Thoughts on this recipe?

[mcdonald_ajr]

I'm looking to brew a strongish Winter Ale, probably bottle it as I suspect it will improve with age. The hops are 1st year home grown and almost certainly don't have the Alpha Acid levels listed here, so I suspect the Bitterness will be 25% less than stated (a guess!).

The Wheat Malt is to promote a good head, and the Pale Chocolate partly for colour, and partly to add complexity. I'm going for a 2 hour mash as there is quite a lot of malt to mash.

I'd welcome feedback and suggestions, as I'm fairly new to creating my own recipes.

Many Thanks, Anthony

Mash 120 minutes at 66C

Fermentable Colour Grams Ratio
Pale Malt 5 EBC 6000 grams 88.5%
Crystal Malt 130 EBC 300 grams 4.4%
Munich Malt 20 EBC 300 grams 4.4%
Pale Chocolate Malt 525 EBC 75 grams 1.1%
Wheat Malt 3.5 EBC 100 grams 1.5%

Boil 90 minutes
Hop Variety Type Alpha Time Grams Ratio
Target Whole 8.5 % 90 mins 50 grams 26.5%
Golding Whole 5.7 % 60 mins 40 grams 21%
Fuggle Whole 4.9 % 60 mins 20 grams 10.5%
Progress Whole 6.4 % 60 mins 20 grams 10.5%
Golding Whole 4.8 % 10 mins 30 grams 15.8%
Golding Whole 4.8 % 5 mins 20 grams 10.5%
Golding Whole 4.8 % 0 mins 10 grams 5.2%


Final Volume: 21 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.072
Final Gravity: 1.018
Alcohol Content: 7.1% ABV
Total Liquor: 32.9 Litres
Mash Liquor: 16.9 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 89 EBU
Colour: 41 EBC

[floydmeddler]

I'd up the Munich to 1KG or even 2. Ages beautifully this malt. What yeast will you use?

[mcdonald_ajr]

Thanks for the idea on the Munich Malt. I'll increase it.

Not sure what yeast to use. Up till now, I've been using good old Safale S-04 for my ordinary bitters, and some yeast I got from Gadd's brewery in Ramsgate that they call Chris05 and must be one of their own strains for my stronger ones. Now I've done a dozen all grains brews, it's probably time I started to experiment with more sophisticated yeasts. I tend to get my supplies from the Malt Miller, and they do the White Labs yeasts. I hate paying Postage and Packing unnecessarily so like to combine orders! What yeast would you recommend?

Anthony

[floydmeddler]

I've never brewed a bad ass 'Englishy' beer before, but I do intend to. I have no idea what yeast I'd use; I know I'd spend absolutely hours researching before making my decision though! First thoughts are WLP005 because it allows the malt to sing. In fact... I would prob go for this one if I had to make a decision now.

You could put another thread out requesting advice on it?

[Rookie]

Mashing a large amount of grains doesn't mean you need to mash longer, your normal time will work fine.

[mcdonald_ajr]

Thanks for the feedback "Rookie". So why do people vary the Mash time? I've seen recipes for strong ales that have an overnight mash. I had assumed it converted more of the unfermentable sugars into fermentable ones, which would normally make for a drier beer, but with a strong ale, the yeast may not fully attenuate the wort, so leaving some sugars behind thereby creating a not too sweet, not too dry beer?

I'm no expert and have probably guessed wrong!

Thanks, Anthony

[Rookie]

Thanks for the feedback "Rookie". So why do people vary the Mash time? I've seen recipes for strong ales that have an overnight mash. I had assumed it converted more of the unfermentable sugars into fermentable ones, which would normally make for a drier beer, but with a strong ale, the yeast may not fully attenuate the wort, so leaving some sugars behind thereby creating a not too sweet, not too dry beer?

I'm no expert and have probably guessed wrong!

Thanks, Anthony

In my experience a longer mash does make a more fermentable wort. This helps a high O G beer not be too cloying.

[floydmeddler]

Yep, a longer mash will increase efficiency. I think the important thing to remember is to increase your sparge water amount as there are more sugars to rinse. This obviously means a longer boil so plan for an extended brewday.