Ideas For Basic/beginner Ag Recipies

[PhilS]

Due to the enormous resource this site provides, I believe am ready to test run a few basic AG recipies.

I have tried the kit & kilo's, ESB fresh wort kits & had a go at few AG's several years back.

The only problems I can forsee is that I don't have a brew fridge (needs new compressor) so a style along the lines Ale would be good. Secondly, I also don't have a wort chiller to give me a good cold break. The rest of the equipment is ready :beer:

I'd like to have a go a at one or two recipies before I use my home grown hops.

Basically I am asking for help on a few tried & proven recipies that as a beginner, I could use to gain confidence if anyone is kind enough to submit.

Maybe the "Recipes" section can accomodate this in stages for the budding adventurer, say from Beginner, intermediate & advanced?

It's not my intention to open a can of worms, but a path that all beginners may follow.

 

[Trent]

Phil
For your first AG I would probably go with something a little forgiving, like a porter or stout. Failing that, an APA is always a good one to hit. My very first AG was a porter recipe for a mina AG that I got from Bonk, it was very simple, and turned out to be one of my favourite beers. Scaled up, the recipe is something like 4.5kg of Pale malt, 600g of chocolate malt and 450g of caramalt. Add 30g of Northern Brewer for 45 mins in the boil, and use 1084 Irish Ale yeast. That said, though, I would seriously look into getting yourself a wort chiller of some description, I believe that if you dont chill the wort quickly enough, it will develop DMS and other off flavour. Not something you want after you have spent 5 hours making a good beer! Even just a length of copper tubing (nealed) and run your hose through it. Have a search around in chillers, I am pretty sure they are very important, and without a fridge or way to chill the beer, it could be days before you can even pitch your yeast!
My 2 cents worth anyway
All the best
Trent

 

[PhilS]

Hello Trent, thanks for your advice. Your porter sounds like the go and a good start for me. Something simple, tried & tested :beer: An APA might be next on the agenda but I can easily be persuaded

I was afraid that I'd need a wort chiller since the beer fridge is out of action. A trip to bunnings should put me right though I have been eyeing off the counterflows from morebeer.

 

[KoNG]

Check out Jayses... 'skunk fart pale ale' thread and maybe try one of the more basic recipes in there.? plenty of proven attempts in that one, so you should be right to go.
The chiller will definately be needed after doing a full boil, then you can just use frozen milk containers in your broken fridge to keep the temp you need... i do that all the time, works suprisingly well.!
Get Brewin....
KoNG

 

[WillM]

Phils

I brewed for successfully for many years without a wort cooler. I used to seal the fermenter and leave it over night in a cool spot until it came down to room temperature. Once it was at room temperature I would pitch my yeast and all was well.

Having said that, I'd recommend a trip to bunnings if you can. What the cooler does by quickly cooling is called a "cold break". This allows the various proteins and stuff to settle on the bottom resulting in clearer beer (assuming you leave it behind).

Also, it's not good to leave the wort lying around any longer than neccessary before you get the yeast into it (at the right temperature). The slow cooling that is required without a cooler increases the risk of an infection.

Hope that helps
Will

 

[tangent]

if you don't have a chiller, who cares? it'll settle out in the fermenter and rack the good stuff off the top
like Kong says "get brewin..."
good luck :beer:

 

[pint of lager]

Have a read of this thread

Get brewing now, but do start making plans to build and use a chiller.

With no fridge, you need a cool spot to brew and select a yeast that will work well at the temp the wort will ferment at.

I suggest a solid basic brew such as an apa rather than a stout or porter. Og around 1.045-1.050, IBU's 25. This allows you to tune your gear. Dark ales tend to mask the faults, rather than helping you to learn where you are going wrong. A mid og, mid IBU brew will also be forgiving if your brewgear or techniques don't work as expected. 4.5 kg pale ale malt, maybe 100-200 gms crystal, hoppped to 25 IBU's. Hop amounts means nothing till you know the AA% rating of the hop you are going to use.

The word basic when it applies to a recipe is a bit misleading, as it will produce a great beer.

 

[PhilS]

Looks like I am off to bunnings or local plumber next week I think I have everything except gas atm.

I'll go down tha path similar to Jayse's SFPA, don't want to complicate my first big day, keep it simple as you suggest.

As far as the fridge goes, I'll take your recommendations & grab some bags of ice. The weather hasn't been particularly favourable....with a slight dusting of snow on the mountain to 26 degrees virtually the next day :angry:

I'm not overly fussed at how my first brews turn out as long as I have an enjoyable day & learn from it

Everyone here really seems to be supportive :beer:

 

[Tony]

Ahhh i am thinking back now

My first AG was a stout. I think i still have a bottle of it stashed somewhere

You cant get any easier than a good ols Aussie Ale.

95% JW ale malt and 5% Wheat malt. Add 100 to 200G JW caramalt for a bit of sweetness if you want.

1.046 to 1.050 is good and about 25 to 27 IBU with POR all in a 60 min boil.

Chuck in 10 to 20g EKG or Willamette for a nice hoppy touch if you like

Brew with WLP001 or your favrout English ale yeast at a low temp for a great beer that you will have to hide from your mates.

I got 1st place in the NSW state champs and 4th in the nationals for the pale ale with this recipe (but brewed with wyeast 1318)....... I didnt use the caramalt or the finnishing hops but the comments were for a bit more malt character and some more hop character.

I have had people try it and their faces light up. I even had a fellow home brewer call it "mothers milk"

I will be making it again soon myself now that im all stired up about it but with the caramalt and the extra hops.

cheers.

 

[PhilS]

Sounds great Tony, definately got a good head start with these proven recipies :chug:

I might lock in next weekend if all goes well.

 

[big d]

just looking back over my brew notes.my first ag was very basic,5kg jwm trad pale and all chinook hopped with 1272 yeast.notes say i really enjoyed it.
ahhh those were the early ag brew days. :blink:

cheers
big d

 

[recharge]

If you dont get a chiller check out this thread.

Ray's Wort Kits (still can't do links)

Good luck

Richard

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

50% JWM Pils
50% JWM Ale

Og 1044

18grms POR at 60mins
14grms Cascade at 15 mins

Total IBU 27

Finished at 1010

Nice

 

[Jazzafish]

By no means am I an AG expert, but I'd say pick an ale style you like the best and brew that. Start with a simple recipe and let it develope over time. Call it a start in mastering your favourite style. Sure, a dark beer is forgiving, but if it isn't your flavour why bother?

If you do a search on your style, there will be many recipes.

Use a malt like Joe Whites. I find it very forgiving.

Keep the mash simple, say 66*C for an hour and batch sparge. Don't rush the extraction of wort, let it flow slow.

Let the brew work, and it will work!

 

[tangent]

i agree, i'm not much into porters and stouts. Make something you want to drink out of the fermenter
My 1st brew was a very thick maris otter mash at about 67C bittered with simcoe and flavoured with Cascade. Done in 2 mayo buckets and boiled in 2 pots, 1 on the barbie side burner and 1 on the kitchen stove.
A friend of mine still raves about it. He called it a dessert beer (because it was so thick and I didn't sparge enough) and keeps begging me to make it again.

 

[browndog]

Pardon my ignorance here Gents, but when you say 50% this and 50% that how do you relate that to making up a 23L batch ? Is there a set amount of grain for a 23L brew that you work off ?

cheers

Browndog

 

[Mr Bond]

50% JWM Pils
50% JWM Ale

Og 1044

18grms POR at 60mins
14grms Cascade at 15 mins

Total IBU 27

Finished at 1010

Nice

[post="107875"][/post]​

Sounds quite simple and tasty Stu.
What yeast did u use?
I'd imagine saf us 56 or even a coopers reculture would suit it nicely

 

[PhilS]

Well there's definately plenty of info here to get me started, thanks very much

I have Chez Saaz & POR pellets on hand, and access to Joe White or Hoepfner Malts, but not sure on which recipie as yet, may have to try all of them....... :beer:

 

[stephen]

Pardon my ignorance here Gents, but when you say 50% this and 50% that how do you relate that to making up a 23L batch ? Is there a set amount of grain for a 23L brew that you work off ?

cheers

Browndog

[post="107920"][/post]​

Browndog

What the percentages refer to is the ratios of grain. If you were to use 2 - 2.5 kg of each you should end up around the 1.040 - 1.050 mark. eg:

2 kg JW Pilsener malt
2 kg JW Pale ale malt

Gives about 1.040 for a 23 l batch, whereas,

2.5 kg JW Pilsener malt
2.5 kg JW Pale ale malt

will start at 1.050.

Hope this clarifies this a bit.

Steve

PS JW = Joe White.

Acknowledgement: Promash.

 

[pint of lager]

Once you have an idea on the efficiency of your brewgear and techniques, describing a brew as % rather than weights works much better.

Then it doesn't matter what batch size you run, be it 38 litres, double batch size, microbrewery size or CUB batch size, or even working in gallons, pounds and ounces, describing your grain bill as percentages works for all of them.

The only spot this would fail, is if you had poor efficiency and were using a lot of crystal or character grains.

Recipes become much easier to read when you get used to percentages. I wish all recipes were described as percentages, IBU's, OG, final gravity and yeast used, rather than the very lengthy printouts that the brewing software packages spit out.

Using a total of 5 kilos of grain for a 23 litre batch is a good starting point.