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First Brew

Post #1 made 10 years ago
by kmmacker
Well my grain just arrived today. Spunding Valve and new keg on its way (top tips from MS), Weeks of prep and doing a few practice extract brews are over and I will now be AG on Saturday.

Im doing a very simple Blonde Beer using Safale US-05
could the good people of the forum have a look at the babicus grain bill and check I hav'nt made any schoolboy errors Im after a 5% ABV

thanks :think:
Kenny
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Post #2 made 10 years ago
by Mad_Scientist
That was a good calculator, a forerunner of the BIABacus. Written by stux.

For everyone and support, use the latest BIABacus PR1.3T.

MS
    • SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America

Post #5 made 10 years ago
by kmmacker
Prolly not going to get a chance to do this before Saturday! Could anyone tell me if the grain bill is about right?
I will fill it out in retrospect when I'm brewing on Saturday?

It's very simple based on the electric brewing co I have imply added a bit of Vienna malt so that a 25 kg bag of Pilsner malt and 3kg bag of Vienna malt do me four brews!

Am I at the right grain bill?
Mashing at 65deg 90 mins mash out at 76 deg with only 1 hop 62gr Hallertau at 60 mins....simples!

Post #6 made 10 years ago
by mally
Kenny,

It doesn't take long to fill out a BIABacus once you are used to it.
Here is one I have PARTIALLY completed for you. There are a few things I don't know about your setup & recipe , so if you get a chance to look at it before Saturday, make those necessary changes.

It seems you are going for 30L VIF (volume into fermenter) at 5% ABV using 100% Pilsner malt and Hallertau hops, using US05 yeast.
I would recommend adding some flavour & aroma hops, rather than just that one addition as at 60 minutes you will most likely get little contribution from it other than bitterness. However, that depends what you like and are trying to achieve.
The malt bill is simple, though you may want to consider carapils/dextrin malt, or even acidulated depending on whether you can get to 5.2 pH with your water. Though this may be more advanced, and something to look at later :dunno:
BIABacus PR1.3T - El Blond (kmmacker) .xls
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Last edited by mally on 21 Apr 2015, 03:38, edited 1 time in total.
G B
I spent lots of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I squandered
I've stopped drinking, but only when I'm asleep
I ONCE gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life
    • SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From Great Britain

Post #7 made 10 years ago
by kmmacker
Really appreciated! any suggestion on finishing and tasting hop?,,,,I do like a nice aroma,,,the electric recipe did seem very simple?

Im using vienna malt with the pilsner,,,I must have posted an older version, Suggestion of hop for this and I will nail it on,
Thanks once more for taking the time to populate the BABICUS!

Post #8 made 10 years ago
by mally
I find it quite hard to judge or pass comments on recipes, because it is similar to asking whether you think this recipe for curry (as an example) is any good, and that all depends on what you want & like. So my comments on your recipe are what would suit my tastes (which may be different from yours).

However, my last brew was similar to yours where I was trying to create a German pilsner.
I used 90% pale malt & 10% carapils. The hop additions were a high alpha bittering hop at 60 minutes, and Hallertau only went in near the end. So I would split that 100g of hops into 30g @15 mins, 30g @ 5 mins, and 40g steep/flame off/hop back etc. These are noble hops so you are better off using them near the end of boil. Using Vienna would be OK too. I have done 100% Vienna beers previously.

If you alter your BIABacus file with your equipment details, and fill in as best you can all the other details. Post it up & we can give it a quick check.
There are some important considerations, if you alter the left side of the hop bill, the right side is your "scaled" version (what you will use). You could also just enter an IBU value, and it will adjust the additions to hit that value. If you are using a hopsock, you will need to enter "Y" in the box,as this will affect your volumes (uses less). Filling in the grain temp correctly will give you better accuracy for your strike water.

Just look through each section A, B, C etc. and things will look less daunting, and you will begin to see how powerful the BIABacus is.
G B
I spent lots of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I squandered
I've stopped drinking, but only when I'm asleep
I ONCE gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life
    • SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From Great Britain

Post #9 made 10 years ago
by kmmacker
Hi
I have amended and updated the recipe for El Blonde,
Thanks to Mally for starting that for me. I have also taken the advice to add flavour and aroma hops so have added 25grm at 15min and 25grm at 5. I will then work from how it turns out to build my recipe for the next batches. Bought enough grain and hops for 4 batches.

Im really excited...Saturday, being first brew and all, as well as that Im going to do a closed system ferment. (well partially anyway) I will ferment 3-4 days as normal then rack to keg and cap - thanks to MS for that advice and the thread on this site is very informative!
day4 10psi
day5 15psi
day6 20psi all at 18deg C
after that crash chilled for seven days.....I will then simply store it in the man cave until its turn to be capped,,,(should be another two three weeks with the stock of extracts that I want to use up) then it will be simply chill and tap my already perfectly carbed beer.

Is that a plan or what!
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Post #10 made 10 years ago
by kmmacker
Hi all
I would like some more of the sage like advice that is in abundance on this site!

I have my 4th el blonde in the kegs and with an FA cup final weekend just gone El Blonde no1 went down a treat and was drained over the weekend (all 30 litres ouch!)

I have no2 on tap now and just reflecting on the tastes and looking to improve.

Number 2 is improved on the clarity front as I used a 1 micron filter. Also the carb level was better quality due to the spunding pressure process.

Couple of things I want to improve.
1) I would like a more dry or bitter finish. At the moment there is a sweet finish which isn't unpleasant but I want more bite. I have added more hops to brew no 3&4 up to 75 grm at 60 50grm at 15 and 50grm at 5. But testing the samples that are close to the FG (1010) from (1046) the sweetness is still there I think. Do I need to reduce fermentable or something else mash temp to get a drier bitter finish?

2) clarity, I would like crystal clear, although no2 is vastly better but not perfect! I now have my counter chiller rigged up and hear that using that to rapid chill and pitching should get me nearer the clear I want!

3) waiting to see what no 3&4 are like with the increase in hop additions to judge the adjustments.

Main one is trying to get dryer rather than sweeter ?

Could it be my yeast? Temps are all managed very well and mash is as Babicus...(all went very well!

Thoughts guys very much appreciated?
Or am I aspiring to a lager finish and perhaps should go this route rather than the ale?

Regards
Kmmacker

Post #11 made 10 years ago
by joshua
KmMacker, The clarity of the beer should be fine after 4-6 weeks, Don't Rush. The yeast is what is the cause.

If your beer is Forced Carbonated, you can drop the temperature of the fermenter to 1-2C or 34F for a week and "Crash Chill".

The beer will clear much faster, but, you will lose the Ability to Naturally Carbonate the beer.

To Make a Dryer, thinner Body, and higher ABV Beer, Mash at 145F to 149F for 90 minutes to 115 minutes.

Using More Beta Amylase, and Much Less Alpha Amylase will make a Dry Beer. Nice, if you like "Lite" beer

Whereas mashing at 156F to 160F, using all Alpha Amylase will give you a Fuller Body, very Sweet Beer, with out changing the Grain bill or Yeast.

Just my experience.
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
    • SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America

Post #12 made 10 years ago
by kmmacker
that makes so much sense...my mash temp is 67 and swings reasonably from 66.5 to 68

What your saying is that I should reduce that range by 2 degrees to get the drier product. Brilliant, will try that next brew day!

Thanks Joshua

A higher AVB beer wouldnt be a light beer though (unless you are describing the colour?)

If I still want the same AVB do I reduce grainbill?

Post #13 made 10 years ago
by joshua
KM, yes, moving the mash to 63C-64C, will take 15-30 minutes longer to mash, and give you Much More fermentable Sugars, resulting in a dryer, thinner bodied beer.

Everything I have read about this says the ABV only increases 0.2% to 0.4%.

So reducing the Grain bill, may not be needed, and difficult to plan for.

My Lite Beer comment, is because I usually brew various Porters, and Mild Stouts, and when mashed in the low 60's, the body is very reduced and the Flavors, are slightly reduced.

Very much like American Mega-Swill, and American Mega-Swill Lite, OR "Tastes Great-Less Filling" vs MGD
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
    • SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America

Post #14 made 10 years ago
by Rick
What Joshua said is quality, I'd do that first. If you're still not happy with the dryness/bitterness, you could toy around with your brewing water.

Adding a bit of gypsum would be another option. The sulfate will help dry the finish and improve the perception of hops and bitterness in the beer. It's best to add this to cold water, as gypsum dissolves much easier at lower temps ... but you will have to account that it will also change your mash pH if you add it before mashing. An easy workaround for this (if you're unsure of ion content of water), is to add say a tsp or two after the bag is pulled. This way it'll be relatively cooler than it would be adding it to the boil. It will still dissolve, but might take a while.

Speaking of mash pH, lowering it to 5.3 would also help to produce the most fermentable wort/lighter bodied beer possible.

I say follow Josh's advice first, change one thing at a time until you are happy with the outcome. Doing all of this at once might be too much even for your taste.
    • SVA Brewer With Over 20 Brews From United States of America

Post #15 made 10 years ago
by kmmacker
Right you are guys
I'm going to shoot for lower mash temps!

Any thoughts on Mashout...I have read in several places that if you want drier then avoid that? I have been merticulously raising to 77 dg c and re dunking the bag for 5 mins?

Would that be doing something to the profile too?

Rgs
Kmmacker

Post #16 made 10 years ago
by thughes
I don't feel that mashout affects the final product to any discernible extent but there is an advantage to doing so: it makes the sugars slightly more soluble so that the bags drains more efficiently. BTW, you really don't really need to hold at mashout temps for any appreciable amount of time......simply raise to mashout temp, stir to stabilize, and pull the bag.

---Todd
WWBBD?
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Post #17 made 10 years ago
by thughes
As a side note, you mentioned "re-dunking the bag". I would recommend simply pulling the bag slowly, squeezing it if you so desire (the merits are debatable), and getting on to the boil. If you re-dunk the bag into the kettle there is the thought that you may actually be allowing sugars to be absorbed back into the grist and subsequently be removed from the sweet liquor. Make sense?

---Todd
WWBBD?
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Post #18 made 10 years ago
by kmmacker
Certainly does
In my next brew I'm gonna pull the bag...and squeeze at90 mins all with a lower temp 63-64 rather than 67-68 a and see what it does! It's only a subtle sweetness that I want to improve on towards a drier, finish!

I have 90 litres already brewed so it should take a reasonable time to finish off yet!

What a hobby....keeps you constantly thinking doesn't it!

Post #19 made 10 years ago
by thughes
kmmacker wrote:What a hobby....keeps you constantly thinking drinking doesn't it!

Fixed that for you!

--Todd
Last edited by thughes on 04 Jun 2015, 02:30, edited 1 time in total.
WWBBD?
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