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would you brew this

all grain

Grandmaster Brewer
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Ok just got back from my small L.B.S. and throw this to gather. its experimental and though I would ask you all if you think it will be good or bad.
10# 2row
1#Munich
1#pale chocolate
1# caraform
1oz cascade 60
1oz cascade 30
1oz fuggles  0
us 04 yeast
mash at 153
ferment at 64
5.5 gal
its already to go and I have 3 empty fermenters so u think this will be drinkable. 
 
Looks to me like the end result will be a very dark brew with a lot of hop flavor and aroma, a fair amount of residual sweetness/body, without a lot of bitterness.

Whether or not that is good or bad depends on who is drinking it.
 
I have to agree with the very dark! Cascade (citrus) and chocolate to my palate doesn't go well. If you are determined to use chocolate, cut it down to 1/4 lb. or you will overpower the Munich and the hops....too muddy!

I would scratch the fuggles. Citrusy hops don't go too well with English hops. Single hop it, or sub in Willamette, or Citra, or Amarillo. When I use chocolate and it is not a stout recipe, I go with a lower 148 mash to avoid too much residual sweetness.

No matter what you do shoot for "your" drinkability and enjoy.
 
thanks riverbrewer your advice was just what I wanted to here. I like hoppy beer but really have not mastered the art of pairing them up. the mash temp sounds better too. again thanks.
 
It looks to me like it's an American Robust Porter recipe.  I think it will taste great.  I wish you lived near me so that I could sample a bottle.
 
I'd totally go for the chocolate and citrus melding. In fact, I'm planning a chocolatey beer with tangerine/orange hop character. If it works for Tootsie Rolls and those chocolate orange ball things you see at the holidays, why not in beer?

If you're using S-04, I'd definitely recommend the lower mash temp; S-04 finishes and falls out quickly. Great for maltier beers.
 
The first reply that I wrote included how I would do it differently, but then I scratched it because the only way to learn is to do.

If how I would do it differently is what you want, then here it is:

I agree with four ounces on the dark malt. I'd go six ounces max.

Personally I'm not a fan of citrusy hops. I'd go Fuggle all the way. Kent Golding is my favorite hop for ale. Fuggle is a close second.

I'd up the bittering hops. I'd say this brew deserves ten HBUs (Home Brewing Units equal ounces of hops times AA%. For example one ounce of Chinook at 10% is equivalent to two ounces of Cascade at 5%). That or drop the pale by at least two pounds. Maybe three.

I'm not a fan of 04. Finishes with too high of a final gravity for my taste. 05 is my workhorse for ales.

I'd also mash at closer to 150. 148 would work.

The end result would be a lighter colored beer with less body and more bitterness than your original recipe.

Good or bad? Depends on who is drinking it.
 
I've settled on 150 mash 70 to 80 min with cascade hops in the boil. may dry hop later. this is a warm up for a full blown porter so the chocolate stays, I've never used it before, need to know its potential if you know what I mean. not trying to get it to bitter, need to taste the malt. as far as the 04 go's, that's all I have. 6AM tomorrow I start the strike water, by 2pm i'll let u all know what I think. till then. P.S. thanks for all the input.     
 
brew it as is. it will be drinkable. maybe even good. maybe even great. trust your instincts and then you can correct them when  you have actual concrete feedback (have tasted the beer).

It's only beer and it's only 5 gallons.

I would not mash at 148 that would be a very dry beer indeed. I would aim for 155 it will not leave residual sweetness per se, more a full mouthfeel and some body which, along with the munich will hold up to a lot of hops and a lot of roast.
 
This is my two cents about specialty grains.
It can be compared to women and their makeup.
Too much is whorish, a moderate amount is HOT!

A little bit can go a long way! I recently threw 1.5 lbs. (which was 50% of what I was thinking) of Special B (Thomas Fawcett) into a pale ale with a total 32 lbs. grain. The recipe was simply 2-row with  Special B, low IBU, and the masses were happy! My goal was a bold pale ale. I used a Brit yeast for esters. When you want to test out a specialty grain my advice is to keep it simple. Always try to keep in mind that most non-craft, non-home brew beer drinkers need to have the difference between hop bitterness and hop flavor demonstrated to them! I enjoy turning people on to flavor.

With the grain bill even at 148 I don't think he will get it below 1.012 FG
 
well this beer only made it down to 1.020 and its on day10 so that's probably all she will drop. the taste is coming along but I hope it mellows out some. to me its not going to be great. may add some vanilla to it and dry hop.i don't know yet.   
 
    Don't rush to judgement on this beer,  I have had some really good 1.018-1.020 FG brews. Remember that the hops will start to drop out, and the chocolate will mellow some too within 30 days. This isn't a beer you pound down so save some for 60 days, 90, etc.
    Just raise your fermentation temp a few (3-4) degrees for 3 days, cold crash for a few days, rack, and bottle or keg. Don't keep adding to the flavors by vanilla additions or dry hopping to a recipe that you question it's drinkable quality. You can't make a bad beer better by adding this or that to it........it will only get worse! Nail down your base recipe before you start to tinker. Keep your batch size as small as you develop your basic recipe. Sounds like you are going for the lots of makeup approach!

Good luck
 
will do riverbrew, I'm  in this one for the long haul. not going to do any more to it like you said, need to get the base recipe down then mess with it. thanks 
 
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