My First Brewday - Live

[Gar]

So tomorrow I'm going to putting my first brew down, its going to be an all grain American Pale Ale of sorts.

I thought it might be a bit of fun to document my progress as I go and maybe pick up a few tips along the way

My recipe is: (edited under advice - cheers guys)

4800g - Ale Malt (Barrett Burston)
600g - Crystal Malt Pale (Thomas Fawcett)
150g - Munich I Malt

30g - Cascade - 60mins
20g - Centennial - 10mins
20g - Centennial - 0mins

SafAle US-05 Yeast
Yeast Nutrient + Whirfloc (if I can get some this arve)

I'll be mashing at 65' for 60 mins and then batch sparging.... wish me luck

 

[zebba]

I'd swap the weights on the crystal and munich around. And are you no chilling? Either way, I'd split the centennial into 2x20g lots and put 1 lot @ 10 and 1 either at whirlpool or into the cube. Or dryhopped... And I'd drop the mash temp down to 67.

But that's me. And I'm a noobie still.

Either way, you'll get beer. And the beer will, pending unforseen problems, be good. Good on ya.

 

[Steve]

So tomorrow I'm going to putting my first brew down, its going to be an all grain American Pale Ale of sorts.

I thought it might be a bit of fun to document my progress as I go and maybe pick up a few tips along the way

My recipe is:

4800g - Ale Malt (Barrett Burston)
600g - Crystal Malt Pale (Thomas Fawcett)
150g - Munich I Malt

30g - Cascade - 60mins
40g - Centennial - 10mins

SafAle US-05 Yeast
Yeast Nutrient + Whirfloc (if I can get some this arve)

I'll be mashing at 70' for 45 mins and then batch sparging.... wish me luck

id be mashing at 65, oh and have hop additions at 60, 45, 30, 20, 15, 5 and 0 and then dry hop......but thats just me. I like hoppy apas. How many IBUs do you want?
Cheers
Steve

 

[warra48]

Too much Crystal malts. I endorse swapping the Crystal and Munich quantities. That will give you enough malt backbone to balance the hops.

I'd also drop your mash temperature to about 65 to 66C. Your proposed 70C is more in line with an Amber Ale than an American Pale Ale. My normal mash is at least an hour. You may get full conversion in 45 minutes, but most of us mash for longer. 15 more minutes won't eat into the day too much.

Choice of hops looks good, but what IBU is your system predicting for your hop schedule?

 

[zebba]

LOL, I was going to suggest 65 degrees but thought I'd get eaten alive so I went a more conservative 67

 

[Gar]

Beersmith's coming up 30.5 IBUs

Thanks I'll change it to 65' - 60min mash, the grains are already cracked and mixed so I'm stuck with the Crystal at this stage ^_^

I like hoppy beers myself but I'm trying not to go overboard as I'll be sharing this with some friends (lager drinkers).... do you think I should change the hop schedule? i've got 90g of each to play with...

I'm going to be chilling using a 1/2" copper wort chiller

 

[zebba]

Well if it were me, and this is off the top of my head (no beersmith):
20g centennial @ 60
10/10g centennial/cascade @ 10, flameout and dryhop

But I no-chill, so those numbers would be different. And I'd actually double or triple some of those numbers for MY tastes, but you said it's for mates as well so...

20g Centennial @ 60 may be a bit, but all that crystal needs some balancing.

 

[big78sam]

If you've got that much crystal you'll get a fair whack of sweetness. You could even mash a little lower again, 63 or 64, which will give you a more alcoholic beer but a drier finish. Maybe mash for a bit longer if the temp is lower.

 

[Gar]

I'm going to be mashing using a 49L cooler with manifold if that makes any difference..

My water to grain ratio is 2.61L / kg


Thanks for the help too guys

 

[Mattese]

Mate, don't let them scare you. Its your first brew day. Just go with it. Then you can learn the bits and pieces that make your good beer a great beer.

My biggest bit of advice is don't get lazy and leave the spent grain lying about... Clean all your equipment straight away. Let the beer make itself.

 

[Gar]

Cheers Mattese, I'm not too worried just having a bit of fun so far :beer:

Does anybody think adding another 20g of cascades at 30 mins would be a good idea?

 

[Steve]

Does anybody think adding another 20g of cascades at 30 mins would be a good idea?

I think that is a good idea

 

[Mitchjazz]

All the best today steve! Im putting bown my second AG today and itsa a cracker of a day. Gotta love brew day.

 

[Kranky]

In my very limited experience with home brewing, crystal malt and aromatic american hops do not work together. When I have used crystal malt with hops like cascade, the crystal malt seems to snuff out the aroma and flavour of the late hop additions (and dry hop for that matter). I have no idea why.

When I have used caramel malt and carapils I haven't encountered this problem.

I haven't researched this at all, so I could be wrong.

 

[Gar]

Best of luck mitch

Just about to start, I hope this rain holds off or I might have to move my gear

 

[Gar]

Well my porridge is on its way, hit 66 after adding the grain, close enough :icon_drool2:

I'm letting it sit for 75 mins then the fun begins :kooi:

 

[raven19]

I'm letting it sit for 75 mins then the fun begins :kooi:

Rock on! Best to wait till your first hop additions then you can crack open your first beer.

 

[Gar]

I'm tryyyyying lol

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

I'm tryyyyying lol

enjoy it and dont stress even if it goes pear shaped, it will be good beer!

 

[Steve]

I'm letting it sit for 75 mins then the fun begins :kooi:

60 mins will be fine - have fun!