All grain pale ale. HELP!

Ferment cool and with adequate pitch rates, reduce post-fermentation oxygen exposure, read up on water chemistry. The actual recipe won't matter without getting these pieces right

 

I'd say the water chemistry doesn't matter unless you get the fermentation and the recipe right. The water chemistry is the fine tuning knob. The recipe and the fermentation are the coarse tuning knobs.

 

I would also add patience and proper wort oxygenation. This Homebrew section has a recipe section. You may be inspired by one. The ones I have looked at look great. JohnSnowNW's house pale ale would be a good place to start (or brew as is if you ask me). http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/forums/homebrew-recipes.67/

 

I was really intimidated by the forum when I started homebrewing a few months ago... Especially in regards to water chemistry, oxygenation and all that stuff...

But honestly, don't sweat it... I used plain ole' filtered tap water and my first two brews have been really awesome. No problem with efficiency, off flavors or anything like that. Of course it depends on your local water and stuff... But for me at least, our city water (I live in Cleveland, so it comes from Lake Erie) is quite good and I filter it through my refrigerator carbon filter. Its tasteless and odorless and tastes delicious. One day I will get to water chemistry stuff, if I ever find the need... For now, I don't. So one less thing to worry about as I learn.

For oxygenating, while I likely one day will pick up an O2 tank and diffusion stone, my first two I just simply filtered my cooled wort through a fine mesh strainer, letting it fall into the bucket... Which aerates it a bit. Then once all filtered, seal the bucket and shake vigorously for a few minutes. Pitched the yeast and fermentation has taken right off without issue. Even the guy at the brew I go to, who runs a successful brewery laughed a bit when I showed concern for oxygenation... Simple said me straining it and shaking a bit will be fine. So far, so good.

I highly recommend something like brewers friend (https://www.brewersfriend.com/) to develop a recipe... It shows you in real time your color, ABV, IBU, etc... As you formulate the recipe. My first beer ever brewed was an all-grain American Pale Ale, didn't even bother with extract brewing or anything... I was worried I would be moving too quickly, but it really was easy as I detailed all my steps on an excel spreadsheet, from temps to quantities, hop schedule, etc... Made it fool proof. Just plan ahead of time.

Right away, for my first batch, I went for something more unique... I didn't want to follow another recipe, but I did do some research to get an idea for what should be in the style. I ended up using quite a bit of Victory and Crystal malts in my recipe, which according to many posts on these forums is a no no for the style, but the end result is quite amazing flavor wise. I love the beer I ended up with! My pale ale was a 5% ABV and 60 IBU brew, hopped with Simcoe, Chinook and Citra hops. I personally think you can't tell the difference in the overall flavor and such compared to commercial breweries, so my water and oxygenation is just fine without getting overly technical. Even a friend who also enjoys good beer commented how good the beer was, before knowing it was my own. So that was a good test, I think!

But honestly, just search recipes for a general idea of what you want and create something unique... Look up all grain IPA recipes and just note the grains and such (which for pale ales is typically 2-row pale malt, plus minor additions of specialty grains if you want). Find some hop guides for flavor profiles to get what you want and mix it up. With those brewing tools, you can see exactly how the timing and style hop will effect your IBU and such. Very helpful for me when I did my first brews.

Good luck and have fun!! Don't sweat all the crazy technical stuff yet... Get into it once you get comfortable with the basics, first. I am about to start my third batch, and will do my first yeast starter this time around... Just another part of the learning process! Eventually the water stuff will come, but I am in no rush.



Also, if you have not already - this is a great resource:

http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

 

Fair enough, although high chlorides/low sulfates are tough to cover up in a hoppy beer. With my tap water back in Pennsylvania, I had about 0% chance of making a great hoppy beer without at least some water adjustment.

 

Honestly, when it comes to going all grain the best advice I can give you is to just jump in head-first. Go into your first brew knowing that it will be primarily a learning experience. You learn so much about your individual process on that first AG brew that you can't anticipate by reading books and forums.

After you get a few under your belt and realize that even with basic knowledge you can brew decent beer, it'll encourage you to start diving into different aspects (mash temp, oxygenation, water chemistry, etc.) more thoroughly a piece at a time.

 

Yeah, I'd not worry about water unless it doesn't taste good to you. See how your beers turn out for a while, then adjust if you feel you need to. Just relax, it's actually really easy!

 

I agree with previous posts here, don't over think it. I read the book how to brew by John Palmer and jumped in. Even with all sorts of mistakes that I thought would ruin my first brew it turned out great! I started tweaking things(water, oxygenation etc.) as I brewed more, and learned more. We all start as armatures!

 

Easy solution: add more hops.

Edit: I'm being a bit of a smartass, but this could be something that a recipe adjustment would help some. I never brewed with your PA water so am willing to accept what you say, mostly. But I want to distinguish between good and great. The things that I think of as coarse adjust (reference earlier post- factors involved in fermentation and the recipe) will take you to good, and perhaps beyond. And sometimes water chemistry (fine adjust) is what you need to go from good to great. I bet you could still make a good pale with that water, but perhaps had trouble making the hops pop to make a great.

 

12 lbs pilsen malt
1 oz goldings 60 min
.33 oz saaz 30 min
1 lb table sugar 15 min
.33 oz centennial 5 min

wyeast 1056 American ale

og 1.069
fg 1.016

34.9 ibu
7 % alc

for 5 gallons

 

60 mins would be the start of the boil, i.e. the hops are in the pot for 60 mins.

FWIW, that recipe will not make anything close to an APA if that is what you are looking for. I don't think the IBUs are correct either. Compare it to JohnSnowNW's recipe linked above.

 

All Maris Otter. Mash high, like around 158F. Use a low co-humulone bittering charge, like from Magnum or Horizon. Use a combination of piney/citrusy and tropical fruity hops, like Centennial and Citra or Columbus and Amarillo, and add them when you are cooling your beer after 180F. Ferment with Chico. Dry hop with tropical fruity hops. Aim for about 12 oz. of hops between your knockout addition and your dry hop. Good luck!

 

Here are a couple of links that may prove helpful. Since you say that you cannot smell any chlorine, that is good if chlorine is used for disinfection as tap water should not be a problem to use. To me your water looks pretty good.

However, in the second link, it does show that a couple of areas use chloramines for disinfection and that would be a problem. Kallista and Monbulk use chloramines - mean anything to you?

If you can use your tap water, the calcium and sulfate are low so you would want to at least add some gypsum to your water for something like a pale ale.

http://www.melbournewater.com.au/wa...qualitydata/Pages/drinking-water-quality.aspx

http://www.melbournewater.com.au/whatwedo/supply-water/Pages/Water-treatment.aspx