in my kitchen so I don't think all grain will work for me right now. I really enjoyed all of the brews I have made so far. My dilemma? What do I brew next? I wish all my problems were this difficult. Any suggestions?

 

[rodwha]

Are you moving into brewing partials now?

My first was a rye pale. Mmmmm!

How about an amber or brown?

 

[clklez3]

Any specific recipes in mind? Would a brown ale be something like Newcastle? Please excuse my ignorance. I am still new to brewing. I have had a few Homebrews now, but I still don't know much about styles and have to use the commercial brews as a point of reference.

 

[rodwha]

I come up with my own recipes.

I've not made a brown like New Castle, though I do enjoy it. My first ever brown had a chocolate note that I tried to replicate and improve on, but my recipe got wet right there, and the LHBS subbed out the grain used for chocolate (pale IIRC), and cannot tell me what they would have given me. None of my recipes have come close.

You could also try a cream ale, but I went with the other two as they are in-between what you've brewed so far, and something you've done yet.

 

[rodwha]

What kind of ABV are you looking for, and how much grain can you mash? Volume of final beer?

 

[rodwha]

Do you have any ingredients on hand that you'd like to use?

 

[agrazela]

If you're thinking about some kind of a brown ale, how about a nice kettle-caramelized Scottish 70/- or 80/- ? You could do that all-extract, partial-mash or all-grain.

 

[clklez3]

Everything I have brewed so far has been in the 5.0-6.0 ABV% range. I had 4 pounds of German Pilsner malt and .5 of crystal in the Blonde ale partial mash. I could have gone another pound or two but I wouldn't want to go with much more grain than that. Then again I could get a 4 gallon pot on sale at Walmart and dare to do an all grain brew. I could just split the grain bill between the 4 and 5 gallon pots. I just don't want a boil over and my stove takes forever to boil just two or three gallons.

 

[harebearva]

I have brewed a milk stout, American Pale Ale, oatmeal stout, IPA, Weizenbier(the Weizenbier is still fermenting). All of those were extract. I have also brewed a blonde ale. That was a mini mash . I have a 5 gallon brew pot and I am brewing in my kitchen so I don't think all grain will work for me right now. I really enjoyed all of the brews I have made so far. My dilemma? What do I brew next? I wish all my problems were this difficult. Any suggestions?

I love English browns, one of my favorite styles.

On a side note, Never let your equipment limit you... I have a 5 gallon brew pot as well and I've been doing all grain 1/2 batches with a full wort boil for a year. I bought a 3 gallon got cooler mash tun with a kettle screen and I can easily do any all grain beer up to about 1.080. You only get a case at a time but I brew for myself so its OK. If anything it gives you more opportunity to brew more often. Small batch BIAB is a great alternative too. Truth is though, you can make great beer from all extract all the way through to all grain.

Back to style ideas. I like to go back and look at the winning recipes from the NHC and try one of those, or slightly modify it for my taste. But browns and milds are awesome.

 

[rodwha]

Revised a brown ale of mine to fit 5 gals:

4 lbs Briess golden light LME (FO)
3 lbs 2-row
1/2 lb crystal 60
1/2 lb crystal 120
1/4 lb chocolate 350
1/4 lb carapils
0.75 oz Willamette (5.5% AAs) @ 60/20 mins ea
0.5 oz Willamette @ 5 mins

1.052/1.010
5.4% ABV
24 IBU's
18 SRM

 

[clklez3]

By the way someone asked about volume. I am making a 5 gallon batch. The only ingredients I have leftover are two ounces of cascade hops so I will be making a trip to the LHBS. I have been looking in the recipe forum and I have narrowed it down to a half a zillion or so options. I do appreciate every reply and I was stuck at a full zillion.

 

[kh54s10]

I like to browse the kits on Northern Brewer's website for inspiration. They give good descriptions of flavor and style. They also give instructions and ingredients under the information tab. I often take one as a basis for starting my own recipe.

 

[clklez3]

Thanks rodwha I think I will give your recipe a try. It sounds like I finally have a plan. On to the LBHS and then brew day. Thanks again to all for your suggestions.

 

[rodwha]

No problem!

not sure how you buy LME, but you could always swap out some 2-row to keep the gravity similar if you care to.

it's fairly simple but good.

 

[rodwha]

You really could increase the crystal a little if you wanted. It's at ~16% and I often use up to 20%.

You could also sub pale chocolate but it would drop the SRM a little, and as is it's at the beginnings of the color spectrum for an American brown. Maybe 6-8 oz would do it though.

 

[rodwha]

I use Brewtoad to formulate my recipes. If you make changes or something you may want to see what they'll do before you commit.

 

[rodwha]

MoreBeer does the same thing, and is something I do as well, and also compare it to recipes in the HBT database. I then formulate what I think I want on Brewtoad and then post it here for further refinement.