The first time Mike and I brewed a recipe from a kit, we were a bit confused. I clearly remember reading the hop additions and checking what was included a thousand times. The recipe asked for the same hop to be included at different intervals. I don't remember the exact hop that was used, but let's use Citra as an example. The recipe said use Citra Bittering and Citra Aroma hops. I thought these were two separate hops, so I kept looking for two separate packages of hops. I finally realized Citra was one hop, and the timing of the hops dictates whether it is used for bittering or aroma. We chuckle about this today. My hope is that anyone new to brewing can look over this blog on recipes and feel comfortable on their first brew day and not feel as overwhelmed and confused as I did. Disclaimer: This blog references Beersmith software. We paid for a subscription to Beersmith and have been using it for many years. This is not an endorsement of one beer recipe software over another. We happen to include Beersmith because we use Beersmith. The overall way you read a recipe is the same regardless of what program you choose to use. Also, we have not been compensated for using Beersmith in any capacity. Sample RecipeBelow is a free recipe you can obtain through Beersmith and not created by Two Jacks Brewing Company. We are using this recipe solely to share how to read the recipe. The recipe is sectioned off from top to bottom to discus each portion of the recipe. Name & Batch sizeThe information on the top of recipes shares some key information to the brewer. First, we get the name. In the example above, the name of this beer is "Sierra Ale" and created by Brad Smith on 8/21/2003. From the information above, we know this is an all grain recipe and will create 5 gallons worth of beer. We also learn that this recipe requires a 60 min boil and uses a 6 gallon (or larger) brew pot and uses an Igloo cooler for mashing in. The equipment used becomes important because your equipment may very significantly from what was used by the recipe creator. For example, at 2JBC, we do not mash in an Igloo cooler, and our Brewhouse Efficiency is 90% not the 72% listed above. Because of these differences, I would need to adjust this recipe to work with my equipment and efficiency. These changes can be made within Beersmith, but this particular blog is only focusing on the basics of how to read the recipe. Next week, we will go a bit more in depth in how to change a recipe. IngredientsJust like a cooking recipe, ingredients are listed for everything you need for the recipe. For brewing, these ingredients are usually listed by type of ingredient--grain, hops, additions, and yeast. You'll notice that the grain is weighed by the pound. Please note that the grains need to be milled. Homebrew shops will typically weigh and mill the grain for you. For example, you can email Windsor Homebrew Supply in Costa Mesa, California your recipe (for all ingredients) or your grain order, and they will pull all the ingredients and mill the grain for you BEFORE you come to the shop. The grains above have an SRM listed after the grain. This refers to the color the grain will impart in your beer (we will go more into this next week). Hops are usually weighed by the ounce. If you look above, there are two hop additions in the boil--Pearle at the beginning of the 60 minute boil, and Cascade with 5 minutes left in the boil. The third hop addition is during dry hopping. This particular recipe states that Cascade will be dry hopped for 5 days. The yeast in this recipe is a liquid yeast from White Labs; however, you can substitute a dry yeast such as Safale US-05. A note on hops additions: recipes are written by boil times. If a recipe lists a hops addition at 60 minutes, it means the hops are added with 60 minutes left in the boil. You can really think of it as the hops need to boil for 60 minutes. A 30 minute hops addition means the hops will boil for 30 minutes. This can become a bit confusing the first time you make a recipe that requires a 90 minute boil. Just remember, if the hops state the addition is at 60 minutes in a 90 minute total boil time, that means that hops only need to be in the boil for 60 minutes. Just boil for 30 minutes and add the hops. Flame out hops will be listed as 0 minute hops addition because there is no additional boil time left. My honest opinion on dry hopping is not to really try it until you have accomplished a few brews. The first few batches you make, there is too much going on. If you do dryhop, remember that dry hopping happens AFTER fermentation ends. Let the yeast do their job and then add your hops. I time it so that I am racking out into my keg after the dryhop is completed. Beer profileThe beer profile provides you with information on specific gravity readings before (original gravity) and after (final gravity) fermentation. For our first recipe, honestly, we struggled with finding the gravity. Reading a hydrometer takes time. I think Mike and I double and triple checked our readings until we could both agree on the same number. Now, we use a refractometer for our original gravity reading (actually we take a brix reading and convert the reading to an original gravity using an online calculator). This recipe has the potential to have 4.72% ABV; the actual alcohol by volume is estimated at 4.3%. This discrepancy is due to the fact that this recipe was written for a brewhouse efficiency of 72%. This means that some of the sugars are not fully extracted from the grains. The final gravity is taken AFTER the yeast has finished attenuating (i.e., fermentation is complete). To find the ABV, I use an online calculator and input my original and final gravity to find the ABV. Last, you'll notice above that the recipe also includes information on bitterness (IBUs), color (SRM), and calories per pint. Some personal advice: I always have a pen and hardcopy of a recipe handy to take notes during a brewing session. I note any issues we encountered (i.e., flame that was blown out, propane tank that went out, stuck sparge, etc.) along with any minor changes made (i.e., extra hops added, a hop substitution, change of yeast, etc.). While brewing, I also take a pH reading of the mash and keep track of my BRIX readings. For more complicated recipes, I also check off where I am in the recipe so that I don't accidentally miss anything (it can really ruin your day when you realize you forgot to include a hops addition...not that I would know from personal experience, of course!). Mash profileThe mash profile section is really where the directions of how to mash are included. In this recipe, water needs to be heated to 170.5 degrees (called strike water). Once heated to the correct temp, the grains will be mashed in to the water. Note: ALWAYS add the grain to the water and then stir the grain in. Doing this prevents the formation of dough balls which can lower your efficiency and prevent some of the sugar conversion. If you notice, the temperature once the grains are mashed in should be held as close to 158 degrees as possible for 45 minutes. You may be thinking to yourself, why do we have strike water at 170.5 degrees to then hold the temp at 158 degrees? Excellent question! The difference of temperature accounts for the lowering of the water temperature once the grains are added to the water. The beauty of using beer recipe software is the software takes the guessing out of what temperature to make the strike water and provides you with the temperature. Since this recipe uses a mash cooler, typically the grains would be mashed in and let to sit in the cooler for 45 minutes and then vorlaufed (i.e., recirculated) before lautering or rinsing the grain. Our 2JBC setup is a bit different as we use a temperature controlled recirculated mash. In Beersmith, you can make changes to the recipe to account for your equipment and brewing style. After mashing, remember that you will be boiling the wort. In this recipe, you need to look back to the section on Name & Batch size to find that the wort will boil for 60 minutes. Also, you will need to look back to the Ingredients section to see the hops schedule for the recipe. Recipes DO NOT include information on chilling the wort (at least, I have never seen one that does). Just remember, you need to chill your wort as quickly as possible and then introduce yeast once the temperature of the chilled wort is cool enough for the yeast. Note: You will notice that this recipe is in Imperial measurements, some recipes may be listed in metric measurements. While I am a dual citizen of the UK and the USA, I am not ashamed to admit that my ability to convert from Imperial to metric measurements is lacking (much to my British mum's dismay). So, be prepared that some recipes from European countries may require a bit of conversion from metric measurements prior to brewing. CArbonation & STorageCarbonating the beer is really Mike's area of expertise. However, every recipe includes some information on storage temperature, how long to age a beer, and temperatures for storing a beer. Some recipes will suggest racking out to a secondary for conditioning your beer before service. Personally, I omit this step. In all the beers we have made, we have never racked over to a secondary. I suppose this is more of a brewer's personal choice. As with everything today, I'm sure brewers have strong opinions one way or another. After our beer is done fermenting, we rack over to kegs. Occasionally, we may need to add Silafine (some brewers use gelatin) to clear out a beer. Most of the time, we just tap the keg and enjoy. The only time I could think of racking over to a secondary is if I was adding an ingredient while dry hopping that I felt would be bad for my fermenter. In all of our brews, this hasn't happened yet. Also, I have never bottle conditioned beer...it's just not my thing. Cleaning and sanitizing bottles is very unappealing to me. However, I have tasted homebrews that were excellent and bottle conditioned. My point is, there is no write or wrong method...you will find the method that works best for you. Next week, I will be sharing a video blog on how everything looks in Beersmith and what features we use to help us create recipes.
Cheers! 2JBC
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May 2024
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