Amount of malt to 5 gallon batch for making recipes

Hello,

Is there a standard ratio of malt to 5 gallon batches? I have brewed a bit now and want to start creating my own recipes and I am not seeing a consistent pattern. I understand that different amounts of malt will yield different tastes and body, but I am not sure how much could be too much.

I'd like to stick with partial mash brewing since I've had luck with it. So, lets say for an IPA at 5 gallons, I normally see recipes with 4-6lbs of Pale malt (either liquid or crushed grains) followed by crystal malt. Is there a total amount of malt that I should follow? Such as 6-7 lbs for standard 5 gallon batch?

It really depends on the style of beer you are making. Different styles have different targeted OG. The amount of malt you use will affect this as well as your ABV. Using brewing software, you can monitor these numbers to find the amount of malt you need to create the beer you want, while also keeping color in mind. I think there becomes more of a preference for the amount of crystal malts and other specialty malts depending on your taste. In my mind, you need to think about the style you want to brew, desired ABV, desired color, and then mix and match your malts to hit those targets that fall within your style guidelines. You might find there tends to be a certain range of total malt for a certain style, but that might not be the correct approach to take when creating your own beer. Some people also refer to IBU/OG ratios, so that may also be a consideration for hops or malt additions when creating a recipe.

Edit: I should also add different people have different brewing efficiency, so that also affects that amount of malt needed. I do all grain so I have to take that into consideration. I never really did extract or partial mashing, but as I understand it I don't think it impacts that as much as all grain.