Hi friends Happy new year.. I need some help. Any suggestions for this new recipe I have just composed¨? Thank u so much https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1097267/r0018-2021-hopping-whale-lager
It is different from any California Common recipe that I have seen, but I offer that as neither good nor bad feedback. It may be the best ever - EVER ! It is at the high end of the IBU range and the low end of the color range. It also uses grains and adjuncts rare to a steam beer (IME) .. Wheat, oats, rice. Again, an observation, not a criticism. In a spirit of KISS (keep it simple) a steam beer is sometimes defined as a lager brewed at ale temps. Your yeast choice allows for that. Give it a go.
If you're going for a steam I'd suggest a few changes. Now I haven't brewed one yet so take my advice for what it is, however I have done a great deal of research in the last week because I'm planning to brew one this spring. Your grain bill should be 80% or more pilsner, pale or 2 row malt, your Simpsons will probably work fine. The only other malt you really need is a mid range caramel/crystal malt. I'm not sure about the carawheat but it could work. I'm using Munich too but I'd dial it back to 10% of the bill or less. The only other thing is if you're going for something resembling an Anchor steam you'll probably want to go with multiple additions of Northern Brewer hops. The flavor and aroma additions should be noticable and generous but not quite at pale ale levels. Hope that helps but again that's just from my research so if anyone has actual experience to add I'll yeild to them
Thank you so much for your advise and your information. I founded really interesting. Have a nice and happy new year. Please, just a curiosity, what beer profile do you suggest it would be? Thank you so much,
Thank you so much for your suggestions and your information. I founded really interesting. I am considering a few modifications. Have a nice and happy new year. Please, just a curiosity, what beer profile do you suggest it would be? Thank you so much,
I don't have any personal experience with this style, but I found this article from BYO. It includes a recipe. Hope this helps! https://byo.com/article/california-common-style-profile-2/
Yeah that's one of the articles I referred to in building mine: https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1086354/steamin-willie-beamen I'm also open to constructive feedback on mine. Bonus points for anyone who gets the reference with the name
Any Given Sunday Jamie Foxx is a 3rd string QB who gets put in when the first two QBs get injured minutes apart. Despite being a pretty shakey QB he is able to make some big plays because of his athleticism and he instantly becomes a sensation. They call him Steamin' Willie Beamen. When I decided to make a steam beer I couldn't help but think of that movie It's worth a watch if you've never seen it.
Recipe (to me) looks more like 6B - American Amber Ale Which, by the way, is a style I love with lots of leeway.
You are certainly between styles here - which is just fine. I wouldn't bother trying to lump it into a certain style unless you make some changes. Experimental Lager works. For feedback - I'd really need to know what your overall intentions are. What overall flavor/mouthfeel etc. are you going for? My immediate thought is - get rid of the oats. Creaminess and cloudiness isn't something that sounds appealing to me in a lager. or pseudo lager. If that is truly what you are going for then have at it. But if you don't have true intention for it then scrap it. Again, I'm curious as to what flavors you hope to achieve. Right now you have a malt bill split between continental lager, international lager - with a few outliers. THe hop bill is leaning towards a pale ale - I take it, you want an IPL? I'm no pro at hops but I love both EKG and amarillo in their own way but I am not sure together.... Then again, I've never used them together.
Looks like a great recipe, but definitely not a California Common (Steam Beer). A traditional California Common uses Pale Ale malt with light to moderate amounts of Crystal and/or Toasted malts. Northern Brewer is the most common hop for the style and citrussy hops are generally not used.
Here's my California Common recipe. It's a great beer! Vitals Original Gravity: 1.051 Final Gravity (Adv): 1.015 IBU (Tinseth): 32 Color: 8.4 SRM Mash Temperature — 149 °F — 60 min Mash Out — 167 °F — 10 min Malts (11 lb) 9 lb (81.8%) — Rahr Pale Malt, 2-Row — Grain — 1.9 °L 1 lb (9.1%) — Great Western Crystal 2-Row — Grain — 30.1 °L 8 oz (4.6%) — Great Western Crystal 2-Row — Grain — 30.1 °L 8 oz (4.6%) — Rahr Pale Malt, 2-Row — Grain — 1.9 °L Hops (56 g) 28 g (25 IBU) — Northern Brewer 8% — Boil — 60 min 14 g (7 IBU) — Northern Brewer 8% — Boil — 20 min 14 g — Northern Brewer 8% — Boil — 0 min Miscs 3.5 g — Gypsum (CaSO4) — Mash Yeast 2 pkg — White Labs WLP810 San Francisco Lager 70% Fermentation Primary — 68 °F — 14 days
Looks pretty similar to mine (although did you repeat a couple of your grain additions, throwing me for a bit of a loop) only major difference I see in the bill is that I'm including Munich and that's mainly because I'll have it on hand for my Dunkleweizen and I won't have to order another type of roasted malt. Only a couple other questions (maybe I should start a new thread) Your mash temp is a bit lower than mine which is at 153, should I lower that? Also since yours has WLP810 and I was going to use Wyeast 2112 I was just wondering if you've used both and if you've noticed any difference?
I believe I got this recipe from the BYO Big Book of Clones. All the recipes I've brewed from it have been great. None of the grains are repeated, it's just the way I used to break down ingredients to send to my lhbs for grain orders. That's how they had to be put in for purchase. So 2-row is actually 9lb 8oz's. I doubt you'd notice much difference in mash temps provided you don't go much higher. Munich will probably change it up a bit, but hey, we're homebrewers. We get to do that if we want! I haven't used Wyeast, but it looks like that's just their equivalent, which I'm guessing is probably damn near the same *(recipe lists 2112 as well). I've also used wlp001 and been just fine. It's a forgiving beer.
I think that it is good to debate and pose questions here that pertain to the style, the OP will end up getting answers to questions that he may not have thought to ask