Djehuty
Master Brewer
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2010
- Messages
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I could use a quick critique on these recipes, if anyone's willing. I've been puzzling over them for a while, and I've made them as good as I can with my limited knowledge of the subject. I'd like to place one big brewing order to save on shipping, which is why I'm posting all three at once. Please let me know if this is a bad idea (for instance, if the grain is likely to go bad if it sits around for a few weeks after I get it). I've used percentages instead of weights for the grain in these recipes, because my efficiency is only 55% with batch sparging, and the weights might look a bit off if one expects 70% or better. I've included names and descriptions so that you can tell where I'm trying to go, and tell me how far off course I've gone. (By the way, if the names seem odd, I'm an Egyptology grad student. It tends to bend one's thought processes.)
Geb's Own Nut-Brown Ale
82% Maris Otter
10% amber malt
4% brown ale malt
2% chocolate malt
2% Victory malt
8 oz. ground walnuts added to mash
1.5 oz. Fuggles leaf hops, 60 min. boil
I'm going for a take on a traditional northern English ale, like Samuel Smith's Nut-Brown Ale, but hopefully with a bit more nutty, earthy flavor (which is why I've named it after the Egyptian earth-god). The target OG is 1.050, and BeerSmith calculates 25.4 IBU of bitterness.
Luxor Summer Ale
32% Maris Otter
32% malted wheat
20% Pilsener malt
4% Caramel 10L
4% Carawheat
4% Victory malt
4% Demerara sugar
1.5 oz. Kent Goldings hops, 60 min.
0.75 oz. Kent Goldings, 10 min.
0.75 oz. Kent Goldings, 1 min.
0.5 oz. coriander seed, 5 min.
32 oz. pomegranate juice, added to secondary
This is sort of a what-if beer. The scenario I've imagined is a group of English and German Egyptologists around the turn of the 20th century, arguing about what would make the perfect refreshing beer when just staggering back from the dig site -- and this is what they cobble together. Some English malt, some German/Czech malt, some local produce. Target OG is 1.040, 32.2 IBU.
I have a few questions about this recipe. First, should I use Goldings or Hallertauer hops? If the latter, my brewing supplier lists them as having 2.2% alpha acid, which seems awfully low -- is that likely to be a typo, or are they old hops? Second, should I use an English ale yeast, or something specific to a Hefeweizen? I'm not sure whether the flavors from the yeast would clash with the pomegranate and coriander. And finally, how should I account for pomegranate juice in BeerSmith? The fruit ingredients seem to be for whole fruit, and they also change all the grain percentages around.
Blue Goose Spruce Steam Beer
85% American 2-row
10% Caramel 40L
5% toasted malt
0.75 oz. Northern Brewer hops, 60 min.
0.5 oz. Northern Brewer, 10 min.
0.25 oz. Northern Brewer, 1 min.
1 pt. spruce tips, 60 min.
The spruce trees out back are putting forth new growth, and I wanted to make some spruce beer, but I don't like what I've heard of more traditional dark molasses-based spruce beers. So I had an odd idea to try making a California common with spruce tips replacing some of the hops. I'm really not sure about this one, though. I don't know how much of the hops to leave out in favor of the spruce. I don't want it to be unpleasantly bitter. Any advice? Target OG is 1.048, and BeerSmith says 29.8 IBU, but it can't account for the spruce.
Any advice would be most welcome.
Geb's Own Nut-Brown Ale
82% Maris Otter
10% amber malt
4% brown ale malt
2% chocolate malt
2% Victory malt
8 oz. ground walnuts added to mash
1.5 oz. Fuggles leaf hops, 60 min. boil
I'm going for a take on a traditional northern English ale, like Samuel Smith's Nut-Brown Ale, but hopefully with a bit more nutty, earthy flavor (which is why I've named it after the Egyptian earth-god). The target OG is 1.050, and BeerSmith calculates 25.4 IBU of bitterness.
Luxor Summer Ale
32% Maris Otter
32% malted wheat
20% Pilsener malt
4% Caramel 10L
4% Carawheat
4% Victory malt
4% Demerara sugar
1.5 oz. Kent Goldings hops, 60 min.
0.75 oz. Kent Goldings, 10 min.
0.75 oz. Kent Goldings, 1 min.
0.5 oz. coriander seed, 5 min.
32 oz. pomegranate juice, added to secondary
This is sort of a what-if beer. The scenario I've imagined is a group of English and German Egyptologists around the turn of the 20th century, arguing about what would make the perfect refreshing beer when just staggering back from the dig site -- and this is what they cobble together. Some English malt, some German/Czech malt, some local produce. Target OG is 1.040, 32.2 IBU.
I have a few questions about this recipe. First, should I use Goldings or Hallertauer hops? If the latter, my brewing supplier lists them as having 2.2% alpha acid, which seems awfully low -- is that likely to be a typo, or are they old hops? Second, should I use an English ale yeast, or something specific to a Hefeweizen? I'm not sure whether the flavors from the yeast would clash with the pomegranate and coriander. And finally, how should I account for pomegranate juice in BeerSmith? The fruit ingredients seem to be for whole fruit, and they also change all the grain percentages around.
Blue Goose Spruce Steam Beer
85% American 2-row
10% Caramel 40L
5% toasted malt
0.75 oz. Northern Brewer hops, 60 min.
0.5 oz. Northern Brewer, 10 min.
0.25 oz. Northern Brewer, 1 min.
1 pt. spruce tips, 60 min.
The spruce trees out back are putting forth new growth, and I wanted to make some spruce beer, but I don't like what I've heard of more traditional dark molasses-based spruce beers. So I had an odd idea to try making a California common with spruce tips replacing some of the hops. I'm really not sure about this one, though. I don't know how much of the hops to leave out in favor of the spruce. I don't want it to be unpleasantly bitter. Any advice? Target OG is 1.048, and BeerSmith says 29.8 IBU, but it can't account for the spruce.
Any advice would be most welcome.