20 replies to this topic

[viper]

I was looking through the recipe swap forums and found a recipe that I wanted to try... the simple cream aleThis is my gain-bill for Saturday's brew:11 gallon brew16 lbs 2-row4 lbs flaked corn1lb corn sugar1.5oz Mt Hood @ 60min0.5oz Mt Hood @ 20 minSafale US-05The only problem is I don't want to do an 11 gallon batch for my first beer attempt, just for ease of practice... If I wanted to bring this down to a 3 or 5 gallon batch size how would I go about modifing the recipe?**also I read the thread and I am going to minus the 1lb of corn sugar as suggested and should be able to maintain a mid-60*F fermentation temp**

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I was looking through the recipe swap forums and found a recipe that I wanted to try... the simple cream aleThis is my gain-bill for Saturday's brew:11 gallon brew16 lbs 2-row4 lbs flaked corn1lb corn sugar1.5oz Mt Hood @ 60min0.5oz Mt Hood @ 20 minSafale US-05The only problem is I don't want to do an 11 gallon batch for my first beer attempt, just for ease of practice... If I wanted to bring this down to a 3 or 5 gallon batch size how would I go about modifing the recipe?**also I read the thread and I am going to minus the 1lb of corn sugar as suggested and should be able to maintain a mid-60*F fermentation temp**

AFAIK you should just be able to take all of the ingredient amounts and scale them down accordingly. So if you wanted to go to 5 gallons you multiply all of the ingredient amounts by 5/11. This should certainly work for the grains but the hops could be off - I don't have the IBU calculations in front of me to figure it out right now...

[chefmiller]

Beersmith gave me these numbers:7.27 lb. two row1.82 lb. flaked corn.66 oz. mt. hood (60 minutes).22 oz. mt. hood (20 minutes)That is assuming a 75% efficiency though. I don't know your process, given that you probably won't hit 75% on your first brew, you may want to add a bit extra grain. BTW;this is for 5 gallons. Beersmith is a great program, and there are many others out there too that can help you with this so you don't have to rack your brain with the math.

[viper]

thank you guys very much. I thought I could probably use the same "ratio" by sizeso if I wanted to be "safe" on efficency.... should I round up to:8lb 2 row2lb corn1 oz mt. hood (60 min)1 oz mt. hood (20 min)as far as programs go I am just beginning with all the homebrewing stuff so I have a long way to go... and a lot to learn. for example... something I just realized, everyone talks about their conical fermenters. are conicals required for beer fermentation?

[Thirsty]

Your reduction in grains is accurate, however your hops will be off. Volume plays a large role in utilization, plugging your actual numbers into a calculator is going to be most accurate. Beersmith or beertools is great, but if you just want to check something simple, www.tastybrew.com has a free recipe calculator very easy to use. I just punched in the original recipe and it gives 12 ibus with 1.5 oz of mt hood at 60. If you dropped it to 1 oz and a 5 gallon batch, it over doubles the ibus to 25. The profile range is 10-22. So for a 5 gallon batch I would use .5 oz for the same effect. just my $.02

[viper]

wow... I misread the original recipe for some reason I thought it was adding 1.5 ounces at 60 mins and a full ounce at 20 mins..so ultimately if I were to up it from .66 to .75 ounces and from .22 to .25 ounces everything should be ok?

[viper]

I went into the tastybrew calculator... and from what I am getting if I use8lbs American 2 row pale2lbs flaked corn.5 ounces Mt. Hood @ 60.25 ounces Mt. Hood @ 20IBU will be 16.... I calculated 4.7% ABV with a 65% brewing efficency since this will be my first beer brew. does this sound about right for a first timer?Also still wondering if conical fermentation containers are absolutely needed for beer brewing?

[tag]

Adjusting the hops by 5(or whatever brew size you choose)/11 will be fine. Larger professional boil kettles get better hop utilization, but there should be no changes in the homebrew range.

[MtnBrewer]

Also still wondering if conical fermentation containers are absolutely needed for beer brewing?

No, tons of people brew with carboys and/or buckets. Conicals are nice but they are not required.

[viper]

No, tons of people brew with carboys and/or buckets. Conicals are nice but they are not required.

I was just wondering cause I know with cider and wines its not as important... but it seemed like "infection" was easier with beers than other homebrews.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I was just wondering cause I know with cider and wines its not as important... but it seemed like "infection" was easier with beers than other homebrews.

I was unaware of this. Why would a conical be less prone to contamination?

[MtnBrewer]

I was just wondering cause I know with cider and wines its not as important... but it seemed like "infection" was easier with beers than other homebrews.

Possibly easier due to the lower alcohol content but still pretty difficult. In any case, as zymological asked, why would a conical reduce chances of contamination?

[viper]

I assumed that since it was easier to remove the "lees" or yeast, protiens, etc it would reduce the chance of contaiminationI know that in a conical "Technically" if you could almost completely remove the waste from the conical you might not have to drain the entire tank for secondary fermentation stages. or atleast thats what I gathered from my readings... realize I am still VERY new at all of this so I was more asking than stating since i hear a lot more talk of infection in beer brewing than I've heard in the other areas of this forum.

[MtnBrewer]

I assumed that since it was easier to remove the "lees" or yeast, proteins, etc it would reduce the chance of contamination.I know that in a conical "Technically" if you could almost completely remove the waste from the conical you might not have to drain the entire tank for secondary fermentation stages. or atleast thats what I gathered from my readings... realize I am still VERY new at all of this so I was more asking than stating since i hear a lot more talk of infection in beer brewing than I've heard in the other areas of this forum.

That's definitely true and it's the big advantage of conicals. For instance, if I were going to switch to an in-line chiller (counterflow or plate), I would want to use conicals to remove the cold break before I pitch the yeast. But that doesn't have anything to do with contamination because you simply don't worry about removing trub if you're using a carboy.

[viper]

I have another quick question... something I didn't think about before. I am not sure if I have a large enough pot to heat 5 gallons of mash. I do know I have the ability to do 3 gallons at one time... would adding that 3 gallons to cooler water in a fermentation vessal cause a change in profile or increase chances of infection?

[viper]

also after looking at the local HB store... flaked corn isn't availabe, what would you guys suggest replacing it with? I thought of replacing it with flaked rice or maize?

[beach]

Flaked corn IS flaked maize

[viper]

whoops... another mistake. i considered maize to be a different strain of corn that was more common in south american countries that is used more like a wheat than american corn.

[Sidney Porter]

you could use grits or polenta, but you will need to do a cereal mash

[Thirsty]

The only problem is I don't want to do an 11 gallon batch for my first beer attempt, just for ease of practice... If I wanted to bring this down to a 3 or 5 gallon batch size how would I go about modifing the recipe?

Is this your very first batch of beer, or your first all grain batch? You say later in the thread you are not sure if you have a pot large enough for a 5 gallon mash, can you do a 3 gallon mash instead and topping off in the fermenter. Do you mean a 3 gallon boil, then topping off? Which of course is yes, however you need to still do your mash if using this ag recipe, or convert to extract. Realizing this is pretty new to you, just want to make sure the terminology isnt getting mixed up, and you have a successful brew.