Help with a recipe! (previously "keeping it simple")

[Stu]

Follow up:

Does anyone know of an app or a website where I can input the ingredients I have and come up with a recipe?
Even loosely like "I've got this grain and these hops".

I've got half a saison kit left where the grain contains:
Premium Weyermanns Pilsner, PaleWheat Malt, Munich,Caramunich TYPE III, Dextrose

I'm going to guess it's mostly pilsner malt and 500g in total of the others.
In addition, I've got 1.25kg of pale malt, 1.25kg of pale wheat malt and 500g of flaked wheat.

I've got all kinds of hops around - 50g of mittelfruh and 200+g of Liberty, El Dorado, Ekuanot
and Azacca

I mean, this is some kind of wheat beer (I've got some Belgian strong yeast too and some S04).

Even if I just throw this all in and make a beer out of it, I've no idea how much hops to add or which. Probably all in all around 6kg grain bill above, so should make a nice enough 6-7% beer.

Suggestions?

Original Q:

I see some incredibly complicated and tasty beers - using herbs and spices. Fruits. 5 or more types of hop and 3 or 4 types of grain (Wheat, Malt, Oats, Rye etc.).

And yet someone new to brewing asked on Facebook "I want to have a go at all-grain. Where should I start?"

The suggestion was a NEIPA Smash. 4kg of pale malt. 200g of Citra.
I'd probably go a bit further - I prefer my beer a little stronger, so I'd add 500g of Oat to this (nicer mouthfeel and should give a nice head too)

Anyone done this? I fancy a "back to basics" brew.

 

[Brew_DD2]

I wouldn't go near a NEIPA as a beginner. I nearly gave up brewing trying to work out how I couldn't get it right. Once you understand the importance of minimising oxygen exposure, they're not particularly difficult, but I'd not be suggesting it to someone starting out.

 

[Sadfield]

As above.

All of the following can be made successfully with one base malt, one suitable hop, and dry yeast.

Saison
Kolsch
APA
Golden Ale

 

[MickDundee]

I have a SMaSH blonde ale fermenting at the moment - pale malt and 50g citra.

I also have a single hop session IPA in the kegerator that I plan to tap next week - 225g cashmere, pale malt, vienna, torrefied wheat and oats.

 

[Nicks90]

Keep it simple and do a English summer pale ale,
Pale malt and about 50gm challenger, (or fuggles or east Kent goldings), split across 60min and 10min additions.
Use gervin 'nottingham' yeast

Voila, simple and very forgiving brew that will always make a pleasing pint - if we ever get a summer...

Then step it up with some additions to make it a more traditional 'ale' with 5% medium crystal and / or roasted barley and maybe a west Yorkshire yeast, or ESB yeast.

Then start getting complicated with different malts and getting all fancy pants to try and replicate things like riggwelter etc.

But there are many many superb beers (both commercially available and home brew tried and tested recipes) that use 1 malt and simple additions of maybe 1 or 2 adjuncts, with a single hop for bittering and flavour.

 

[Brew_DD2]

As above.

All of the following can be made successfully with one base malt, one suitable hop, and dry yeast.

Saison
Kolsch
APA
Golden Ale

Agree with all of this. Saison, Kölsch and Golden could all have very much the same recipe bar the yeast, so it's a good learning opportunity to see how yeast expression shapes a beer.

Hefeweizen could be fun if that's their thing. Easy and very forgiving.

 

[Nicks90]

In fact you could do a dozen brew easily just using the 'summer pale ale' recipe above and just change the yeast.
The difference between using notty, s-04, London ESB, bell-saison, cali-common, blahblah is quite remarkable when you consider the rest of the ingredients are identical

 

[Rodcx500z]

I have got that way were i just use 1 malt be it pale, larger, pilsner, or what ever and 1 hop, if i want a fancy beer i will go and buy it, so i always have a beer on tap, i have nothing against brewers who want to do clones and explore the wonder of brewing, i am in my twilight years so simple does it for me

 

[Stu]

I wouldn't go near a NEIPA as a beginner. I nearly gave up brewing trying to work out how I couldn't get it right. Once you understand the importance of minimising oxygen exposure, they're not particularly difficult, but I'd not be suggesting it to someone starting out.

Yup, that's a very fair point. One of my first AG was a DIPA. It was very drinkable, but oxidised.
I very much keep mine an almost buttery colour now. But the first one looked more like a dijon

 

[Stu]

Updated - could do with help with a recipe.

 

[jof]

If you've done half a dozen all grain brews before, you should be up for making your own recipe.

Go for an English pale or golden ale, it's easy.

My rule of thumb is 3kg base malt = just over 3%, 4.5kg base malt = 4.5% based on a 23l standard brew volume.
10-15g bittering hops at the start of boil.
Optional 20g hops half way
Final 20-30g hops at flameout.

If youre happy with 3% session type beers, looks like you could do the above & a half wheat beer (I won't call it heffelwies as it will be your own creation)

 

[MashBag]

suggestion was a NEIPA Smash. 4kg of pale malt. 200g of Citra.
I'd probably go a bit further - I prefer my beer a little stronger, so I'd add 500g of Oat to this (nicer mouthfeel and should give a nice head too)

Anyone done this? I fancy a "back to basics" brew.

Nearly...
Smash.
4kg of pale malt.
500g of your wheat malt (better than oats)
60m mash @65c
45 mins boil.

40g of Citra -15m
50g of Citra -30m +Irish moss
60g of Citra @85c for 30m

Notty yeast

 

[MashBag]

@Stu of you feel like splashing out this is nice with Nottingham and Windsor at the same time.