Help with a steeping recipe.

[Basilbrush87]

Hi everyone, I’m after a bit of advice please. Done a few kits and a few mini mash kits and now I want to start constructing my own mini mash beer. Malt wise Im thinking 300g of crisp crystal 150 & 25g of roasted crisp amber malt. I have 2kg of light DME (haven’t fully decided on hops yet). Will this be enough malts? Also the crisp crystal 150 says 10% of grist, does this mean I should only use up to 10% of it or does this not really matter when steeping grains?
thanks and hopefully I haven’t confused anyone as much as I’m confused haha. Should add I aiming for a 21 litre batch.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

2kg is not enough for 21 litres you need 3kg. I would steep 200g of Amber malt and 100g of Crystal at 66C for 30 minutes.

 

[Basilbrush87]

Thanks

2kg is not enough for 21 litres you need 3kg. I would steep 200g of Amber malt and 100g of Crystal at 66C for 30 minutes.

Thanks for the advice, so much conflicting info on the Internet. If I could pick your brains once more please. I’ve only ever used LME and just put it in the fermenter and add the wort after the boil. I saw a source online that said to add half DME at the start of the boil and the rest at the end. Is this true? Thanks again.

 

[Sandimas]

I saw a source online that said to add half DME at the start of the boil and the rest at the end. Is this true? Thanks again.

That's what I usually do, adding some DME at the start of the boil helps hop extraction. In fact, you could add it all at the start of the boil, after all that's what happens with AG brewing, it's all in at the start, however adding all the DME at the start might result in a slightly darker brew.

Regarding your recipe, consider having a play with a brew calculator like Brewers Friend https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator

You can then get the beer you want. A tip when using DME (you may already know this): size your recipe to use full bags of DME, you don't want any left over as it absorbs moisture from the air and will clump up. If you just want to use your 2kg of DME consider brewing a smaller batch to hit your target ABV.

I just plugged your ingredients, you'll get a fairly weak OG 1039 beer with them brewed to 21L. Drop it to 19L and you'll get a more respectable OG 1043. But what are you trying to achieve? That's 13% crystal, higher than the 0-10% recommended but can work in some recipes. Rather than shooting in the dark, it might be worth getting a recipe close to the style you are aiming for.

 

[DavidDetroit]

DME at the start of the boil and the rest at the end. Is this true

That's so the color isn't affected by the boiling which would make it darker. It's not really important at this stage of your brewing.
I would steal a recipe from one of the kit makers like brewer's best or Northern Brewer. On their websites, they list the recipes and they also give you what type of beer you're making.. I don't think you can get them in the UK but you can get the recipes.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Thanks


Thanks for the advice, so much conflicting info on the Internet. If I could pick your brains once more please. I’ve only ever used LME and just put it in the fermenter and add the wort after the boil. I saw a source online that said to add half DME at the start of the boil and the rest at the end. Is this true? Thanks again.

You do not need to boil either DME or LME, some people do but it's not necessary as when you brew a kit with both you do not boil. If you are adding bittering hops make a hop tea by boiling your hops for 30 minutes in a couple of litres of water plus some DME then add this to the fermenter.

 

[DavidDetroit]

Making a hop tea requires calculations to get the correct bitterness? I've never tried doing it as it's easy just to go the one hour. I'm not in any rush to get through brewing a batch.
I'm lazy, the recipe is all there, tested, with times, so I boil sixty minutes. I have been adding more DME at the end since it makes sense although I haven't noticed any difference.

 

[Clint]

Have a look on Coopers website. There used to be loads of mine mash recipes. The ones I tried came out very well.