First AG Batch recipe

Beer Recipe Design
1

So I’m new to AG, in fact VERY new, and plan on brewing my first batch this weekend hopefully. I have some hops left over from previous brews and wanted to utilize them for my first AG. So, I found a few recipes to look at and ended up with this. I’m more worried about the hop schedule being off, but it sounds tasty so far! Does it look like it will turn out ok, or am i just crazy?

8.0 lb 80 % 2-Row (US) Any Mash 37 1 °L
2.0 lb 20 % Crystal 40L Any Mash 34 40 °L

Hops

Amount Hop Time Use Form AA
0.5 oz Centennial (US) 60 min Boil Pellet 10.5%
0.5 oz Centennial (US) 20 min Boil Pellet 10.5%
1.0 oz Amarillo (US) 5 min Boil Pellet 9.3%
1.0 oz Centennial (US) 0 min Whirlpool Pellet 10.5%
1.0 oz Amarillo (US) 5 days Dry Hop Pellet 9.3%
1.0 oz Centennial (US) 5 days Dry Hop Pellet 10.5%

OG
1.055

FG
1.014

IBU
35

ABV
5.3%

Color
10 SRM

Balance
0.65 – Bitter

2

I’d cut back on the crystal and make it 9 lb. pale and 1 lb. crystal.

3

+1 to what Denny said, that’s far too much crystal. Hops look great!

4

I dunno if it’s “far” too much, but using less will be a better starting point to decide what he likes for future batches.

5

Fair enough! :cheers:

I guess I’m just getting less fond of the flavor of crystal malt in pale ales in my old age…

6

Thanks guys! I had hoped I wasn’t too far off, as I don’t know exactly what I’m doing yet with devising recipes :lol:

7

I agree with the above. 10-12% C malt is plenty IMO, 15% max.

Your bittering addition seems a bit light for me at .5 oz. For an IPA I usually try to get to 25 IBU or so with my bittering hops. My most recent was 30 IBU from the 60 min addition and that was just slightly too bitter for my taste.

Your .5 at 60 gives you about 19 IBU if you do 9 lb 2 row and 1 lb C40. Just depends on how much bitterness you want up front.

8

[quote=“dannyboy58”]I agree with the above. 10-12% C malt is plenty IMO, 15% max.

Your bittering addition seems a bit light for me at .5 oz. For an IPA I usually try to get to 25 IBU or so with my bittering hops. My most recent was 30 IBU from the 60 min addition and that was just slightly too bitter for my taste.

Your .5 at 60 gives you about 19 IBU if you do 9 lb 2 row and 1 lb C40. Just depends on how much bitterness you want up front.[/quote]

Unlike a lot of homebrewers, I don’t set a max amount of crystal…or any other malt. I use what I need to get what I want.

9

Just FYI, this is a nice simple recipe that’s fun to tweak. I do some basic APA/IPA recipes similar to this. Maybe switch the crystal to something darker, toss in a couple pounds of vienna or munich, maybe switch it out for wheat or rye, swap the hops around to see the effect, try a different base malt/2-row, etc.

As long as you don’t stray too far from it, as in change too many things at the same time, you’ll almost certainly have something drinkable and more than likely quite good. And it’s a great way to learn ingredients. What type of base malt are you using?

10

I was going to use Rahr 2-row as the base malt.

11

I was going to use Rahr 2-row as the base malt.[/quote]

Excellent choice! Rahr malt is more acidic than other base malts, so you’ll have a better chance of having a correct pH.

12

I’ve heard that somewhere before Denny. Does Rahr acidify their malt?

13

That’s what I’ve heard. Martin may know a bit more.

14

Don’t know what you like but for me I’d go a little higher on th IBU s especially with 4oz of late hopping. I like a little more bite in an APA/IPA.

15

I may bump up the first or second addition a little bit to get up to around 45-50 IBU. That is still within where I’m going with it I think. I also called my LHBS and they do not have any Crystal 40, but they have CaraMunich II, which I believe is a good substitute according to what I’ve read online.

16

Well, not really…they’re pretty different things. But CaraMunich will be good in there. Also, depending on your water, you may want to add a bit of gypsum.

17

Thanks guys for all of the info. Brew day is Saturday, and I’m rather gitty, in a manly way. cheers! :cheers:

18

Well, I think I did everything right. It was really fun too. I think I calculated my efficiency correctly according to John Palmer’s book, and got 73.4%. Gravity readings were pretty much right on the money too, 1.053 after the wort was cooled. I was concerned about the mash/sparge temps mostly. I got the mash to 150* and the sparge settled around 169*. Yeast is pitched now, and the waiting begins! :cheers: