First Steam Beer - Feedback Please

[ozpowell]

Hi Guys,

Just been working on my next beer - a California Common. I was hoping those of you who have experience brewing this beast may be able to provide some feedback on my draft recipe.

Probably my main concern is my use of (mostly) UK malts (not US malts) - will that really make a big difference? Obviously, any other comments you may have would be most gratefully received.


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Steam Beer
Style: California Common Beer
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 29.00 L
Boil Size: 33.56 L
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 10.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 37.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.30 kg Pilsner (2 Row) (Bairds) (1.0 SRM) Grain 84.6 %
0.75 kg Crystal (Bairds) 72L (72.0 SRM) Grain 10.1 %
0.40 kg Carapils (Weyermann) (1.5 SRM) Grain 5.4 %
50.00 gm Northern Brewer [8.50%] (45 min) Hops 32.0 IBU
40.00 gm Northern Brewer [8.50%] (5 min) Hops 5.6 IBU
0.50 items Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1.53 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs California Lager (Wy 2112) (1.5L Starter) Yeast-Lager


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 7.45 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 24.58 L of water at 75.4 C 67.0 C 60 min
Mash Out Add 10.40 L of water at 99.8 C 75.6 C 10 min


Thanks in advance!

 

[BoilerBoy]

G['day ozpowell,

I'm no expert and others will no doubt have a more informed opinion, but I think thats way too much crystal

I would stay around 5% otherwise it will be far too sweet.

Love this style though,

Cheers,
BB

 

[dicko]

Hi Ozpowell,

I have made this a few times and I have sampled a very good example from Grumpy's which is their Goldrush.

I would say that you might be a bit light on in colour to produce that style

My grain bill for that style is as follows,

79% JW Ale Malt
9% Light munich
2% TF Chocolate malt
10% JW Caramalt.

This gives according to Promash 27.1 EBC which is within the guidlines.
You could still use the pisner malt but replace the carapils with a small amount of Chocolate

The above is only my opinion of course,
I hope this helps,

Cheers

 

[Kai]

I agree it might be a bit high on the crystal, I'd follow dicko's suggestion of a tiny bit of chocolate malt to help keep the colour without making the beer too sweet. From memory 1332 is not a high attenuator either.

Other than that, looks the goods.

 

[BoilerBoy]

Hi Dicko,

This is interesting, did you find that the chocolate malt balanced the 10% crystal as Kai suggested?

In Ozpowell's grain bill that would be around 150g (I think)

I'm going to have a another go at a CC in a few months and would never have considered that amount of crystal, but I am very happy to be persuaded otherwise.

Cheers,
BB

 

[dicko]

Hi Dicko,

This is interesting, did you find that the chocolate malt balanced the 10% crystal as Kai suggested?

In Ozpowell's grain bill that would be around 150g (I think)

I'm going to have a another go at a CC in a few months and would never have considered that amount of crystal, but I am very happy to be persuaded otherwise.

Cheers,
BB

Hi Boiler Boy,
I mash this one at low temps - 63 64 degc. and mash out at 70 deg c, and the two I have made have been enjoyable.
Kai and I both made a CC in 2005 and took them to a big brew day in Adelaide.
Kai's brew was 5% caramunich 2 and 1% carafa special 2 he also used Marris otter and Munich malts as the base.
Both beers were very well accepted by the group.
To make your first one cut back on the crystal as you wish and give it a go.
I based my recipe on information from Ray Daniels the author of "Designing Great beers" in which the tables listed for the grain bill indicate that a common selection was fairly close to what I used in mine ( refer to page 196).
This book is a great reference if you can get hold of it.
In any case give what you feel to be right a go and then adjust from there.
Good luck with this style as I recon it is one of my favourites.
The Grumpy's one was "to die for".
Cheers and let us know how you go.

 

[Kai]

Remember baird's crystal is a darker crystal than JW caramalt too. I can attest to dicko's being quite tasty and not too heavy.

 

[Mr Bond]

The Grumpy's one was "to die for".

Given that was one of TDH's beers,and he is no longer associated with grumpyland you may want to PM him for some tips /pointers.
he's always more than helpful.

dave

 

[dicko]

Given that was one of TDH's beers,and he is no longer associated with grumpyland you may want to PM him for some tips /pointers.
he's always more than helpful.

dave

:lol: :lol:

I tried at the time to extract "secret" information but to no avail.
Maybe he might be more willing now or the recipe may remain a closely guarded secret h34r:

Cheers

 

[Enerjex]

be careful with the crystal mate, i made a batch where i put in 500grams of medium crystal by accident in a 1.049 OG brew and the after taste is pure coffee, strong too.

 

[BoilerBoy]

Cheers Dicko, and Kai

I too sampled the Grumpy's one and was very impressed,

I have used a combination of caramunich 1& 3 in the past two attempts which were around 5% and were quite tasty, one of those was what I coined a Kiwi Steam beer with NZ Southern Cross and Hallertau Aroma,
but I have not included any choc malt but may just try this next time.

Thanks again guys,
BB

 

[Kai]

Hi Boiler Boy,
I mash this one at low temps - 63 64 degc. and mash out at 70 deg c, and the two I have made have been enjoyable.
Kai and I both made a CC in 2005 and took them to a big brew day in Adelaide.
Kai's brew was 5% caramunich 2 and 1% carafa special 2 he also used Marris otter and Munich malts as the base.

Sorry, missed this when i posted before. The recipe for mine is here.

It came out quite heavily malty, took a few weeks to settle down and smooth out. Next time I would either reduce the munich or replace the pale malt with pils.