Considering my first All Grain

[Brownbeard]

I have formulated a recipe, I want to know what you guys think of this.

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3 SRM) Grain 68.3 %
2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40 SRM) Grain 19.5 %
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (300 SRM) Grain 2.4 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.0%] (60 min) Hops 17.2 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.5%] (15 min) Hops 14.5 IBU
1.00 lb Brown Sugar, Light (8 SRM) Sugar 9.8 %
1 Pkgs American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) Yeast-Ale

[ray m]

It sounds good, Brownbeard. Just my .02's worth (and not to be critical at all): I'd back the 40L off to 1 lb., & maybe add 3/4 lb. to 1 lb. of another specialty grain. I don't know what you're making, so I won't specify what other type of specialty grain. It just seems that 2 lbs. of 40L is a little high. When I use a crystal malt, the most I use is 1 lb. In a mash, that amount provides plenty of color and flavor.

Don't be sceered of going all grain. I resisted for the longest time but was glad I started doing it. Just 2 downfalls: longer brew day and more equipment to clean.

[toneyc]

I gotta second RayM, I held off going all-grain for a long time because I thought it was overly complicated and required a lot more equipment. Neither is the case, thank goodness! I did my second all-grain batch this last weekend and I'm *really* excited about it.

:D
Toney.

[Brownbeard]

I am going for an American Brown Ale here. It falls within the style guidelines, which I am not too concerned with. What should I use for the other pound of grain if I only go with one pound o fcrystal? I was using it for color.

[Jughead]

unmalted barley for head retention and grainy flavor? Or victory for some nut flavor?

[brewmonkey]

I would drop a pound of the carmel and make the other pound 60L and then sub 1 pound of Munich for the other pound.

[Brownbeard]

OK, I adjusted the recipe to add a pound of Munich and replaced the Crystal 40L with 60L. The color should be about the same, a little higher OG. Munich is defined as giving a malty sweetness. I am down with that. With all the hopheads around here, I think I am going to start calling myself malthead. Speaking of hops, what do you think of my hop selection?

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by Brownbeard
OK, I adjusted the recipe to add a pound of Munich and replaced the Crystal 40L with 60L. The color should be about the same, a little higher OG. Munich is defined as giving a malty sweetness. I am down with that. With all the hopheads around here, I think I am going to start calling myself malthead. Speaking of hops, what do you think of my hop selection?

Since you're shooting for an American Brown I would probably use at least one American hop - consider Cascade for your bittering addition or maybe Willamette.

[brewmonkey]

Willamette is a nice hop, gives a really great Piney aroma/flavor profile and is what I use in my brown and amber ale's.

[toneyc]

Please forgive my confusion, but is "I am down with that." good? It sounds negative, but the rest of your post seems to indicate that it is positive.

I guess I'm a fence straddler on that issue, some days I like really hoppy brews like Lagunitas IPA, other days I like really malty brews like Paulaner Salvator.

:)
Toney.

[b3s]

i second the use of victory in an american brown...nice nutty flavor...or you could go with belgian aromatic, which makes for an intriguing flavor.

[Brownbeard]

Tony, that was a good thing.

[Brownbeard]

Here is the latest version of this recipe. I have about three weeks before I brew to nitpick at it. I added a later hop additon, and dropped the munich malt in favor of Victory.

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3 SRM) Grain 68.3 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60 SRM) Grain 9.8 %
1.00 lb Victory Malt (25 SRM) Grain 9.8 %
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (300 SRM) Grain 2.4 %
1.00 oz Williamette [5.5%] (60 min) Hops 18.9 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [5.5%] (15 min) Hops 9.4 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [5.5%] (5 min) Hops 3.8 IBU
1.00 lb Brown Sugar, Light (8 SRM) Sugar 9.8 %
1 Pkgs American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) Yeast-Ale