Case of the Monday's Pale Ale

Radcp

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I wanted to create a beer with low alcohol, some body and a little hop forward taste. A daily beer that is unlike commercial light beers. This is my first time steeping with oats and from what I could find I needed an additional source of convertible sugars, not sure how I did but hoping it will come out ok.

Also the smell of Galaxy is amazing, I might have to make room in the back yard for a vine next to the brewer's gold.

Total 2.5 Gallons

Steep: 45 mins 155f

8oz Flaked Oats
1/2lb Wheat DME

Extract:

1/2lb Wheat DME (remaining from above)
1lb Pilsen Light DME

Hops:

0.33oz Galaxy Hops Pellet 45min
0.33oz Galaxy Hops Pellet 15min
0.33oz Galaxy Hops Pellet 0min (15min stand)

Yeast:

Nottingham- rehydrated at 90f

OG: 1.036 (estimated final abv- 3.75%)
 
The only thing that oats will do is make it cloudy. Since there's no enzymatic action to turn the starches into sugar, all you're doing is putting oatmeal in your boil. You'll do better to steep some Carapils or Crystal wheat if you can find it. For oats or flaked wheat or any unmalted grain, you have to mash it along with malted barley or malted wheat so that enzymes can convert the starches. For that you can do a mini-mash which is not fundamentally different from steeping.
 
yep i wouldnt bother with the oats. as JA wheat will do the same but if your not mashing. gets some crystal malt.
why not add that maltodextrine i see the extract guys use to boost bodie just tame it downnso it remains low alcohol.

if it were me id go the all grain route mash high still ferment well with chico strain but include either some wheat or inmalted barley to boost bodie. some caramel malts will also lend that malty mouthfeel you may loose in a light grain bill. so some munich or vienna as half the grist would help too. enjoy the trials.
 
If you feel comfortable doing a mini-mash, combine the oats 50%-50% with base malt, put the mixture in a bag big enough to hold the wet grain without compressing it, steep in 1.5 quarts per pound of grain of 154 degree F water for an hour, separate the liquid from the grain (lift the bag out and allow it to drain), you might want to dunk the bag in your brewing water and swirl it around a bit, drain again, then add your wort (the liquid you drained off the grain), your extract, then boil. It's not hard and it's a great stepping stone to all-grain. Oh, you'll get extract from the base malt so you'll have to reduce your DME to compensate.
 
I guess I misunderstood some of the things I read; I thought the wheat DME would do the same thing as the malted grain. Live and learn, then drink beer.

If you feel comfortable doing a mini-mash, combine the oats 50%-50% with base malt, put the mixture in a bag big enough to hold the wet grain without compressing it, steep in 1.5 quarts per pound of grain of 154 degree F water for an hour, separate the liquid from the grain (lift the bag out and allow it to drain), you might want to dunk the bag in your brewing water and swirl it around a bit, drain again, then add your wort (the liquid you drained off the grain), your extract, then boil. It's not hard and it's a great stepping stone to all-grain. Oh, you'll get extract from the base malt so you'll have to reduce your DME to compensate.

This is great and is going to be written on the inside cover of my brew notebook!
 
I guess I misunderstood some of the things I read; I thought the wheat DME would do the same thing as the malted grain.
Dried Malt Extract, the DME used in homebrewing, is mashed wort that's boiled, concentrated and dehydrated by some method that I'm not specifically familiar with and the process denatures any enzyme that could be utilized to convert the starches from other, non-malted grains. There is something called Diastatic Malt Extract that has enzyme in it. I've never noticed or looked for that product and I don't know of anyone who's used in homebrewing. That's probably what you're referencing. If you can get your hands on some, maybe it would work.
Mini-mashing isn't hard and is a great way to add levels of malt flavor to your extract brews. Using malts like Maris Otter or Munich or Vienna which need to be mashed and converted can make a very different beer than just using some Carapils or Crystal-40 for color and body, for instance, not to mention the capacity to add oats or flaked wheat.
 
Maltodextrin is nice but has no flavor. I'd use it as a short cut if I thought it necessary - use all the tools at your disposal - but would prefer something a little more "genuine" in my beer. If you're comfortable with it, the mini-mash technique will give you better results - you'll get the oat flavor and if you want to kick it up a notch, toast the oats!

And JA - the heat of processing denatures the enzymes. DME is boiled before it's evaporated. The dehydration is largely conducted under partial vacuum so less heat is required - spray warm wort into a vacuum chamber and voile! You have DME. I've used diastatic malt in baking but never in brewing, it's available on Amazon but pretty pricey for ground up malt. I wouldn't consider it for brewing.
 
I like this idea and being new to the sport have not tried maltodextrine.
same dextrins you get from mashing high gives you body and head retention as far as i know anyhow.
 
Haven't been able to make it to the LHBS so I left the oat steeping part out. The body may be lacking on this run so I plan on doing another and following the mini-mash protocol. :cool: Appreciate all the feedback

If you feel comfortable doing a mini-mash, combine the oats 50%-50% with base malt, put the mixture in a bag big enough to hold the wet grain without compressing it, steep in 1.5 quarts per pound of grain of 154 degree F water for an hour, separate the liquid from the grain (lift the bag out and allow it to drain), you might want to dunk the bag in your brewing water and swirl it around a bit, drain again, then add your wort (the liquid you drained off the grain), your extract, then boil. It's not hard and it's a great stepping stone to all-grain. Oh, you'll get extract from the base malt so you'll have to reduce your DME to compensate.
 
You'll get more body out of the Wheat and Pilsner extract than you might think. You might be pushing hop bitterness, though. That's a pretty light beer for the kind of hop additions you're mentioning. Depending on your boil volume and gravity, you could end up with 50 or so IBUs.
 
That's a pretty light beer for the kind of hop additions you're mentioning. Depending on your boil volume and gravity, you could end up with 50 or so IBUs.

Yeah thats a good point and the BF calculator says 37ish IBU's. Not sure how accurate that is, nor do I know how to actually measure the true/actual IBU's. Personally I think of Galaxy as the soft cousin of citra and wouldn't mind pushing the limits for this one.
 
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I don’t believe it’s practical for a homebrewer to measure actual IBU of a beer. I’ve never been to a competition, but I bet they don’t measure them there either.
 
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I don’t believe it’s practical for a homebrewer to measure actual IBU of a beer. I’ve never been to a competition, but I bet they don’t measure them there either.
Right...no way to measure but the calculator is a good guide. We can't really distinguish much difference under maybe a 5 IBU even if we could measure and there are a lot of things that can change the perception of the actual IBUs, too.
Yeah thats a good point and the BF calculator says 37ish IBU's. Not sure how accurate that is,
Yeah, when I mocked up your recipe, there was one way to brew to keep the IBUs in that range. Looks like you've got it figured out and as long as things proceed the way you intend, it'll be great! :)
When I brewed a low-ABV version of my Pale, It was fairly similar to your OG, ABV, IBUs etc. It was a really good beer. ;)
 
I don’t believe it’s practical for a homebrewer to measure actual IBU of a beer. I’ve never been to a competition, but I bet they don’t measure them there either.
We don't. It's all about perception.
 

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