Cyber brewing - 'Not Real' ales

[John Barleycorn]

I'm a complete beginner at all grain brewing.
I enjoy a challenge and see this as something in which I can make progress.
I have a fair bit of experience with kit beers and wines. I've also in the past successfully brewed up the ingredients for a wide variety of country wines, using recipes found here and there, with ingredients such as fruit, vegetables and flowers.
I like a nice pint of ale and hope that I will be successful cobbling together something that I will enjoy, especially if I can make it for less than 50p a pint.
So far I have happily completed and consumed one very small batch [a gallon - 9x500ml bottles] of All Grain booze. I have another batch conditioning in bottles and a third finishing its ferment in a demijohn. Right now I am consuming ginger ale as I wait, impatiently, for my real ale to be ready.

I used some brew software to look at these three AG ales and their components. It looks like they could do with a tweak or two to improve their character and balance.
I have also entered some clone recipes found online into my software and these too appeared to be unbalanced and not quite 'right'.
Maybe clone isn't the way to go?

So, I messed with the software to create an 'improved' ale. I will soon actually do the brew and see if my experience tallies with what my software suggests. I'm no beer judge but I know what I like.

Is using software to plan in this way something which works out in practice? Or is it very hit and miss?

I have a brown ale and a lighter ale in my cyber brew portfolio. Neither of which I have actally brewed as yet.

Here is the lighter ale. Do you think it will work? It looks good on my software.
I realize this is only a mini-brew but it is about right for experimentation with my set up and of course it could be scaled up if required.


SirJohn - light brown ale
================================================================================
Batch Size-- 4.5 L
Boil Time--- 1.000 hr
Efficiency-- 72%
OG---------- 1.043 sg
FG---------- 1.009 sg
ABV--------- 4.5%
Bitterness-- 22.4 IBU (Tinseth)
Color------- 17.9 ebc (Morey)

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name---------------------------------- Type--- Amount----- Mashed-- Late- Yield-- Color
Fawcetts - Maris Otter Pale Malt- Grain-- 850.000 g--- Yes------- No---- 81%--- 5.0 ebc
Fawcetts - Crystal Malt 1---------- Grain-- 100.000 g--- Yes------- No---- 74%--- 120.0 ebc
Wheat, Torrified--------------------- Grain--- 50.000 g--- Yes------- No---- 79%--- 3.9 ebc
Total grain: 1.000 kg-----------

Hops
================================================================================
Name-----------------Alpha--- Amount--- Use--- Time---------- Form- IBU
Golding - Leyland-- 4.0%--- 10.000 g--- Boil--- 55.000 min--- Leaf- 19.3
Fuggles - Leyland-- 3.5%----- 5.000 g--- Boil--- 10.000 min--- Leaf- 3.1

Miscs
================================================================================
Name------- Type----- Use--- Amount--- Time
Whirlfloc--- Fining--- Boil--- ¼ tab------ 15.000 min

Yeasts
================================================================================
Name--------------------------- Type-- Form- Amount- Stage
Danstar - Nottingham-------- Ale---- Dry--- 3g------- Primary

Mash
================================================================================
Name----------------- Type------ Amount--- Temp------ Target------- Time
Conversion----------- Infusion-- 3.000 L--- 78.426 C-- 66.667 C---- 1 hr
Final Batch Sparge- Infusion--- 4.000 L--- 81.709 C-- 74.000 C---- 15 min


Should I give up and go down the Offy and look for some bottles or cans, even?
Should I give up and take lessons?
Is it even possible at this stage to give up?

[StrontiumDog]

Give it a go, you'll soon find out if it works, that's the fun of this hobby.

I have a couple of recipes that I'm tinkering with (Mainly Harvey's Best and Doombar) first attempt will almost certainly need changing slightly (first Doombar clone had WAY too much roasted barley, but it was still really tasty) but that's all part of it too.

Never give up! Stick with it and you'll find it really rewarding. These forums are fantastic and everyone is so helpful.

[John Barleycorn]

I will be giving my recipe a try.
Nice pint that Doombar. Is your recipe a secret?

[StrontiumDog]

I will be giving my recipe a try.
Nice pint that Doombar. Is your recipe a secret?

Of course not, I got it from a forum post myself.

Malt is pale ale malt, crystal and roast barley; hops are Northdown, Northern Brewer and Perle. Yeast is a Whitbread B derivative (S-04) and Water is 2:1 sulphate to chloride 220ppm Ca2+ zero carbonate or bicarbonate (I don't worry too much about the water profile atm)

IBU 20
OG 1040
FG 1009
pH 4.1

3.8kg Marris Otter
300g Crystal 60
150g Roasted Barley

Hops schedule is for 5% Start of boil, rest at end, steep for 1 hour before transfer to FV;

60 mins
2g Northdown
2g Northern Brewer
2g Perle

After Chilling for 1 hour
18g Northdown
18g Northern Brewer
18g Perle

Yeast S-04 (dry)
Wyeast 1099 Whitebread Ale (Liquid)

Mash at 64°C
Ferment at 22°C

Like I said previously, still not quite there, I'll drop the roasted barley a bit as it was very dark but still a nice pint as is.

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