Basic Ale - a quick brew/my JAOM

[whickedwhitt]

Created from the scraps of many previous ales before this was put together using all the grains, hops, and yeast I had left that could be used to make another batch of beer. Definitely not the most complex, flavorful, or fantastic but what it lacks in those departments it sure makes up with ease, cost, and volume. It's one I'll do again after another few months of non-stop brewing after the new year.

Makes a 5 gallon batch
6 lbs Pale 2-row
2 lbs Crystal 40L
1 oz Willamette hops (pelletized)
1 package Danstar Nottingham yeast

OG: never cared
FG: it's a quckie so never cared
ABV: good enough to hold me over between major brewing projects

Add grains to 2 gallons water and bring to 122 F; hold for 60 minutes.
Add 1 gallon water to grist and raise grist temperature to 148 F; hold for 45 minutes.
Raise grist temperature to 156 F and hold for 15 minutes.
Raise grist temperature to 156 F and hold for 10 minutes.

Remove grains from grist and rinse grains with 2 gallons very hot water into boil pot. Transfere wort, mix with rinsed grain water, bringing mixture to boil for 60 minutes.
At the 45 minute mark add 0.5 oz Willamette hops; add remaining hops around last 20 minutes of boil (add more time if you like hoppy, take less time if you like sweeter).
Chill wort to 70 F and add to carboy; top off with water to make 5 gallons, if necessary.
Pitch ale yeast, as outlined on package instructions, set carboy aside for 5 days (approx).
When fermentation has stopped, transfere to bottling bucket, add carbonating medium (corn sugar, table sugar, malt extract, etc.) and bottle.
Ale should be ready in less than 14 days from start to finish.

 

[commonsenseman]

A couple questions for you:

-Why the protein rest at 122 if you're using two-row?
-How hot was your water for the dunk-sparge?
-Why the really, really short fermentation time? Have you ever had bottles explode from that?

Hope you don't take my questions as me being conceited, I'm a fairly new brewer myself. I love quick, throw together recipes. I'm a fan of just throwing some ingredients together to see what happens (I do it quite often). That being said, I would be a little concerned with bottling almost any beer after just 5 days unless I was positive it was finished fermenting.

 

[whickedwhitt]

Protein rest is a habit of mine so it probably doesn't need to be done, sparge water was probably around 175 F to 180 F (using a cooler to hold the water), and why a short fermentation time I think is due to the temperature at which it fermented which was around 72 F to 75 F, the average temp of my house at the time. Definitely came off with a fruity nose, slightly sweet with what I considered a good balance of hop flavor and bitterness to go with it.
The notes above were all I took as I didn't really expect to want to make more later but was suprised by the result which makes me wish I had taken better notes.

 

[commonsenseman]

Well, if it works for you, who am I to say anything?

Glad it worked out for ya!

I'm still in the experimentation phase of All-Grain brewing, mostly trying to figure out my water chemistry & how my equipment works with different amounts & types of grain.

What kind of water do you use & do you add any salts to adjust it?

 

[whickedwhitt]

I use east Los Angeles water, mineral/pH content unsure, but it's never been a major issue in any of my brewing yet (no stuck fermentation, off flavors/smells, etc.) HOWEVER that's not to say that by adjusting to the recommended pH level of 5.2 you create advantages/disadvantages in your brewing process. If you're unsure I highly suggest contacting your local hole-in-the-wall brew shop, as it's likely to be run by the person who's brewing with what they sell, and ask them about adjusting water.
As far as equipment goes I do a BIAB mash, transfere to a second cooler, use the sparge water in the other cooler, and let the water drain from the second cooler into the pot I did my infusion/temp step mashing.
The biggest rule of thumb with homebrewing: don't go beyond your comfort zone. Keep brewing with what you know until you feel extremely confident to step into new territory. It's been a process of near four years before I got into all-grain brewing, and I only have about three all-grains to my name right now, so it's still of a learning curve for me as well.

 

[Chevette Girl]

The biggest rule of thumb with homebrewing: don't go beyond your comfort zone. Keep brewing with what you know until you feel extremely confident to step into new territory. It's been a process of near four years before I got into all-grain brewing, and I only have about three all-grains to my name right now, so it's still of a learning curve for me as well.

Heh, not at all surprised to find out you're already a brewer. That's how I'm starting into the world of beer... very small and painfully slow... started with brew-in-a-bottle, then used some of that kind of must in another batch, next step will be some form of beer kit, then maybe mixing and matching extracts, then once I have half a clue there, I'll think about grains...

 

[whickedwhitt]

If any new homebrewer hasn't purchased it yet I definitely give two thumbs up to Charlie Papazian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing 3rd edition; can be found cheap and in great quantity on Amazon. This book is bound to become a bible for those who continue to pursue zymurgy, kit, extract, or all-grain. Everything is simple, easy to understand english that doesn't overwhelm with facts/data/calculations. Matter of fact twas Chuck that said in this book "relax, don't worry, have a homebrew!"

 

[danlb]

That's a fantastic book. The recipes in there always seem to turn out great too. I'm still fairly new at beer(or anything), but the recipes in the first section of that book are really easy. The english brown ale recipe is my favorite.

Another book with some interesting recipes is Strong Waters. There's mead, wines, beers and other stuff in there. The recipes in that one I haven't had as much luck with, but it might be me.

I'm on my fifth variation of a ginger ale from that book, and none of them have been all that good.

Whoops, getting off topic sorry.