New to the game

[Markie1234]

Hi everyone.
very new to the game looking to do some small stuff to start. Little brew in the bag for 5l of home brew. Was wondering if anyone could help me out with the maths. I.e how much grains and malt I would need and brewing hops For a pale ale. Been reading and keep finding lots of different answers to the question.

cheers guys!!!

 

[Horners]

Free recipe builder on brewers friend might be a useful resource. For 5L of regular strength beer you are probably looking at about 1kg of grain. How much hops will depend on their alpha acid content - the higher AA the more bitterness they will impart and hence less are required. See the recipe calculator.

Might be worth considering a smash (single malt, single hop) that way you can just buy 1 100g pack of hops and do multiple additions ie a bittering addition at start of boil and then flavour/ aroma additions ten minutes before the end and at the end.

 

[terrym]

Welcome to the forum.
I think I am right in saying that you can take any recipe for another wort volume and scale it down.
So if its recipe for 20 litres, for 5 litres use a quarter of that for all the ingredients.
I'm sure if you tell us what sort of beers you like someone will be able to supply a suitable 5 litre recipe to get you started.

 

[Markie1234]

cheers guy thank you. I am looking to do a pale ale. Have a like recipe idea but to embarrassed to put it haha. Was reading around 1kg of grains and roughly 50gs for brewing hops and 20 for dry hoping?

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

Sounds like a lot of hops to me

I would use 30ish for 19L brew

But it all depends on how hoppy you want it

Hops at the beginning create the level of bitterness. 10 mins before end flavour, dry hops are about aroma

 

[terrym]

cheers guy thank you. I am looking to do a pale ale. Have a like recipe idea but to embarrassed to put it haha. Was reading around 1kg of grains and roughly 50gs for brewing hops and 20 for dry hoping?

Individual types of 'brewing hops' come in a range of bitterness from as low as about 3%AA to 15%plusAA (AA is a measure of bitterness). So the impact on bitterness of using 10g of one hop may be completely different from 10g of another, further complicated by when they are added in the boil.
Why not post your recipe? Members can then help you better. Its often said on here there's no such thing as a daft question, although you might get daft answers

 

[Markie1234]

Ok here goes grains pale and crystal malts. With simceo hop for 60 minute boil mosaic hop for 10 minutes and citra for dry hopping??

 

[Gerryjo]

Hi and welcome to the forum.. Have a look through the thread below and it will help you to get a good insight to what you're looking to achieve.
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/have-a-go-at-simple-ag.51779/

 

[scomet]

G'Day Markie

This is a very good resource to start your brewing, a lot of us started here and ended up with a bookcase full! this version is free on line.

Welcome to the slippery slope of brewing :-} If I knew what I know now 40 years ago I would sell up and open a brew pub! no questions...

http://www.howtobrew.com

 

[terrym]

@Markie1234
You could try this which is prorated to 5 litres from a recipe in a well known book, and uses two of the three hops you mentioned. It will produce an American style IPA of ABV about 6.2%ABV , and 55 IBU which is quite bitter but suits the style. I haven't brewed the beer so can't comment on how it will turn out.

Pale Malt 1.3 kg (mash at 65*C for an hour)

Citra 13,8% 6.3g 60mins

Citra 13.8% 3.3g 10 mins
Simcoe 13% 3.3g 10 mins

Citra 13.8% 9.5g Heat off
Simcoe 13% 9.5g Heat off

Citra 13.8% 11g Dry hop after fermentation ended
Simcoe 13% 11g Dry hop after fermentation ended

If the hops you use have different %AA to those above prorate up or down accordingly

If you want to use some crystal malt for colour and a little sweetness, substitute it gram for gram with the Pale Malt up to 75g.

If you want to only use 1 kg malt rather than 1.3kg be aware that if you do that with the bittering hop quantities above, the beer will turn out more bitter due to the increased hop utilisation in the boil. And 1 kg malt will produce a beer of about 4.8% ABV.

Next if you are mashing in a small SS stockpot I suggest you put it in an oven on a low heat setting to maintain the mash temperature over the mash period. This is what I do.

I also suggest you buy some 'drug dealer' scales which can accurately measure small quantities of hops. Typically available on ebay. Search '0.01G - 500G Digital Weighing Scales'

Finally I recommend you get hold of a book to help you along. Greg Hughes 'Home Brew Beer' is widely available, although there are a few revisions and you might find a s/h copy on ebay. Its full of recipes and the essentials of how to brew.

Hope all this helps.

 

[Markie1234]

Thank you terry very helpful. Think going with less grain would be better for me anything over 5% gives me a thick head in the morning. I order a brew kit last night with all hops and grains in to get me started. Can’t wait Friday will be my first brew day! and will be ordering the books you guys have suggested

 

[Gerryjo]

Try here for your books.
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/...00169&sortby=17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image1

 

[MickDundee]

Sounds like a lot of hops to me

I would use 30ish for 19L brew

But it all depends on how hoppy you want it

Hops at the beginning create the level of bitterness. 10 mins before end flavour, dry hops are about aroma

The bit in bold is the important bit - In 20L brews I’ve done everything from 5g of magnum for a Hefeweizen, 30g magnum/noble in a Helles right up to 175-200g of falconers flight for my house APA and 450g of a mixture of American hops for my NEIPA.