Spare Ingredients - help us build a beer!

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Hop-Droppen-Roll, Apr 27, 2017.

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  1. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,114) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    Another thought on hops. Look at the Averagely Perfect American IPA recipe in the recipe database and hop similarly. I seem to recall that uses simcoe, centennial, Columbus, and cascade. Use sugar, about a pound, to boost the gravity to about the same level as that recipe. It is a decidedly old school west coast type of IPA
     
  2. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (1,889) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    @pweis909 befor I knew what diacetyl was I tossed 7 batches all due to that yeast. Absolutely un drinkable. s-05 or notty for me!
     
  3. scottakelly

    scottakelly Initiate (0) May 9, 2007 Ohio

    @Hop-Droppen-Roll you'll notice our opinions are all over the board on crystal malts. Some think an ounce will ruin your beer, but most think they are fine, and sometimes complimentary, but you need to use restraint in how much you use.

    If you are going the Munich malt route, you probably have access to Munich LME. That is the easiest way to go. If you want to use Munich malt grain, however, it is a base malt and cannot be steeped like crystal. It can be steeped, but you must maintain a constant temperature (around 155) and a minimum length of time (around 30 minutes).
     
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  4. chavinparty

    chavinparty Zealot (641) Jan 4, 2015 New Hampshire

    Step 1 throw out Bry97
     
  5. chavinparty

    chavinparty Zealot (641) Jan 4, 2015 New Hampshire

    I would steep as much Vienna as you can, use all the lme add all the simcoe at flame out and Dryhop with 2 oz citra and 2 oz simcoe. And us5 yeast is my dry preferred dry yeast
     
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  6. crcostel

    crcostel Initiate (0) Feb 26, 2006 Illinois

    Agree completely - don't go crazy with crystal on an IPA. We are talking 3% or so for depth of flavor. (Assuming a light crystal C20/C40).

    OP - If you follow the process above for "steeping" Munich, you are really mini-mashing, which is a nice step up from extract brewing.

    If you want to stay extract + grain, consider CaraMunich or CaraVienne which can be steeped.
     
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  7. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

    Yeah, honestly from the get go on this, my plan was to figure out which/how much additional LME I wanted to add, as well as what kind of steeping grains I should get. Not because I knew the science, but because what little experience I have had with brewing IPAs has taught me that that's what I like.
     
  8. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

    So it was never 'should I add steeping grains, or more LME' - the question has been which one of each, and why.

    I have certainly learned a lot about steeping grains in the last couple days. When they come in the kit they are always labeled 'specialty grains' - are all specialty/steeping grains Crystal?
     
  9. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

    Was starting to formulate a plan of adding Munich LME plus a steeping grain - just because that's the kind of process our favorite kits have had. If you read my above comments you'll see that I've likely had a skewed perception of what steeping grains are, and I now have more questions than answers.

    Based on what I've read this morning, It seems adding a few pounds of munich, as well as steeping some caravienna might be a good way to go... thoughts? Would I be going too dark and heavy adding the caravienna steep?
     
  10. crcostel

    crcostel Initiate (0) Feb 26, 2006 Illinois

    No your roasted (ie chocolate) malts are also steepable.
     
  11. crcostel

    crcostel Initiate (0) Feb 26, 2006 Illinois

    Here is a quick workup

    5 Gallons

    6lb Pilsen LME
    3lb Munich DME
    8oz CaraVienne

    US-05

    = ABV 7.27%
    SRM 6.84

    So you wouldn't be too dark at all.
     
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  12. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

    honestly, color isn't really a concern for me, guess I'm not sure why I phrased it like that. This looks good though, thanks!
    I see. All this talk about steeping crystal grains vs mini-mashing other grains, I was starting to think crystal/specialty/steeping grains were all different terms for the same thing.
     
  13. crcostel

    crcostel Initiate (0) Feb 26, 2006 Illinois

  14. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (1,889) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    As long as you know each grain mashed or steeped will give a separate color,taste ,scent, mouth feel and abv addition to your beer.
     
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  15. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

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  16. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

  17. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

  18. scottakelly

    scottakelly Initiate (0) May 9, 2007 Ohio

    L stands for Lovibond. Its a rating of how dark the malt is. You are likely buying a pound unless otherwise noted.
     
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  19. crcostel

    crcostel Initiate (0) Feb 26, 2006 Illinois

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  20. chavinparty

    chavinparty Zealot (641) Jan 4, 2015 New Hampshire

    My bad I've always brewed all grain didn't realize you can't minimash Vienna. Real shame Vienna and pils is a Mach made in heaven
     
  21. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

    I'll check out your source. Midwest is (somewhat) local to me and I've been ordering from them since before they sold out, so it's what I'm accustomed to (I also work at a non-exclusive distributor and our largest contract happens to be with AB so I'm already out of the staying-away-from-ABI game).
     
  22. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

    difference between Breiss and Dingemans? I had assumed they were brands but they are both from Malliard Malts... Dingemans is considerably more expensive (relatively)

    Also, @crcostel - looks like the caravienne at ritebrew has a much lower Lovibond number... that seems odd
     
  23. crcostel

    crcostel Initiate (0) Feb 26, 2006 Illinois

    Maillard Malts is a store brand of Midwest/Northern Brewer. They are repackaged from other brands. Breiss and Dingemans are different companies.

    I think the Ritebrew Caravienne is also 20L and its just a typo.
     
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  24. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

    Any preference as far as breiss vs dingemans?
     
  25. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

    Final question as I am gearing up to get everything I need ordered.

    What if I steep the whole pound of caravienne? Would that ruin the beer? I could save half for another batch of the same beer, but it might be easier for me to just dump it all in the steeping bag :stuck_out_tongue:
     
  26. Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse

    Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse Initiate (0) Jul 20, 2016 Indiana

    Like I said earlier, yes, I think even half a pound is too much. Some others here might prefer it with even more than a pound. This is really a personal preference question. Just do what feels right and adjust up or down next time if you feel like it.
     
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  27. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

    I guess when I get the stuff in hand I'll gauge it to what I've used before - whatever came in the kit - I guess I assumed it would be the same amount (maybe it usually comes in half-pounds when you buy a kit)

    edit: I'll check some kit ingredient lists
     
  28. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

    Yeah I see for example the furious clone kit comes with only a quarter pound of crystal 50-60L... but I'm not sure how that differs from caravienne 20L, but I don't want to overpower it... I'm brewing a furious kit this weekend so I'll be getting back into the groove of this after a long break. Should help me get a feel for it.
     
  29. scottakelly

    scottakelly Initiate (0) May 9, 2007 Ohio

    I would go Dingemans myself, but I usually pick European specialty grains over North American.
     
  30. Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse

    Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse Initiate (0) Jul 20, 2016 Indiana

    I just bottled my beer with Liberty Bell and the diacetyl was definitely there. I left it in primary for two weeks. Pretty disappointed, as this is the first real fermentation flaw I've had since I started watching my temps.

    How long did it take to clean up after itself for you? Did it clean up in the primary, secondary, bottle, or keg?
     
  31. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,114) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    I left it in primary at highish temps and it cleaned up in about 2 more weeks. Adding some active yeast will help, if that doesn't take care of it. Avoid pulling it off the yeast, as some of them are active and helping.
     
  32. Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse

    Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse Initiate (0) Jul 20, 2016 Indiana

    Oops. I bottled it already. I didn't notice the diacetyl until I added the priming sugar and had the beer in the bottling bucket. :flushed:

    Hopefully the fermentation in the bottle helps clear it up a little bit. Wish I had seen your post a few weeks ago so I wouldn't have used that yeast. Never again. At least I only committed half a batch to M36. :angry:
     
  33. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,114) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    I didn't read carefully. Since it is already off the yeast and there really isn't an opportunity to add more, yes, hopefully the yeast that are busy carbonating the bottles will clean up the diacetyl. I think the chances are pretty good. I never had diacetyl issues until I started kegging. This may be one advantage of bottling over kegging. If the first bottles you taste have diacetyl, warm up the remaining bottles to 70F or so and wait a few weeks, sampling a bottle every so often to evaluate.
     
  34. VikeMan

    VikeMan Pooh-Bah (2,901) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Reading "How to Brew" would give you some contextual background against which to ask yourself some (but not all) of the questions you're asking the forum. For the rest, it would give you a better foundation upon which to understand the answers.
     
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  35. VikeMan

    VikeMan Pooh-Bah (2,901) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    You can Mash Vienna, therefore you can Minimash Vienna. The only difference is the size of the mash. Vienna has the enzymes to convert its own starches to sugars/dextrins, so you don't necessarily need another base malt to mash/minimash along with it.

    But Vienna shouldn't be simply "steeped" unless the steeping conditions also happen to be mash conditions.
     
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  36. Hop-Droppen-Roll

    Hop-Droppen-Roll Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2013 Minnesota

    Very good point.
     
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