carbonation and recipe questions

[mm1473]

Ok--I have two questions that are totally and completely unrelated to each other.

1)As I sit here drinking down a few samples of my first batch, it occurs to me that have never in my entire life drank a home brew beer--I must say I have been missing out!!! This batch has been in bottles for 5wks now I think (I lost track to be honest)-- and it is carbonated--about 1/2" of head on a vigorous pour. My question is--how much carbonation is usual in a homebrew?? I know if I aggressively pour a store bought beer there is a huge head so is this 1/2" normal in a homebrew?? This batch is actually perfectly carbed for me as I am not a huge carbonation fan but a few friends are wanting to try some of the batch and I don't want to give them flat beer. I don't know what is usual in a homebrew in comparison to a store bought beer. Anyway--just curious. I used the usual 3/4cup priming sugar in 5gallons and it has been at 70+ the entire time if you were curious.

2)I am researching some all grain recipes as at some point I will be heading down that road. As I read these recipes--how do you guys know what grains to add to the mix. Is it like cooking with spices where you just know what tastes good or is there some formula somewhere. I have searched this site and found a sticky that talks about the different hops and malts but not what tastes good together--anyway--just curious.

Thanks for the responses--you guys are great.

 

[gnomeontherun]

I'm not a huge expert on things, but heres my experiences so far.

1) Carbonation depends on the type of beer. I believe that many beers are over-carbonated, to give a more crisp style (particularly the lighter lager of big name brands). My bottle conditioned beers tend to have about that level of carbonation as you described, give or take on the style. I just started to keg and am still figuring out the best way to deal with that A flat beer is a beer you open and don't hear any hiss from the cap, which I've had on a few bottles that didn't seal well for whatever reason. I don't recommend serving those should they come up.

2) The recipe should say what type of grains are used and what amount of each. I haven't done a full grain batch either (so someone else can help here) but much the same way you use extracts (dried or liquid) of various types, your grains will be a blend of flavors to match the profile of the beer. If a recipe doesn't list the grains or talks about extract, then it isn't an all-grain recipe. The more you brew, the more you'll know which grain combinations will produce which styles.

 

[jmh286]

Ok--I have two questions that are totally and completely unrelated to each other.

1)As I sit here drinking down a few samples of my first batch, it occurs to me that have never in my entire life drank a home brew beer--I must say I have been missing out!!! This batch has been in bottles for 5wks now I think (I lost track to be honest)-- and it is carbonated--about 1/2" of head on a vigorous pour. My question is--how much carbonation is usual in a homebrew?? I know if I aggressively pour a store bought beer there is a huge head so is this 1/2" normal in a homebrew?? This batch is actually perfectly carbed for me as I am not a huge carbonation fan but a few friends are wanting to try some of the batch and I don't want to give them flat beer. I don't know what is usual in a homebrew in comparison to a store bought beer. Anyway--just curious. I used the usual 3/4cup priming sugar in 5gallons and it has been at 70+ the entire time if you were curious.

2)I am researching some all grain recipes as at some point I will be heading down that road. As I read these recipes--how do you guys know what grains to add to the mix. Is it like cooking with spices where you just know what tastes good or is there some formula somewhere. I have searched this site and found a sticky that talks about the different hops and malts but not what tastes good together--anyway--just curious.

Thanks for the responses--you guys are great.

There are various carbonation calculators available online, but that is one of the beauties of homebrew...you can make what you like.

As far as grain...

You do NOT want your crystal or other specialty malts to exceed 20% of your grain bill. Once you are more experienced in all-grain brewing you can decide to mess with this number, but for starters, treat it as gospel. Too much crystal or specialty malt will make too sweet a beer. This means that you need 80% base malts. A quick search on the forums will show you the variety of base malts available.

if you are seriously considering going all-grain, I highly recommend Beersmith. It is totally worth the investment. It allows you to input your equipment profile in and uses that to project your OG, IBU, Color, and ABV. Once you get a few brews under your belt and do your research, you can make any beer with this program. DO IT!