Recipe help for ingredients on hand

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by DrHolland, Apr 16, 2020.

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  1. DrHolland

    DrHolland Initiate (0) Apr 16, 2020

    Greetings. This is my first time posting. I am stuck at home with no access to a local brew shop, and really only have access to ingredients I have on hand. Due to COVID, I would rather brew at home than go to bevmo, and the last time i brewed beer i used canned wort. I pulled my 2 gallon conical fermenter and other home brew stuff out of the garage, and cleaned it out. I looked all over forums for recipes that i can make with what I have, but the differences are all so confusing. Can someone suggest a recipe?

    I have:
    20 lb Briess Pale malt (grain)
    omega yeast 004
    a vial of yeast collected and rinsed from a brew done a month ago
    white sugar
    amylase powder
    tums
    kamut wheatberries 1 lb
    1 lb quaker quick cooking oats
    1 lb teff flour
    unbleached wheat flour
    bleached wheat flour
    cornmeal
    honey
    molasses
    dark corn syrup

    I don't have any hops, but i have a
    stocked spice cabinet
    6 kinds of coffee beans
    cocoa powder
    50 kinds of loose leaf tea
    dried chamomile flowers

    I also have a small packet of starsan crystals, chlorine, 24 bottles, caps, a hydrometer, a large pot, and a large piece of cheesecloth.
     
  2. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

  3. riptorn

    riptorn Pooh-Bah (1,776) Apr 26, 2018 Georgia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Just curious, when was the last time you brewed and how old is the yeast (both the rinsed and the OYL 0004)?

    There might be some folks here who can recommend certain spices that could be used as a substitution or workaround for a hop-less brew, but I can't help much with that.

    You mentioned going to BevMo, so I'm wondering if you're somewhere on the West Coast.....Cali maybe?
    Can you order online? MoreBeer has three locations in CA. Their walk-in retail locations are closed but they're still taking orders online and you might be able to get an order of hops reasonably quickly.
     
  4. MrOH

    MrOH Grand Pooh-Bah (3,995) Jul 5, 2010 Virginia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    I'd order some hops and new yeast and wait until they show up to brew.
     
  5. beershrine

    beershrine Pundit (819) May 29, 2004 Idaho

    Yea go online get yeast, hops and a few malts. The other option is to use no malt just cane sugar and spices it would be a lot faster...lol
     
    #5 beershrine, Apr 16, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2020
    GormBrewhouse likes this.
  6. DrHolland

    DrHolland Initiate (0) Apr 16, 2020

    Thanks for the help! The rinsed yeast is from a small one-gallon batch brewed a month ago that used canned wort (primal ale). The OYL 00004 and malt were purchased at the same time as that batch ... March 3, 2020. I also got an olympia hops live-root from Burpee seeds company that I planted last month, but found out after planting it that it won't give me flowers till next year.

    Yes, I am from California. :slight_smile: I looked at their locations and the nearest one is hundreds of miles away. I have a child with breathing issues, so we are trying to limit receipt of packages, or trips to curbside pickups. We had plenty of staples and frozen foods when it all started, so we just stayed home. I wonder if we can hold out till the vaccines come through... maybe?

    Thank you again!
     
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  7. riptorn

    riptorn Pooh-Bah (1,776) Apr 26, 2018 Georgia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    If the liquid yeast you bought was refrigerated when you bought it, hasn't expired and it's been stored refrigerated (not frozen), you’re probably good to go on that.

    Far be it from me to suggest anything that might compromise anyone with breathing issues, but I will suggest (for your own comfort) you do an exhaustive web search for something like ‘how long will the virus live on various surfaces’.

    I planted 4 rhizomes (what Burpee calls live-roots) last spring and got one flower the size of a dime, but some folks have had a good harvest their first year....maybe you'll be one of the lucky gardeners.
     
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  8. MrOH

    MrOH Grand Pooh-Bah (3,995) Jul 5, 2010 Virginia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Any way it works out, let us know how Olympia is for you. I've only seen in referenced in old books, I don't think you can buy it anymore. Could be the new Comet.
     
    riptorn likes this.
  9. DrHolland

    DrHolland Initiate (0) Apr 16, 2020

    Hello! You may be right, that is should find a way to purchase some hops. However, I did day I have both malt and yeast:

    20 lb Briess Pale malt (grain)
    omega yeast 00004

    So, here is the thing -- regardless of if I use a gruit, as wonderfully suggested by utahbeerguy, or buy hops as suggested by beershrine, the main issue is that I don't know what procedure to follow with what i have. When I look at the recipes, online, they all generally list very specific ingredients i don't have, but I should in principle be able to make something. Also, the recipes often are intended for 5 gallon batches, and I have a 2 gallon fermenter. I presume this means I take all amount and multiply by 2/5, but am not sure.

    There are a number of all-grain recipes that I can find, including the alt kruyt recipe listed at allaboutbeer.con. However, that recipe called for 4 kinds of malt and flaked oats, and a specific kind of yeast. If I use only my 5 lb pale malt, and 1 lb of use my quick oats, and the 1 oz of rosemary/myrtle/yarrow, honey, and my 00004 yeast, does it still work? Is it likely to taste ok? If I use what I have will the following recipe work?

    to mash at 150 degrees for 1 hour, collect wort, boil for 30 mins, add spices, boil for 30 minutes, add 0.6 lb honey, chill and transfer to the primary fermenter.

    Can you guys make edits or suggestion? What kind of beer will this be like? What is the benefit of using 4 kinds of malt?

    Thanks again!
     
    riptorn likes this.
  10. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    You are obviously in a situation where you won’t find recipe that you can follow to the letter, so you definitely need to put in some effort to research and think carefully about what it is that potential ingredients bring to the table. Clearly you are starting to do that.

    The tricky thing with a gruit, in my opinion, is that they are not brewed very often, so data may be somewhat scant. Pale malt and oats is a fine base for a beer. Honey is often used in beers, and if you think it will have positive impact on the finished product, then by all means use some. The tricky thing will be the spices. Try to find out what rosemary, myrtle, and yarrow typically do in a beer. I can add that I have had a commercial porter that used rosemary, and in that beer the rosemary was rather dominant (to the beers detriment in my opinion). You can brew up a tea with any such spices and get a feel for each of them separately or together.

    Your suggested procedure seems fine. Yes, you can linearly scale any beer recipe.

    Think of it as an adventure. It may not be great, especially on the first try, but with the right attitude it should be fun.

    Cheers!
     
    BetaAcid, MrOH, PapaGoose03 and 2 others like this.
  11. riptorn

    riptorn Pooh-Bah (1,776) Apr 26, 2018 Georgia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I've used 1 gram of homegrown rosemary, air-dried on the stem for less than a week. Then the leaves were stripped, lightly bruised, chopped and went in the boil during the last 15 minutes.
    Before bottling, the rosemary was evident in both aroma and (less so) in flavor. After conditioning in the bottle for >2 weeks at room temp, rosemary was still detectable but was somewhat astringent; slightly medicinal came to mind.
    That was 1 gram for a 5-gallon batch. If I used it again, I’d reduce to 0.5 gram and add after taking the brewpot off the heat.

    Making a tea with your spices is a good idea. For some flavor additions it doesn’t take much to be too much. Be cautious of getting in a mode of “if a little is good, more is better”.
     
    PapaGoose03 and DrHolland like this.
  12. DrHolland

    DrHolland Initiate (0) Apr 16, 2020

    Hello! You may be right, that is should find a way to purchase some hops. However, I did day I have both malt and yeast:

    20 lb Briess Pale malt (grain)
    omega yeast 00004

    So, here is the thing -- regardless of if I use a gruit, as wonderfully suggested by utahbeerguy, or buy hops as suggested by beershrine, the main issue is that I don't know what procedure to follow with what i have. When I look at the recipes, online, they all generally list very specific ingredients i don't have, but I should in principle be able to make something. Also, the recipes often are intended for 5 gallon batches, and I have a 2 gallon fermenter. I presume this means I take all amount and multiply by 2/5, but am not sure.

    There are a number of all-grain recipes that I can find, including the alt kruyt recipe listed at allaboutbeer.con. However, that recipe called for 4 kinds of malt and flaked oats, and a specific kind of yeast. If I use only my 5 lb pale malt, and 1 lb of use my quick oats, and the 1 oz of rosemary/myrtle/yarrow, honey, and my 00004 yeast, does it still work to mash at 150 degrees for 1 hour, collect wort, boil for 30 mins, add spices, boil for 30 minutes, add 0.6 lb honey, chill and transfer to the primary fermenter. Pitch my rinsed yeast. Wait a week, and then bottle and wait 4 weeks.

    What would you do differently? What do you predict it will taste like?
     
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