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Author Topic: First Attempt at Recipe-Making  (Read 1608 times)

Offline SeanAY

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First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« on: July 02, 2019, 03:05:03 pm »
Don't know why/how I got on this kick today, but think I want to take a stab at a clone of Bell's Roundhouse India Red Ale. 

Based on the info included on their site [https://www.bellsbeer.com/news/homebrew-3] and some other recipes, here's what I'm thinking

Quote
9# 2-Row
2# Munich 20L
1# Toasted Malt
1# Carared
0.75# Honey (30)
0.50# Caramel 60L
0.50# Caramel 80L

1 oz. Perle (60)
0.66 oz each of Amarillo/Simcoe/Citra (0)
0.66 oz each of Amarillo/Simcoe/Citra (dry)

Wyeast 1056


I've never tried to put my own recipe of anything together before, so I'm not real sure if this looks completely out of whack for beer in general, let alone Roundhouse.  Any feedback is appreciated!

Offline Brewtopalonian

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Re: First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2019, 03:10:02 pm »
Looks pretty okay... I would cut back significantly on the honey and Cara malts.  I'd do less than 2.5% honey and get rid of your c-80 and instead use debittered black patent at around .15# to bring in those beautiful garnet/Ruby colors. 

I'm not sure how I feel about Perle as your bittering hop with American hop additions.  I might consider bittering with Cascade instead. Just my .02ยข

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Offline a10t2

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Re: First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2019, 08:14:25 pm »
Looks decent, definitely very heavy on the crystal malts though. Assuming the 0.75 lb of honey is actual honey, you're still double where I'd go on the high end. Maybe cut the Carared in half and replace the 60/80 with 0.25 lb of something even darker - I use Simpson's Extra Dark Crystal in my red ales. I'd also probably up the late hops 50% or so across the board if it's supposed to be IPA-level hoppiness, but sadly I haven't had the beer myself.
« Last Edit: July 02, 2019, 08:16:49 pm by a10t2 »
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Online BrewBama

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Re: First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2019, 08:25:54 pm »
For the toasted malt are you planning to toast some base malt in your oven for 10-15 minutes at 350 F?


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Offline SeanAY

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Re: First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2019, 07:05:36 am »
- As far as the honey goes, I was basing it off the note on that original link that it should constitute "less than a pound" for a five-gallon batch.  I don't really want a sharp honey taste, so I think I'm going to knock that down to just 4 oz. or so.

- I'm probably going to replace the toasted malt with a little bit of biscuit or Victory.  Likewise, I'll futz with the cara malts and see if I can get similar color by using darker malts in smaller quantities.

Offline Brewtopalonian

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Re: First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2019, 07:08:20 am »
- As far as the honey goes, I was basing it off the note on that original link that it should constitute "less than a pound" for a five-gallon batch.  I don't really want a sharp honey taste, so I think I'm going to knock that down to just 4 oz. or so.

- I'm probably going to replace the toasted malt with a little bit of biscuit or Victory.  Likewise, I'll futz with the cara malts and see if I can get similar color by using darker malts in smaller quantities.
Adding up to a lb of actual hone is fine.  I was concerned with adding 3/4# honey malt which would be sickeningly sweet.  They # of Honey will simply dry out your beer.  If that's what you're going for, then great!

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Offline SeanAY

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Re: First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« Reply #6 on: July 03, 2019, 07:12:25 am »
- As far as the honey goes, I was basing it off the note on that original link that it should constitute "less than a pound" for a five-gallon batch.  I don't really want a sharp honey taste, so I think I'm going to knock that down to just 4 oz. or so.

- I'm probably going to replace the toasted malt with a little bit of biscuit or Victory.  Likewise, I'll futz with the cara malts and see if I can get similar color by using darker malts in smaller quantities.
Adding up to a lb of actual hone is fine.  I was concerned with adding 3/4# honey malt which would be sickeningly sweet.  They # of Honey will simply dry out your beer.  If that's what you're going for, then great!

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Yes, I was going to add actual honey.  Good to know!

Offline Robert

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Re: First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2019, 07:26:17 am »
^^^^
Yeah, honey actually provides surprisingly little noticeable flavor, but it is very fermentable and dries out a beer.  Go for it.

As to BrewBama's mention of home toasting base malt:  Maybe you don't need one more thing to mess with at this time. Victory or Biscuit is a good way to go.  But someday, I think any brewer will enjoy playing around with toasting their own malt.  Getting consistent results in a home oven takes some effort.  (Oven thermostats are notoriously unreliable, use a thermometer.) But you can get all kinds of interesting flavors and aromas you just can't go out and buy.  Randy Mosher's very fun book Radical Brewing has a section on this, with guidelines on different times and temperatures to get different effects.  Check it out.
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Offline denny

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Re: First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« Reply #8 on: July 03, 2019, 08:30:24 am »
^^^^
Yeah, honey actually provides surprisingly little noticeable flavor, but it is very fermentable and dries out a beer.  Go for it.

As to BrewBama's mention of home toasting base malt:  Maybe you don't need one more thing to mess with at this time. Victory or Biscuit is a good way to go.  But someday, I think any brewer will enjoy playing around with toasting their own malt.  Getting consistent results in a home oven takes some effort.  (Oven thermostats are notoriously unreliable, use a thermometer.) But you can get all kinds of interesting flavors and aromas you just can't go out and buy.  Randy Mosher's very fun book Radical Brewing has a section on this, with guidelines on different times and temperatures to get different effects.  Check it out.

OTOH, 21 years, 545 batches, never had the desire to toast malt.  Am I an anomaly? 😁
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Offline Robert

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Re: First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« Reply #9 on: July 03, 2019, 08:32:34 am »
^^^^
Yeah, honey actually provides surprisingly little noticeable flavor, but it is very fermentable and dries out a beer.  Go for it.

As to BrewBama's mention of home toasting base malt:  Maybe you don't need one more thing to mess with at this time. Victory or Biscuit is a good way to go.  But someday, I think any brewer will enjoy playing around with toasting their own malt.  Getting consistent results in a home oven takes some effort.  (Oven thermostats are notoriously unreliable, use a thermometer.) But you can get all kinds of interesting flavors and aromas you just can't go out and buy.  Randy Mosher's very fun book Radical Brewing has a section on this, with guidelines on different times and temperatures to get different effects.  Check it out.

OTOH, 21 years, 545 batches, never had the desire to toast malt.  Am I an anomaly?
Yeah, but you've experimented with absolutely every other thing possible, I think you're entitled to letting one slide! 
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Offline Pope of Dope

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Re: First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« Reply #10 on: July 04, 2019, 10:55:10 am »
The controversies of chalk and gypsum additions aside, and, to hijack my own post, got distracted and messed up my volume a bit giving me a 1.042 OG for a Hef. My concern is that I'll have something watery. Anyone else ever do a Hef. with a lower OG like mine (probably getting something like a 3.5 ABV in the end)?
Generally you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance.

Offline Brewtopalonian

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Re: First Attempt at Recipe-Making
« Reply #11 on: July 04, 2019, 11:04:10 am »
The controversies of chalk and gypsum additions aside, and, to hijack my own post, got distracted and messed up my volume a bit giving me a 1.042 OG for a Hef. My concern is that I'll have something watery. Anyone else ever do a Hef. with a lower OG like mine (probably getting something like a 3.5 ABV in the end)?
Yep, low abv hefes are delicious.  If you wanted to "fix" it you could always make a mini beer with some wheat DME.

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