Free Beer...

[johnyb]

Ok, now that I have your attention...

This weekend marks a significant step forward for me as a brewer..I am graduating up to my first BIAB. Yes, the 40 litre urn arrived, the viole grain bag is ready and I have 2 plastic cubes sanitized and ready for initiation.

I have read the Recipe forum a number of times and a I have few ideas on my intended recipe outcome...but what I really need from you more experienced brewers is a good, fail-safe recipe using only 1 or 2 base grains max. I want to keep it cheap and basic. I know that the recipe depends on my tastes in beer, so here goes with a description....

I like a drier type lager or ale. I learnt from my K&K days that I much prefered a Coopers Mexican Cerveza with 500g of dextrose than a Morgans lager with 500g LDME (too sweet for me). I am not fan of "big" aroma hops, I'd much prefer a mildly bittered beer. I also steer away from big alcohol beers in favour of mid-strength 3-3.5% beers. I have also found that I prefer the dryer finish from 34/70 yeast than the "fruits" of Saf 23. I hope this info helps you in suggesting a good starting BIAB grain recipe for me.

I have temp control. Please give me your thoughts, as they are all welcome...

Onto the dark side....

 

[dpadden]

I feel cheated <_<

 

[mxd]

go and try a james squire amber ale and golden ale, then let us know what you think.

 

[Fourstar]

I feel cheated <_<

*******! <_<

 

[johnyb]

go and try a james squire amber ale and golden ale, then let us know what you think.

Tried both, liked both, but prefer the Golden Ale.

 

[mxd]

have a look at Dr S's Golden, it's probably the most use first batch

it's a one hop and only about 4.5 to 5 kg of grain.

Just as a note, your first efficiency shall probably be low,

for me a 20 ltr cube, I roughly use 35 ltrs of water and 5.5 kg.

so you could try (assume 50 grams as Hop sachet size purchase and no chill cube)

3 kg Weyermann Pilsner
1.1 kg Weyermann Pale Wheat
1.1 kg Weyermann Munich I
0.3 kg Weyermann Caramunich I
15 g Amarillo (Pellets, 8.9 AA%, 60 mins)
15 g Amarillo (Pellets, 8.9 AA%, 0 Min) - When you turn urn off
20 g Amarillo (Pellets, 8.9 AA%, 0 mins) -- In fermenter after about day 4

 

[black_labb]

Tried both, liked both, but prefer the Golden Ale.

imo ales are better suited to the homebrewer, and you get the added bonus of drinking something with taste!!!

not completely serious about the above, but ales tend to be easier for the inexperienced when it comes to all grain especially. there is less risk of dms and alot less effort in getting temps down in the ferment and fitting the fermentor in a fridge for lagering. there is also less concern of cloudiness and esters. lagers are very clean so small faults will show through more. dms seems to be more common with lagers from what i've read. thats not saying that people brew ales to overpower their faults, but it is an advantage when you first try it as it will be more drinkable even if there is a fault.

having said that you can do some pseudo lagers with american ale yeasts which are quite clean fermenting.

here's a very popular recipe for dr smurto's golden ale clone and its quite simple. you will have to scale it down yourself though.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...&recipe=502

if you wanted to have this recipe suit your mild lager tastes you could use less late hops(no 0 min and maybe no 5 min), and drop the caramunich and up the wheat to 1kg to substitute. that would ruin the recipe in many peoples eyes, but may be something you enjoy.

 

[manticle]

Ok, now that I have your attention...

This weekend marks a significant step forward for me as a brewer..I am graduating up to my first BIAB. Yes, the 40 litre urn arrived, the viole grain bag is ready and I have 2 plastic cubes sanitized and ready for initiation.

I have read the Recipe forum a number of times and a I have few ideas on my intended recipe outcome...but what I really need from you more experienced brewers is a good, fail-safe recipe using only 1 or 2 base grains max. I want to keep it cheap and basic. I know that the recipe depends on my tastes in beer, so here goes with a description....

I like a drier type lager or ale. I learnt from my K&K days that I much prefered a Coopers Mexican Cerveza with 500g of dextrose than a Morgans lager with 500g LDME (too sweet for me). I am not fan of "big" aroma hops, I'd much prefer a mildly bittered beer. I also steer away from big alcohol beers in favour of mid-strength 3-3.5% beers. I have also found that I prefer the dryer finish from 34/70 yeast than the "fruits" of Saf 23. I hope this info helps you in suggesting a good starting BIAB grain recipe for me.

I have temp control. Please give me your thoughts, as they are all welcome...

Onto the dark side....

Simplest recipe I can think of would be a bohemian pils - all pilsner malt and some czech saaz.

Not necessarily simple to make (process and fermentation wise) but if you're familiar with the lagering process then give it a whirl.

Otherwise a hefeweizen. 2 malts, low IBU, single hop. If you don't worry about decocting then piece of wee-wee.

Number of malts is not important (except when purchasing) as you just mix it and mash it together. The simplest recipes are often the gardest to get right but best of luck .

 

[Nick JD]

Simple recipes highlight faults, whereas complex recipes offer much more flavours for faults to hide behind.

It's more difficult to make a clean lager that it is to make a fruity, malty ale. That said, since you have temperature control and know your yeasts maybe just go for it and brew a clone of a commercial beer you like. Many clone recipes are available if you google them.

 

[johnyb]

I popped into Craftbrewer in Brisbane today (I work across the highway from them - such a bonus!) and went home with almost 5kg of milled grain for a Dr Smurto's Golden Ale, along with a pack of whirfloc and some US-05.

The advice given to me is; 1) Don't drink during my first brew,2) Don't invite friends who are known copiuos imbibers around to participate in the brew, 3) Tell my wife I am cooking grain for the next door neighbours budgies because the are skinny and need food, and 4) Don't drink during the first brew.

Sounds easy!

 

[Ross]

Good luck JB, make sure you pop in with a bottle when it's finished

cheers Ross

 

[paulwolf350]

I was gonnas say something cool about drinking while brewing.....................................

but i managed to **** up this post

Good tip, ................................................. dont drink while brewing your first batch ....................................................................



Paul

 

[johnyb]

Ok, I jumped in early and did my BIAB this morning!

I added 33 litres of cold water to the birko urn and cranked the thermostat to full. I was surprised how quickly the birko urn got to 69 deg, it is very "responsive" - the maximum heat setting is 110 degrees so the element starts bubbling as soon as you turn it to that setting.

I checked the temp again, then whacked the viole in and pegged it to the side of the urn. Grabbed my steel kitchen paddle, and added the grain in a careful stream, paddling it to break up any clumps.

Urn lid was then placed on, and I wrapped it up with 2 towels and a kids doona, and tied it tight with a skipping rope ( I don't skip as much these days). 90 minutes gone, I unraveled my masterpeice. Checked the temp...62 deg, I am so surprised that only 7 degrees can be lost over 90 mins, amazing heat retention considering I had the urn perched on a milkcrate and a slightly cool breeze was blowing (I brewed on my verandah where the breeze can be felt)

Ok, time for the boil. I cranked the birko up to 110 degrees and lifted the grain bag from the urn and placed it in a standard bucket with a steel collander in it. The bag drained while the urn took 25 mins to hit boiling. I added 20g Amarillo hops to the hop bag and let it sit in the boil pegged to the side of the urn wall. I again added 20g at 20 mins, and another at flameout. A 60 minute boil in total.

The smell was awesome, it takes it up a knotch from K&K, a little like being at the footy ground v watching it on tv...it's interactive! The roll of the boil, the smell of the hops...the smell of the linament, the fat kid eating a pie...

I aded my whirfloc with 10 mins to go, then turned off heat and placed my cube underneath the tap, opened tap and let it fill, 23 litres exactly!!! Woo hoo, you beauty I got this right first time!!

I cleaned up, a 3.5 hour job from wo to go. I liked it so much I collected my next grain bill today. And that was my first BIAB.

 

[under]

Give this a bang. Nice and a cheap bill. Sugaz end of boil. Needs a good 2 weeks conditioning for it all to smooth out. :icon_drool2:

Recipe: 12 - Aussie Ale
Brewer: Dazza
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Boil Size: 27.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.049 SG
Estimated Color: 10.3 EBC
Estimated IBU: 25.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.50 kg Pale Malt, Traditional Ale (Joe White) (5.Grain 78.13 %
0.50 kg Wheat Malt, Malt Craft (Joe White) (3.5 EBGrain 11.16 %
0.08 kg Caramunich III (Weyermann) (139.9 EBC) Grain 1.79 %
20.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [10.10 %] (60 min) Hops 22.9 IBU
16.00 gm Amarillo [8.20 %] (5 min) Hops 3.0 IBU
0.40 kg Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 EBC) Sugar 8.93 %

 

[johnyb]

Thanks Dazza, are youusing US-05 yeast? I presume so.

 

[under]

Nottingham @ 16 or US05

 

[DKS]

Ok, I jumped in early and did my BIAB this morning!

I added 33 litres of cold water to the birko urn and cranked the thermostat to full. I was surprised how quickly the birko urn got to 69 deg, it is very "responsive" - the maximum heat setting is 110 degrees so the element starts bubbling as soon as you turn it to that setting.

I checked the temp again, then whacked the viole in and pegged it to the side of the urn. Grabbed my steel kitchen paddle, and added the grain in a careful stream, paddling it to break up any clumps.

Urn lid was then placed on, and I wrapped it up with 2 towels and a kids doona, and tied it tight with a skipping rope ( I don't skip as much these days). 90 minutes gone, I unraveled my masterpeice. Checked the temp...62 deg, I am so surprised that only 7 degrees can be lost over 90 mins, amazing heat retention considering I had the urn perched on a milkcrate and a slightly cool breeze was blowing (I brewed on my verandah where the breeze can be felt)

Ok, time for the boil. I cranked the birko up to 110 degrees and lifted the grain bag from the urn and placed it in a standard bucket with a steel collander in it. The bag drained while the urn took 25 mins to hit boiling. I added 20g Amarillo hops to the hop bag and let it sit in the boil pegged to the side of the urn wall. I again added 20g at 20 mins, and another at flameout. A 60 minute boil in total.

The smell was awesome, it takes it up a knotch from K&K, a little like being at the footy ground v watching it on tv...it's interactive! The roll of the boil, the smell of the hops...the smell of the linament, the fat kid eating a pie...

I aded my whirfloc with 10 mins to go, then turned off heat and placed my cube underneath the tap, opened tap and let it fill, 23 litres exactly!!! Woo hoo, you beauty I got this right first time!!

I cleaned up, a 3.5 hour job from wo to go. I liked it so much I collected my next grain bill today. And that was my first BIAB.

Enthusiasm plus. Always good to hear such on AHB, Johnyb.
Well done mate!
Next time try it naked :lol:
Daz

 

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

I feel cheated <_<

HUH! i know what u mean.... It's almost like when swmbo gets a bit kinky under the covers then she rolls over and goes to sleep.........

 

[mxd]

I drank on my first brew so
of all the bad advise, my first brew was my best, and no idea why

Good luck JB, make sure you pop in with a bottle when it's finished

cheers Ross