Peter_1983 Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 I have been reading Mastering Homebrew (complete guide to brewing delicious beer) and some things have gone completely over my head. In one section they are talking about the art of making a recipe and how to do it and then putting theory into practice, My initial thought would be you get the colour you want (I understood that bit perfectly) however he does say you should have an estimate for the OG of your brew.....how o do you estimate your OG? Do you guys have a spreadsheet and work out how to get and OG of 1.55? and then see if you get a 75% complete fermentation rate? I am still a rookie, I know i am just scratching the surface of what this hobby has to offer. If you could please advise: should I be aiming for an OG or just work with the grain steeps and extract brewing for the time being to get the technique perfect and then if I go to all grain (one day) then looking to start a batch with an OG to aim for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smash Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 Use the spreadsheet attached for extract brewing, but move into a brewing software (ie Beersmith, brewers friend) for all grain & more technical recipes. Shouldn't need to estimate as such if you have the right software. I'd say get all of your processes right (cleaning, sanitisation, timing, etc) then an understanding of what different hops, grains, yeasts etc do. I think that's more important than designing a recipe based around an OG to begin with, but hey, im only a rookie myself! Kit & Extract Beer Designer V4.1.xls 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_1983 Posted May 31, 2019 Author Share Posted May 31, 2019 Thank you Smash, much appreciated. If you want an interesting read it is a good book and Randy managed to break it down into basic english. it also has a recipe in the middle that I'm looking forward to try and make a nice APA using Galaxy and Mosaic hops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 I usually aim for a specific OG in my recipes however if I'm off by a point or two I don't really care because it doesn't affect the beer in any way that I can detect. If it was off by 10 points though, different story. With extracts you're gonna get pretty much the same OG every time assuming weights and volumes are similar. The only way to alter it is to use more or less extract, or more or less water. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lab Cat Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 I think the question is a bit out of place for kit brewing. It's like asking "I want to learn to drive, what size engine is best?" All grain is different, as you're designing everything from scratch, and some people get a lot of satisfaction in hitting their own recipes' estimated numbers. As a kit brewer, I don't bother what colour, IBU or OGs are going to be. I choose kits and recipes (such as those on here) based on the beer I want to brew. Except for measuring your OG and FG - to know when it's brewed and to calculate ABV - the actual numbers aren't important. With kit brewing, adding steeped grains, bittering and dry hopping hops, has far more impact on how the beer with turn out, than achieving a given OG. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 You can still design your own beer using kits. It is an enjoyable part of brewing; creating something you designed yourself. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_1983 Posted May 31, 2019 Author Share Posted May 31, 2019 Thank you Otto, Lab rat and Hairy for the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzza Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 2 hours ago, Hairy said: You can still design your own beer using kits. It is an enjoyable part of brewing; creating something you designed yourself. Cannot agree with you more Hairy - in the old days I had a group of mates/colleagues into the HB Coopers thing... all on KnK… The Red Hill Home Brewers' Association... was really quite festive... I brewed a Coops Real Ale that seemed to be seen as the benchmark at the time.... just changing up a few things... a long time ago and nothing of the level of excellence of this site and what goes no these days... but was really good fun... and I really support what you say above... get a good base... and then design/change up a few things for a bit of fun... and 'continuous improvement' an overused industry phrase... but is what as a brew you do. Honestly... had a I known back then... that a Toucan - say Dark Ale and one Coopers Lager could provide such a legendary brew in 23L.... I woulda been doing it... I guess in my Real Ale benchmark I was using Coops Kit and then adding liquid malt... really not that far different I guess... but making something yourself... and having some fun... and with a group of mates enjoying it... pure Gold. Cheers Hairy. Did you know my Chive Plant is name after you? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzza Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 and apologies about the typos.... Good old Coops system... canna never get back to edit them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzza Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 2 hours ago, Peter_1983 said: Thank you Otto, Lab rat and Hairy for the information. Good luck with the brewing Pete - you are in safe hands on this site... had I had this level of excellence when I started I would have been teaching Dr Carlsberg a few things by this time in my life 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_1983 Posted May 31, 2019 Author Share Posted May 31, 2019 thank you Bearded Burbler. Ha ha, these guys are an absolute vat of information and super friendly. When I started the home brew malarkey I thought I would have a batch on every other week and doing fun and interesting ales, sadly life takes over and it's been months between batches. However instead of beer I seem to be using my Vessel for Cider more than beer (happy wife, happy life.) I'm not complaining but i find you cant play around with cider as much as you can beer, am I right? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzza Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 1 hour ago, Peter_1983 said: I'm not complaining but i find you cant play around with cider as much as you can beer, am I right? Mate I am an old Coopers KnK (kit and kilo) brewer- like Cider but never brewed it - and festive other things you can add in like Hairy alludes to above… I am only now starting doing the All Grain Thing myself many years later. You can do the Mead thing....easily done...…………… w good honey - right yeast and darkness and glass? The site here has discussions on all sorts of thing... comprehensively around beer... but all sort of things.... some good things around Mead (using ancient Honey fermentation approaches to producing a lovely sweet elixir) and all sorts of other things the Members do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_1983 Posted May 31, 2019 Author Share Posted May 31, 2019 I love drinking Mead, It would be good to learn how to do it. I will look into it. The batch I have in at the moment is set at 22C in the fridge with a heat mat. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzza Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 Cheers Pete - what is your current batch? I should be bottling a Coopers Euro Lager brewed cold with Saflager s-23 yeast using Otto's recommended temperature protocol... am mustering up the courage to drag the FV out of the brew fridge and attack this job ; ) The ol' S-23 yeast has not been given much cred on this site so next time I brew cold I will use W34/70... the Masters of the Brewniverse on this site seem happier with this one …. so must give it a go! I liked your 'absolute vat of information' phrase... Gold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzza Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 15 hours ago, Peter_1983 said: but i find you cant play around with cider as much as you can beer, am I right? … there is a yankee site that does a bit on cider: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/ I suspect there will be stuff you can play around with... especially if you juice apples and start from scratch... different apples - temps - yeasts ? Brewing dry and sweet.... Blends of different apples... blending apples with pears? That yankee site might be useful. I used to drink a bit more cider years ago - Lilydale was a goer... don't think it exists anymore. Am a bit more interested in beer these days. And with beer - the opportunities seem to be endless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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