APA recipe help/advice/etc. for my first brew

[social_misfit]

hope this is the right place


Good Day I hope to be a brewer some day at this time I have never brewed anything I was going to start out doing all grain but ran into some bumps sourcing out my grains at a price I want to pay.

So in the mean time I want to do some extract brew with steeping grain and then a couple of partial mash brews to use up the 50 lbs of dry malt extract I have.

I have some time tomorrow to brew and here what I am thinking about using for a recipe

Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: Nottingham
Yeast Starter: No
Batch Size (Gallons): 11
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.014
IBU: 40.55
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 10.55 SRM

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 to 14 Days at 68 degrees
No Chill: 18 minute extended hop boil time



Fermentables

Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill%
12.5 lb Dry Malt Extract - Light 42 4 73.5%
0.5 lb Maltodextrin 39 0 2.9%
1 lb Corn Sugar - Dextrose 46 0.5 5.9%
14 lb Total

Steeping Grains

Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
2 lb American - Caramel / Crystal 40L 34 40 11.8%
1 lb American - Caramel / Crystal 60L 34 60 5.9%


Hops
Amount Variety Time AA IBU Type Use
2 oz Perle 60 min 8.2 20.89 Pellet Boil
0.75 oz Cascade 25 min 7 5.74 Pellet Boil
0.75 oz Willamette 25 min 4.5 3.69 Pellet Boil
0.5 oz Cascade 15 min 7 3.42 Pellet Boil
0.5 oz Willamette 15 min 4.5 2.2 Pellet Boil
0.5 oz Cascade 5 min 7 2.81 Pellet Boil
0.5 oz Willamette 5 min 4.5 1.8 Pellet Boil

Danstar - Nottingham Ale Yeast
Fermentation Temp: 68 °F

1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)

add half dry extract in the begining and half at flame out
steep grains at 155 degrees for 30 minutes in 3 gallons of water top off
to 7 gallons and boil 60 minute

after boil let sit for 18 minute then chill (add cold water)

pitch yeast at 70 to 75 degrees


I have stopped buying beer as I want to brew my own so I would like to get going

Please help a brother out with some advice at this time I do not have a chiller yet but I do have a 15.5 cu ft freezer with a stc 1000 to ferment in

also a couple of 5 gallon Cornelius keg to keg in

I have a 16 gallon pot and a 8 gallon pot I wanted to a partial boil so I could top off with cold water to save on ice

any and all advice is welcome

all the best and enjoy the day

S_M

 

[Nosybear]

If you're new, my recommendation is this recipe (makes 5 gallons):

6# light malt extract (syrup)
1 Oz Hallertau @ 60 mins
1 Oz Hallertau @ 20 mins
WLP 060 or equivalent dry ale yeast

Brew this recipe until it tastes the same every time. Granted it's not as much fun as what you're proposing but if you can make this beer taste the same way every brew, you have a solid process, good sanitation and can be sure that anything you change in the recipe is creating the changes in your brew.

But if you want to go with the more complex recipe, brew it several times and make sure it comes out the same. Bottom line is you want to get to a repeatable, reliable process before starting to tweak recipes - otherwise you'll never know what caused the changes in your beer.

Cheers and welcome to the club!

 

[LarryBrewer]

If you don't have a chiller, cooling 10 gallons is going to take hours. Since you are doing extract though, you can speed the process by topping off with clean cool water (put it in the fridge the night before).

How many packs of Notty yeast do you have? You will need more than one to hit a healthy pitch rate. See our pitch calculator for more details: http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitc ... alculator/
There is also a link from the recipe that fills out most of the fields for you.

 

[social_misfit]

If you're new, my recommendation is this recipe (makes 5 gallons):

6# light malt extract (syrup)
1 Oz Hallertau @ 60 mins
1 Oz Hallertau @ 20 mins
WLP 060 or equivalent dry ale yeast

Brew this recipe until it tastes the same every time. Granted it's not as much fun as what you're proposing but if you can make this beer taste the same way every brew, you have a solid process, good sanitation and can be sure that anything you change in the recipe is creating the changes in your brew.

But if you want to go with the more complex recipe, brew it several times and make sure it comes out the same. Bottom line is you want to get to a repeatable, reliable process before starting to tweak recipes - otherwise you'll never know what caused the changes in your beer.

Cheers and welcome to the club!

all very good points if I was to brew this recipe changing to Dry Malt Extract would be fine ?
or a similar hop? doing 11 gallons instead of 5 gallons ?

thanks for the input and advice

S_M

 

[social_misfit]

If you don't have a chiller, cooling 10 gallons is going to take hours. Since you are doing extract though, you can speed the process by topping off with clean cool water (put it in the fridge the night before).

How many packs of Notty yeast do you have? You will need more than one to hit a healthy pitch rate. See our pitch calculator for more details: http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitc ... alculator/
There is also a link from the recipe that fills out most of the fields for you.

Good Day I was going to pitch two packages, but was not sure if I should rehydrate or just pitch it dry I do have six gallons of water in the freezer right now at 33-34 degrees and have 40 lbs of ice I have made and a rope handle tub if it is needed

I do have four packages and a couple S-05, S-04 and a couple of a west coast ale yeast

All the best

S_M

 

[social_misfit]

If you're new, my recommendation is this recipe (makes 5 gallons):

6# light malt extract (syrup)
1 Oz Hallertau @ 60 mins
1 Oz Hallertau @ 20 mins
WLP 060 or equivalent dry ale yeast

Nosybear your thoughts

12.5 lbs light dry malt extract

2.20 Oz Cascade @ 60
2.20 Oz Cascade @ 20

for 11 gallons with a couple of packs of S-05

10 - 14 day at 65-68 degrees

thanks

S_M

 

[LarryBrewer]

Yeah you'd be fine with dry vs liquid extract. Plug it all into the recipe editor and shoot for a gravity of ~1.044-1.048.

 

[social_misfit]

Yeah you'd be fine with dry vs liquid extract. Plug it all into the recipe editor and shoot for a gravity of ~1.044-1.048.

Thanks Larry @ 12.5 lbs DME it comes in at a 1.048 and kick the cascade up to 2.33 oz at the 60 and 2.25 oz at 20 it gives you an APA without the color with a BU:GU of .71 which is spot on for the hops of an APA

the recipe editor by far is the best


thanks

S_M

 

[LarryBrewer]

the recipe editor by far is the best

Glad you are enjoying it!

 

[Nosybear]

Point is do something simple and light with little room to hide flaws. You want to find them now on easy and cheap brews, not later when you're brewing your first Imperial Brown Double Chocolate Oak-Aged IPA. A comparable hop, any hop for that matter will do at about 25 IBUs, again, the purpose of this brew is to expose flaws in your process, not to make an award-winning beer (even though it might win in a blonde ale category). DME is probably even better - it's a more consistent product than syrup.

I wish someone had given me the "simple, light" advice early - would have saved me quite a few marginal batches!

 

[social_misfit]

I wish someone had given me the "simple, light" advice early - would have saved me quite a few marginal batches!

thanks

S_M

 

[DanC]

I too am new to brewing beer with only a year under my belt. When I started I tried brewing all different type or styles of beer with varied successes. My first was a very simple extract porter with steeping grains and IMO was a huge success. I wish I would have had Nosy's advice. My second and third batches sucked, mostly because I didn't understand the fermentation process and it's effect on the yeast. If I was brewing the same beer over I would have been quicker at finding out my deficiencies. Now I am brewing two or three different Partial Mash recipes and trying to narrow any defects in the process.

Dan

 

[kiwi Bruce]

A late note to S M. You probably have your first brew under your belt by now, so how did it Go? To you, S M and Dan and all the New-bee brewers who read this. K.I.S.S. keep it simple stupid, as a start up home-brewer. There is no better advice. Because sooner faster than later your going to brew a brew that goes "off". The more complex the brew, the harder it's going to be to figure out what you did wrong. Unfortunately, a lot of new-brewers fold if they have some serious coin tied up in a batch that goes bad. Baby steps, get the basics down first. Start with hygiene. When you get a brew that has that "Cidery" off flavor, and you will, we all have. Then, according to Coors labs, you got a wild yeast in your brew called "Candida Albicans" from your mouth. It means you probably started a siphon hose with your mouth! Hygiene Hygiene Hygiene! K.I.S.S. K.I.S.S. K.I.S.S. Kiwi