First Ever Brew

[bbutlerau]

So its payday newx wednesday so im going to go to my LHBS and get a starter kit and ingredients for my first ever home brew. Been doing a lot of reading for about a month in preparation an i'm going to do an extract brew. Im a chemist so the actual method of creating a wort and the sanitation steps are not daunting even though i should KISS. I have tried the basic coopers K&K and wasn't a big fan and i feel like just diving into he deep end wooo. THe recipe i came up with for a pale ale is below and attached. Used Brewsmith, awesome piece of software but i wanted to run it by real people before jumping in.


Recipe: First Pale Ale
Brewer: Brad
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: Extract
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 5.00 l
Post Boil Volume: 4.17 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l
Bottling Volume: 22.05 l
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 22.8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 40.6 IBUs
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
0.40 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC)
0.75 kg Amber Dry Extract (24.6 EBC)
0.75 kg Light Dry Extract (15.8 EBC)
30.00 g Galaxy [14.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min 27.6 IBUs
30.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min 9.7 IBUs
10.00 g Galaxy [14.70 %] - Boil 10.0 min 3.3 IBUs
15.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Boil 0.0 min
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)
0.75 kg Amber Dry Extract (24.6 EBC)
0.75 kg Light Dry Extract (15.8 EBC)
0.20 kg Dextrose
10.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days
10.00 g Galaxy [14.70 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days
[SIZE=11pt]Total Grain Weight: 3.60 kg[/SIZE]

Cheers

View attachment First Ale.bsmx

 

[bbutlerau]

No comments

 

[Logman]

Are you going to no-chill into a cube? Reason being that the first time I used Galaxy with a similar schedule I had to wait a while before it was drinkable....

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Looks good.

IMO, might want to reconsider dry hopping with Galaxy, a number of people (myself included) who have done it find it astringent, grassy and not giving off the wonderful passionfruit flavours that it's renowned for. At 10 minutes, it's a fantastic hop.

If you're a chemist and wort creation isn't daunting, you're only a hop, skip and jump from All Grain. Have fun and enjoy the process.

 

[bbutlerau]

Not sure what no chill means sorry
haha ill try a few extract beers first.The problem with all grain is the time and equipment. Phd is time consuming and i have a small apartment.

Based on suggestions i have changed it up a bit:

20.00 g Galaxy [14.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min 27.6 IBUs
30.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min 9.7 IBUs
10.00 g Galaxy [14.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min 7.1 IBUs
10.00 g Galaxy [14.70 %] - Boil 15.0 min 3.3 IBUs
15.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Boil 0.0 min
20.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days
Total IBUs 40.1

Removed Galaxy Dry hop and increased the Cascade Dry hop. Added more Galaxy early on in the boil, Reduced Galaxy 60min accordingly

 

[yum beer]

I'd be looking to drop your 60 min addition to about 20 ibu and pick up the difference later in the boil, 10 or 5 minutes.

 

[bbutlerau]

So Like:
15.00 g Galaxy [14.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min 13.8 IBUs
30.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min 9.7 IBUs
15.00 g Galaxy [14.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min 10.6 IBUs
20.00 g Galaxy [14.70 %] - Boil 15.0 min 6.7 IBUs
15.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Boil 0.0 min
20.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days
Total IBUs 40.7

 

[MartinOC]

Mate, just GO FOR IT & learn from the experience.That's what this is all about. There are way too many variables for anyone to give you definitive advice.

Trust your tastebuds - the beer's for YOU, right?

I've lost count of the number of AG batches I've made & chucked down the drain, 'cos it wasn't "right" for ME.

Trust yourself!

Slainte!

 

[bum]

I've lost count of the number of AG batches I've made & chucked down the drain, 'cos it wasn't "right" for ME.

Trust yourself!

Wait, what? Sounds like you're not that trustworthy after all. Maybe you should brew whatever other people tell you to. Save some beer that way.

 

[manticle]

I'm a bit unclear as to your extract amounts from the way you have set out the recipe. I'm also unclear as to how 0.4kg of crystal weighs over 3 kg.

I'd look at knocking the crystal back a touch as extract beers can often finish a bit high and sweet (although your small dex addition should help balance a bit).

I know you said you've been researching so i hope this doesn't come across as an obvious question but you are steeping the cracked crystal grain, then removing, then boiling the resultant liquor yes?

 

[MartinOC]

Wait, what? Sounds like you're not that trustworthy after all. Maybe you should brew whatever other people tell you to. Save some beer that way.

My salad days, when ingredients were less than 1/2 the price they are now (50Kg bag of pale malt - $35)....

 

[bbutlerau]

Cheers guys
@manticle
haha beersmith counts the DME as "grain" so thats where the 3kg comes from. The first 0.75kg of each DME is in the boil to get to a good OG for hop boiling, the rest is added after. And yes the cracked crystal grain is steeped at 65deg then the DME added then i start the boil.

Would you say 0.2kg of the crystal than? i basically played around with it to get the Suggested colour OG etc.

 

[QldKev]

Mate, just GO FOR IT & learn from the experience.That's what this is all about. There are way too many variables for anyone to give you definitive advice.

Trust your tastebuds - the beer's for YOU, right?

I've lost count of the number of AG batches I've made & chucked down the drain, 'cos it wasn't "right" for ME.

Trust yourself!

Slainte!

That reminds me of many years back when I was still using kits. I had a mate who lived over the back fence and I would always get his input on my beers. I was forever stuffing around with ideas based on only his input, I don't think I had made an excellent beer for a while. Then one day I said to myself, I'm only brewing what I like and won't care what others say. I started making some of my best kits beers and got enough motivation to jump to AG.

 

[bbutlerau]

Yeah i definitely am going to tweak it myself afterwards, just wanted to run it by the experienced folk for anything i might have not thought have. Some great comments by the way guys/gals. Thanks heaps and keep em coming

 

[stm]

I'm not exactly sure what's in amber extract, but it seems to me that you could drop that and just use the light extract (double quantity of course) in combination with the crystal malt, which will give you a bit of colour. I suspect all that amber extract will cause your brew to end up a bit sweeter and darker than a typical APA. When I did extract brewing I just used light extract, and then specialty malts for the colour and flavour.

 

[carpedaym]

One thing to note is that if you don't have a wort chiller it can be difficult to cool your wort quickly enough to retain the hop aromas; although the dryhopping will add its element in this regard too, I guess. (I don't have much experience with dry-hopping.)

From your recipe notes I assume you're using a 5L pot? I used the same my first time and underestimated how long it would take to cool. Make sure you've got plenty of ice on hand. Also, some tips to assist is to put a cake rack underneath the pot in the sink to make sure that cool water is in contact with the bottom of the pot, and to stir both the wort and the ice-water around the pot. This will maximum the cooling effect.

I would agree on using all light malt extract so you have more control over where the colour and malt flavour comes from. Nobody seems to know exactly what is in amber malt extract. If you were keen on it, maybe do 1kg amber and 2kg light.

And also agree that 400g crystal 60L is a bit much. Perhaps 250g would be a good starting point. You could chuck in another 250g of CaraPils in if you like a really good head on your beer.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Not sure what no chill means sorry
haha ill try a few extract beers first.The problem with all grain is the time and equipment. Phd is time consuming and i have a small apartment.

Time? Yup an issue.

Equipment? No way. Award winning beers have come from my stovetop, 2 big W pots &a couple of plastic buckets.
Cost? AG is cheaper than extract once hopping is taken into account.

Just my experience and hindsight of what I'd do if I were a student again, but AHB was around when doing my degree.

 

[bbutlerau]

After a long delay i finally got around to brewing this up with some alterations:

Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: Extract
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 5.00 l
Post Boil Volume: 4.17 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l
Bottling Volume: 22.05 l
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 15.6 EBC
Estimated IBU: 42.9 IBUs
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
0.20 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC)
20.00 g Galaxy [13.2 %] - Boil 60.0 min 17 IBUs
20.00 g Galaxy [13.2 %] - Boil 30.0 min 13.1 IBUs
20.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Boil 15.0 min 4.3 IBUs
20.00 g Galaxy [13.20 %] - Boil 15.0 min 8.5 IBUs
15.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Boil 0.0 min
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)
1.25 kg Light Dry Extract
1.50 kg Light Dry Extract (after boil)
15.00 g Cascade [6.70 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days

Was meant to add 200g of dextrose too but forgot :blink: . the OG was 1.05 so it looks like i didn't need it anyway........ Should i still add it anyway (dissolve in sterile water and add to fermenter?)
Its bubbling away now with a lovely seriously hoppy aroma ... yum yum :icon_drool2: