Will it work?

[FirebladeAdam]

I have spent a whopping £23* on brewing equipment and basically everything I need including some ingredients at the Malt Miller. I have, in the hope of creating a first brew, ordered the following:
6 kg crisp pale wheat malt
200g cascade t90 pellets
Escarpment English ale yeast

So will it work? As in is the above compatible? I'm not after creating anything amazing yet, just something clear and a starting point for a recipe.
Can't bring myself to actually follow a recipe. My water is medium soft apparently.

*Outside chance wife might read this

 

[MickDundee]

I don’t want to piss on your chips here, but I hope you haven’t made the purchase yet.

I’ve never heard of that yeast (which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad). From Google I see it’s a liquid yeast made in Canada and quite expensive (£13.49!). The BBE date on the MM website is next month so you might want to consider a yeast starter, although Mr Google tells me their cell count is very high (which might explain the price) so you might not need one. For a first timer you would have been better with a dried yeast at about a quarter of the price of the one you’ve ordered.

I also see that the only grain you have there is wheat malt. 100% wheat beers are not particularly common and you might struggle with a stuck mash or sparge. As wonderful as wheat beers are they are usually only about 50% wheat malt so I have no idea what a 100% wheat beer would taste like. The item description for the Crisp pale wheat on the MM website recommends up to 40% of the grist.

 

[Clint]

What he said...plus you probably won't get clear beer with all that wheat. Plus if you want to make a wheat beer you usually use a specific wheat beer yeast.
I'd definitely order some pale ale malt.

 

[MickDundee]

What he said...plus you probably won't get clear beer with all that wheat. Plus if you want to make a wheat beer you usually use a specific wheat beer yeast.
I'd definitely order some pale ale malt.

The only hop he has is cascade so I was thinking maybe an American wheat so the English yeast might be ok at lower temperature, although a neutral American yeast would be more on point style-wise

 

[FirebladeAdam]

Ah that was an error! Thank you all for pointing that out. Yes I'll order pale ale malt, stick with the yeast I've got and hope for awesomeness. Thanks for the advice, I might save the wheat for a second experimental brew to mix at a sensible ratio. I think I may have ordered in error, the description isn't what I remember reading. (I have 3 kids so do everything at 150 mph using only half a brain) Anyway, it'll inadvertently lead me down the wheat path which might be productive.
Is there a better yeast (a powdered yeast) I should use instead? Would anyone like to suggest one?
Thanks in advance!

 

[MickDundee]

Ah that was an error! Thank you all for pointing that out. Yes I'll order pale ale malt, stick with the yeast I've got and hope for awesomeness. Thanks for the advice, I might save the wheat for a second experimental brew to mix at a sensible ratio. I think I may have ordered in error, the description isn't what I remember reading. (I have 3 kids so do everything at 150 mph using only half a brain) Anyway, it'll inadvertently lead me down the wheat path which might be productive.
Is there a better yeast (a powdered yeast) I should use instead? Would anyone like to suggest one?
Thanks in advance!

It depends what style you are trying to brew. I’ve never really found a dried English yeast I really like (which is why I don’t make many English ales) but Mangrove Jacks Liberty Bell is probably the best of them - it’s supposedly the strain used in Anchor Liberty Ale so would go nicely with your cascade.

 

[FirebladeAdam]

Thanks MickDundee. I'll order some for the next brew, along with some pale ale malt, whilst I try the above. Is Mangrove Jack's powdered?
Thanks everyone for your help.
I'm really looking forward to using the new kit and it's kind of a shame there's 6 weeks waiting, but I suppose that's the game!
I'm now really curious about wheat beer and need to read about that

 

[Banbeer]

Is Mangrove Jack's powdered?

Yes, it's a dry yeast. Good luck

 

[Jasper]

Don’t be put off buying something like safale-04 or something similar, you will get good results. Keep things simple to start with and as you gain experience you will no doubt tweek things. There are quite a few people out there who over complicate what is a simple process.

 

[NormanHurst]

2ps worth from another newbie (I'm about 5 months and 7-8 brews in), two widely available dry yeasts that will do a more than solid job for you whilst you get your head around everything else are Safale US-05 for hoppy, pale ales and IPAs - and Nottingham for English style bitters and darker beers. The latter is also available from Wilko as own brand ale yeast, I think.

Both are relatively clean, straightforward strains that will be in keeping with those styles of beer without being too dominant. Easy to get hold of, easy to use and cost effective. Once you have a feel for it all a bit more, then the worlds your oyster.

 

[Jasper]

Should have mentioned that although I’m by no means an expert brewer, I have around 60 5 gallon all grain brews under my belt (literally) and after experimenting with various ingredients, I almost always use packet dry yeast now and have not had a failure yet. For me a constant fermentation temperature is key.

 

[FirebladeAdam]

Awesome thanks everyone. I've got pale malt now and, as soon as I have a connecting pipe for my massive propane stove from the plumb centre, can start brewing. I definitely agree with the idea that a constant temperature might be key; I live in a very old house, and the oldest part of it is like a cellar, nice constant temp. At the mo it's bang on 18.5 degrees. I'll be using that to ferment! Very advantageous... Is there any merit in brewing smaller batches or half batches (20 pint?) So as to increase the frequency of resulting experiments?

 

[NormanHurst]

Awesome thanks everyone. I've got pale malt now and, as soon as I have a connecting pipe for my massive propane stove from the plumb centre, can start brewing. I definitely agree with the idea that a constant temperature might be key; I live in a very old house, and the oldest part of it is like a cellar, nice constant temp. At the mo it's bang on 18.5 degrees. I'll be using that to ferment! Very advantageous... Is there any merit in brewing smaller batches or half batches (20 pint?) So as to increase the frequency of resulting experiments?

I do "half batches" - 11.5L rather 23L - it suits my set up, means I brew twice as often and get to do more, learn more. Plus 20x500ml bottles of any brew is plenty. If its great, i can do it again. It is ok, i can get through. If it is crap, the losses arent too painful.