2nd brew recipe comments

[barefoot]

Evening all,

Bottled my first brew this evening, so now I'm looking forward to putting down my second.

The plan:

I have a left over Mangrove Jacks Classic Bitter (8-10 EBC,18-22 IBU in 23L)
I am keen to get some malt flavours so I want to experiment with Morgans Caramalt blend, apparently 12 EBC in 23L.
I like a mid strength beer so I'm going to up the fermentation volume to 28 litres, gives 3.7%
IBU seems a bit low, was thinking of adding goldings, but only at 20 and 5, 15g each.
I'll be bulk priming using LME, and using S04 yeast.
Will also be looking for a temp controller to ferment at 18 or under.

Final stats are according to the spreadsheet, OG:1.035, FG:1.009, IBU:23.5 and EBC:15.1

Comments most welcome. Most importantly though, for those with a little more experience with what these numbers mean, is this going to taste any good?

Cheers,
Brett

 

[Glengine]

I'm guessing you might already have this on, but I know if I hadn't had any replies to a post asking about only my second brew I'd be a bit disappointed! I've only done about 9 brews but I can try and comment...

You've obviously got some idea about the numbers having plugged things into a spreadsheet.
The gravity estimation will give you about 3.5% as you'd like. Just remember that carbonating naturally in bottles can add about .5% to the ABV from what I've read.

If you are after a 'bitter' style beer (based on the kit), the IBUs are probably at the lower end of the style. Though you did say you were keen to get some malt flavours so this might be by choice. I think I used a Morgans Caramalt for an Irish Ale I did and it turned out quite nice. Was very similar to this recipe but I think I used fuggles hops and the kit yeast.

The EBC stated is going to give a fairly light coloured beer. I know I like my bitters / ales slightly darker than that but it's a cosmetic preference mostly. Obviously topping up with the extra water is going to lighten up the colour, if you want something a touch darker, consider steeping maybe 200-250g of a crystal malt (use your spreadsheet to pick a suitable EBC for a steeping malt).

I haven't used goldings hops, but believe they are an aroma / flavour hop? If you're trying to increase IBUs you will probably need to boil your first addition a bit longer, if you're mainly after flavour, stated times / amounts seem ok to me.

I haven't used S04 before either, but that temperature sounds good for the style.

Only other comment I might suggest is using some maltodextrin to give the brew some extra mouth-feel / body. Depends on your preference.

I will also say to start taking notes of your brews if you are not already. I've only just started doing this and I regret not doing it from the start because trying to remember how much of what I put in to previous brews and then trying to adjust flavour in the future based on that has been very hard!

Good luck!

 

[mosto]

I'm by no means an expert either, and being your second brew, you may not be keen to jump into liquid yeasts just yet, but, if possible I'd suggest swapping the S04 out for something like White Labs WLP037. Now I've not used that particular strain, but going off the description it should highlight the malt profile of the beer and, being less attenuitive, should produce a lower ABV, without needing to dilute the wort.

Plugging the numbers into ianh's spreadsheet, I get the following:

1.7kg Mangrove Jack's Classic Bitter
1kg Morgans Caramalt
15g goldings @ 20 & 5
WLP037 yeast

OG: 1.036, FG: 1.012, ABV: 3.6% (after bottling), IBU: 26.6, EBC: 14.5

Have fun, and which ever way you go, I'm sure make a nice brew.

Mosto

 

[barefoot]

Thanks for the tips guys, but the brew went down as described in the OP. It's sitting in my temp controlled fermenting fridge (excited about this), and SG readings slowly going down. Last reading was approx 1.016 so a couple days to go before crash chilling.

Tasted the hydro sample, of course, and I think it's going to turn out alright, it is a little sweet though.

I'll provide some more commentary as I go.

 

[JDW81]

Thanks for the tips guys, but the brew went down as described in the OP. It's sitting in my temp controlled fermenting fridge (excited about this), and SG readings slowly going down. Last reading was approx 1.016 so a couple days to go before crash chilling.

Tasted the hydro sample, of course, and I think it's going to turn out alright, it is a little sweet though.

I'll provide some more commentary as I go.

I know it is hard, but try to avoid taking too many samples over the fermenting process. While it is unlikely, sucking air into your fermenter increases the risk of infection (especially if you draw in your air lock water). You could also be potentially losing a bottle or two with excessive sampling too. Far better in the fridge as completed beer than down the sink (or drunk as fermenting wort).

I don't sample anything until it has been in the fridge for at least 10-12 days.