Malt & Hops Question?

[Hop To It]

Hi all,

Some advice please!

I am new to AG brewing and looking to do a clone of a recipe I have seen where they it calls for the below malts and hops.

10.75 lb. (4.8 kg) Durst continental Pilsner malt (or similar) 2 °L

5.8 AAU Czech Saaz hops (1.67 oz./47 g for 3.5% alpha acid)

For the malt can someone explain what is meant by the 2 °L?

For the hops can someone explain the meaning of the 5.8 AAU and also the 3.5% alpha acid or do I just worry about the weight required?

Thanks in advance!

 

[strange-steve]

The L stands for lovibond and is a measure of malt colour. For base malts it doesn't matter all that much, just get the same type of malt, in this case pilsner malt. It's more important to match colour with crystal or caramel malts. For what it's worth lovibond is pretty much the same as SRM, and about half the value of EBC which are other common colour measurements.

AAU is alpha acid units, which tells you how much bitterness is extracted from the hop addition. When you buy hops, it'll tell you on the packet the alpha acid percentage, this is where the bitterness comes from. This varies from hop to hop and from harvest to harvest which means you have to adjust the weight of hops used to get the same bitterness. It's a simple calculation, if your hops have double the AA then you need half as much, or if your hops have half the AA then you need twice as much. This is true only for hops used for bitterness, so for aroma hops you don't need to worry about the AAU, just use the same weight as specified in the recipe.

The formula for working out AAU is:
AAU = AA% x weight in oz

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
Malt: try this - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_measurement#Colour
Hops: try this - http://www.howtobrew.com/book/section-1/hops/hop-measurement
If you want 5.8 AAU and you are using 3.5% alpha acids hops, then the calculation is 5.8÷3.5 = 1.66 oz of hops
If you were using a hop with a higher alpha acid, say 8%, the calculation becomes 5.8÷8 = 0.73 oz of hops.
EDIT @strange-steve Fastest Finger First

 

[Hop To It]

Hi, thanks for the info and links, much appreciated!

For the hops, the recipe I have is for 19 litres however I am looking to scale this down to 5-6 litres.

Would I devide by the alpha acid based on the hops I plan to buy to get my weight and then scale that weight to get my new weight for the scaled recipe?

Cheers

 

[Brianbrewed]

Brewing software will scale down your recipe for you.
Brewsmith is great.
There are also decent free packages (Brewtarget or Brewmate).

Do you mind if I ask why you want to scale down to 5-6 litres for?

 

[Hop To It]

Hi,

I haven't quite managed to work out the software bit yet (only done 2 brews so far) so just wanted to do things manually to understand it all.

Is it a direct scale as per the above?

Like I say only done two brews so my initial thought is to start small, understand the process and get experience before scaling up.

Plus I am using the family kitchen so space is limited and I won't be able to drink 20 odd litres of beer so smaller batches work for now.

Once I gain more experience I do plan scaling up to about 10-15 litres and then justify the spend to my wife!

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi @Hop To It
1. If you can't drink drink 20 odd litres of beer, give @Dutto a call
2. Have you considered getting rid of the wife?

Seriously, though, you will scale down your hops in proportion.
If you are using 47g in a 21 litre recipe and want to scale down to 5 litres, the calculation is 47÷21×5 = 10.5g of hops.
Obviously, you will make this calculation after the AAU calculation.
Sorry for alll the calculations - retired Maths teacher - #teacher lust

 

[Hop To It]

Hi Bilcol49,

1. Once I scale up I will be in contact for any going spare
2. On numerous occasions but "happy wife happy life"!

Thanks for the clarification, this is what I was thinking but wanted to make sure regarding the AAU calculation.

 

[Dutto]

.......... "happy wife happy life"!

........

Alternatively = brain-washed husband?