AG#3

[RichardG]

Hi all,

Well, it's time for AG#3. AG's # 1 & 2 have been highly successful (at least, to me they have!). Circumstances have meant I haven't been able to brew again until now and stocks are seriously depleted. So, to the recipe. I'm now formulating my recipes in terms of percentages using Grahams mega-useful Beer Engine. Choose your malts & hops then decide on the percentage each element should be. Programme in the brew length, efficiency and target OG, and Beer Engine does the rest. Marvellous! I'm doing it this way as I believe it'll help me to more easily repeat recipes I like and in different brew lengths if required. I've also provided the amounts calculated by Beer Engine.

This one is based on a brew length of 25Ltrs, efficiency of 80%, and OG of 1042 to give and ABV of 4.1% assuming a FG of 1010. Mash & boil times are 90mins. So we have:-

Malts
Pale malt 92.5% (4069g)
Crystal malt 5% (219g)
Torrified wheat 2.5% (108g)

Hops
Challenger 7.6% AA 90mins 30 EBU's (36g)
Fuggles 5.0% AA 15mins 5 EBU's (21g)
Fuggles 5.0% AA 5mins 1 EBU (10g)
Total EBU's 36

As for yeast, not having any in stock I'll have to buy some, so liquid is out. I reckon I'll go for Nottingham myself, as I've used both that and SO4 and quite like what I get with Nottingham. As ever, I'm more than happy to except any constructive comments. Cheers!

[Deebee]

Can't go wrong with fuggles mate.

Might consider using some at 0 degree as a steep too.

nottingham is good too.

Personally i would up the Torrified wheat to at least 5 5 but thats just me

[RichardG]

Cheers Deebee; my use of torrified wheat is purely for head retention etc. AG#1 had 200g, AG#2 had 150g (See the pattern immering!), this one is, near as dammit, 100g. The idea is to see what the minimum amount is that will produce a descernible effect. As for steeping, my early plans for AG#4 (which is likely to basically be the same recipe but substituting EKG for fuggles) include steeping. I'm interested in seeing what the difference is between that and dry hopping (if any!).

[Deebee]

i guess it comes down to what effect you want then. i lice thick head with lacing down the glass. i ike to use from 5% upwards really.

plain wheat malt is also something to think about as well although crystal will aid in head retention.

[RichardG]

Deebee, you're describing just what I like from the head on a beer! AG#1 was way over carbonated, so isn't really a fair test. I got pretty much exactly what I want from AG#2 which had 150g torrified, which was 3.4% of the grain bill. If the amount in AG#3 doesn't give me what I'm after, I'll know that I need to use a higher percentage here-after. I'm also with you on wheat malt. I intend to try that when my current bag of torrified is gone.

[Deebee]

Deebee, you're describing just what I like from the head on a beer! AG#1 was way over carbonated, so isn't really a fair test. I got pretty much exactly what I want from AG#2 which had 150g torrified, which was 3.4% of the grain bill. If the amount in AG#3 doesn't give me what I'm after, I'll know that I need to use a higher percentage here-after. I'm also with you on wheat malt. I intend to try that when my current bag of torrified is gone.

I have used a mixture of both to be honest it also turned out well.