Please help, looking for new recipes

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Doctormcbrewdle

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Hey all, I've veen stuck in a rut making the same old pale beers over and over again with small variances but am looking to try some different styles.

I brew all grain and have lots of US style hops on hand, a few US ale type yeasts, some crystal malt and lots of pale malt. I certainly don't mind buying some lager yeasts and new hops and maybe trying my hand at some pilsners ir something? I have temp control. I wouldn't mind doing an English IPA either!

I don't mind the standard CUB stuff, I know it gets a bad wrap but lets face it they're not easy to replicate accurately. I like European lagers and pilsners but haven't had very good luck accurately making these in the past either. I did like them but mine weren't as dry or crisp as the commercial versions so not sure how they do that

What do you recommend?
 
Do you vary your mash temps according to the dryness/crispness you're after?

A standard 66C mash is fine for a pale ale, as are ale yeasts, but mash temp and yeast choice are crucial if you want a drier, crisper beer.
 
Can you post some of the varying recipes you've tried? What setup are you using?
 
Thanks mtb. The lager I've done a few times is a German style. From memory it was

2.5kg pale malt
2.5kg wheat malt
1x Saflager yeast
Mash @ 66 for 1hr
40g Saaz @60
40gms Saaz @20
Ferment @ 13 for 2 weeks
Around 5.2% abv

I use BIAB
 
21L batch I assume - ferment temp is fine but mash temp could afford to be lower if you want it drier and more crisp. If you want reeeal crisp consider substituting some of the malt for dextrose. Others here are better with lagers than me and can offer more experienced advice.
Which Saflager yeast? S-04? W34/70?
 
Wow, I didn't know I could go much lower! I used the pink and yellow Saf packs (not together) but couldn't note a difference. You're right, dextrose is a good idea!
 
Does the pink one say US-05 on the pack? If so, that's an ale yeast (a good one though). You'll have trouble fermenting that at 13C.
As for yellow.. Maybe S-189? It should have similar markings where the pink has US-05.
 
No, it was something/34 dude. Not red US-05! I'm thinking it's also possible I may have rushed drinking them. Maybe I need to lager them for a few months in the fridge
 
Ah yeah, just googled it, that's W34/70. Can't comment on yeast choice since I haven't used it myself, all I can recommend is, mash lower on your next brew. You'll get a lower final gravity and a drier beer. If you want it even drier still, do the same mash and sub 250g malt for dextrose.
 
As for ageing.. How long was it in the keg / bottle before you drank it?
 
Have you thought to venture into the world of dark beers? Porters, stouts...

You could also try using English Yeast strains that can lend so much to the character of both dark and light style beers.

You can also keep the flavours 'clean' if you so choose by fermenting at lower temperatures which you would have control over by the sounds of your setup.

Belgians and farmhouse ales are also another area that you could also get into.
Again, with the temp control the world is your oyster in terms of styles you could achieve... and well.

Just depends what you like and how adventurous you are :)
 
Hey DrMac,
Try this for a Saaz
22l
ABV 4.9%
IBUs 40
OG 1.047
FG 1.009
0.42 Munich
4.26 Pilsner
20g saaz FW
15g northern brewer FW
30g saaz 30min
50g saaz steep 10min
Saflager S-23

Mash 64c


Just enjoying one now. Nice dry thirst quencher. :cheers:
 
pilsner base
10-20% rice adjunct
tiny bit of wheat
mash lowish
some saaz or something sublte for bittering
some citrusy hops added late but in a small enough amount to be subtle (sorachi ace is interesting)
aim for around 4.5-5% ABV.


really crisp and refreshing
 
My answer to that question is “what do you like to drink?”

If you mostly drink pales, then find some different commercial beer (‘cos your drinking would also be in a rut) and try your hand at something similar.

I have decent recipes for altbier, stout, porter, dubbel, golden strong/tripel, uk bitter - you’re welcome to any of them. If you don’t mind ageing, I have a nice Belgian dark strong and Scottish wee heavy recipe. Bds takes 2 years before prime drinking though.

Hefeweizen (not my favourite style) is dead easy and ready quickly. Saison or Biere de garde for summer.

Or go through bjcp or other beer style guide and find something that tickles your fancy.
Brewing classic styles is a great, pretty cheap book that lists a wide variety too.
 
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Think I might try this!

Hey DrMac,
Try this for a Saaz
22l
ABV 4.9%
IBUs 40
OG 1.047
FG 1.009
0.42 Munich
4.26 Pilsner
20g saaz FW
15g northern brewer FW
30g saaz 30min
50g saaz steep 10min
Saflager S-23

Mash 64c


Just enjoying one now. Nice dry thirst quencher. :cheers:
 
Make your own recipe. As a newbie I tested myself in coopers kits and found I much prefered my home brew version better than the shelf product.That was it, I was hooked. Take notes and recordings of every detail or modifications of process etc.
Read so many recipes and style profiles and descriptions. Make your beer!
 
Hey again guys! I just bought 5kg Best Malz pilsner malt, some 34/70 yeast and went for traditional EU Hallertau hops. I'm wondering, is it generally ok to use a little percentage of Barrett Burston ale malt within a pilsner recipe along with sucrose to dry it out more like a commercial style lager, and what percentages are we talking? Mashing at 64?

I ask because it's very expensive to ship malt to where I live (even moreso that the actual cost of the malt itself, so pretty much $1 malt plus $1 freight for eg, so it costs me twice as much to brew as most others) so if I can get away with using 50/50 BB and pilsner malt I'll get 2x batches out of this shipment cause already have BB

Thanks!
 
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Mr Google is your friend, I'm going to have to live till I'm a hundred and fifty to get all my brews made I got of the interwebs all good advice above, #1 go dark and learn what real beer tastes like (imho) aim for about 8% as an easy start.......

Use a standard base malt and buy your dark malts in the qty you require for the recipe - no waste and don't be afraid to use 1/2kg of a dark brewblend dry malt, kicks the %abv up and ferments dry Nottingham is a good yeast.
 
Try APA's with rye???

I am going to brew APA with wheat ,rye malt, marris otter and JW traditional ale with a bit of crystal 60.

I am looking for a recipe for hop additions , Cascade and Willamette.
 

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