My first AG recipe

[tobiasbeecher]

Evening all,

I have everything I need to make an east coast pale ale, this will be my first dive into all grain brewing. For now, it will be "BIAB", I will brew the lot on my hob in 1 pot. So far, I have done many kits, but nothing tastes quite like what I want to make.

I will list everything I intend to do, please could I get some feedback?

I tested my hob this evening. Power number 5 gives EXACTLY 149*F, so I will use that. With that said, here is the ingredient list:

1500g total (I am making 1 UK gallon, 4.5L for this initial test)
80% golden promise malt 1200g
12% flaked oats 180g
4% caramalt 60g
4% light crystal rye malt 60g

I will heat the water up to 149*F (maybe slightly more, as when I add the grain the temperature will drop. Question 1: How much higher should I go for 1 gallon?)

I will mash at 149*F for 75 minutes. I read that as the temperature is slightly lower than ideal, it will take slightly longer to give the desired outcome.

Then, remove the bag of grains, strain and then boil, for 60 minutes. During this boil, I will add hops at unknown times. Question 2: What times should I add what quantity of hops? I have the following pellets:

Citra, Simcoe, Azacca, El Dorado, Mosaic, Galaxy

I am thinking add a huge 50g of Citra at the start of boil, then at 60 minutes (end of boil) add 25g citra, 25g simcoe.

Then... once it has cooled to a fermentable temperature, say 65*F, I will add the yeast and 1 tsp of nutrient. White Labs 7 yeast.

During active fermentation (after 3 days) I will dry hop for the first time, 25g Mosaic. Then after a couple of days, 25g Galaxy.

Does anyone have any feedback for this? For BIAB, should I consider crash cooling in the sink with ice, at all? If so, at what time do I do that?

Thanks,

 

[DoctorMick]

If you add 50g at the start of a 1g batch it'll be insanely bitter (291 IBU according to brewers friend!) and, as the human pallet can only taste up to 80IBU (I think) you're just wasting expensive hops. If I were you I'd use some software (there is a link on the forum to an online version of brewers friend) to calculate the additions aiming for IBUs of around 50 (you can of course go higher or lower), you won't need much of a bittering charge for a 1g batch probably somewhere around 10g. 25g each of Citra and Simcoe at flameout will give a good aroma (50g at flameout is a big addition for a 1g batch but people do use that much so you don't need to worry about it) and I'd be tempted to add a little bit (around 10g) at 10 or 15 mins to get more hop flavour. You could also use the citra you saved from the start of boil as a dry hop if you're a massive hop head.

You'll need to chill the wort quickly immediately after the boil and a sink full of cold water and some ice would be fine for a small batch. Plenty of people advocate no chill but that's not something I've ever done.

 

[jayjt29]

As DrMick has said, way to many hops! i use BeerSmith for designing recipes, but im sure there will be free versions of recipe makers on the net mate. As for cooling prior to my grainfather I used to nochill with my BIAB set up. I used to collect the wort into a food grade container and let it sit for 24 hours, then pour into my fermenter and add yeast. If you crash cool in the sink do it straight after the boil has ended.

Good luck
Jay :)

 

[keat64]

Brewers friend is pretty good at recipe creation.

 

[tobiasbeecher]

OK, so, I did it! I used the whole quantity of grain as per first post, mashed at around 155*F (I stirred so that I could be sure of no hotspots) for 75 minutes. Then I did the boil with the following hopa dditions:

10g mosaic @ 60
10g galaxy @ 20
12.5g azacca @ 10
12.5g azacca @ 0
25g el dorado @ 0

Crash cooled, within 30 minutes of an ice bath it was at 20*C. I made a starter with my liquid yeast (white labs 007). This really took off overnight, I then pitched it the following day.

Unfortunately, my 1 gallon bucket does not seal around the lid, so the airlock has no activity. But I can clearly see the krausen so I know its all good.

So far... it smells absolutely amazing. 10 times better than any kit I have brewed.

I plan to further dry hop tomorrow (2 days in, then 5 days in, then maybe 10 days in).

I expect it to be fully done in 2 weeks, I will immediately bottle, leave 2 weeks and crack open early (lots of dry hopping so its a drink sooner rather than later beer).

First time making a starter, really pleased I did. The yeast easily doubled in quantity!

Thanks for all of the comments, I will keep this updated with how it progresses.