Recipe comments/suggestions/help

[Bruinpilot]

Hi guys! I am planning batch number two, which I hope to brew this coming week. I have come up with a recipe by modifying a couple of existing recipes to make something hopefully unique and delicious, but I wanted to get some input on this before going ahead and putting all the work into brewing it.

It will be all grain and a sort of cross between a Scotch light and a British mild ale.

The grains:
7# golden promise
.5# British medium crystal
.5# British dark crystal
.06# black patent
.1# peat

I want to mash at 155-160 degrees (I will probably go for 155, rather than the high end because I am afraid of messing it up too much.). My goal is to get some more unfermentable sugars in order to add some extra sweetness and a thicker mouthfeel. (I would love some input here.)

For hops I would like to use .5 oz of bramling cross for a 60 min boil.

I have yet to get a water analysis for my home so I think I will go to walmart and get some gallons of distilled or purified water. (Any recommendations as to which is better?). I then intend to add a packet of the burton water salts that they carry at my local homebrew store in order to get a better ph. (My city doesn't provide a good water analysis, just the basic one showing no poisons etc.)

I think that I will use wyeast scotch ale, irish ale or London ale yeast. I am not quite sure which, I was going to ask at my homebrew store or see what you guys think.

I did a two stage ferment on my first batch. With this one I intend to do primary only and leave it in the primary for 4 weeks.

One last question, I have cleaned my ale pail from my first batch several times and there is still a hint of beer smell in it. It actually smells great and I would not mind that flavor being in my next batch, but is this a problem?

Thanks again!

 

[PsiNyde]

If you hit 158F during mash, you should get exactly what you want. My ferm buckets always smell like beer, even after several scrubs and StarSan. Don't sweat it.

Not sure about the water you talked about, but harder water would be ideal for that style.

Good luck and tell us how it ends up.

 

[unionrdr]

Or maybe use one packet of Burton Salts. Their water is a bit brackish to start with in Burton upon Trent & Sheffield.

 

[Bruinpilot]

Thanks. I will definitely post how it ends up... In about a month and a half or so. That's the only problem is it takes so long to see if it's any good. But I guess waiting is part of the fun!

 

[Bruinpilot]

I just bottled yesterday and so far so good. I tasted the uncarbonated beer and it tasted great. Very smooth. I did overshoot my mash temp by about 5 degrees for 30 minutes before I caught it and corrected the problem. I was afraid of getting some bitter tannins, but I don't taste any! Thanks for the input. I will post a picture of the finished product in about 3 weeks.


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[Bruinpilot]

I finally tried the Scotch mild and it was great. Smooth and just a hint of sweetness with some caramel notes. Medium mouthfeel. Nice, yet not too heavy. I will make this again!
Honestly it is one of the best beers I have ever had. Thanks for the good input.


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[frazier]

Success!!

Which yeast did you end up using? I've used 1728 a lot for my Scottich ales, but lately have been using a lot of 1318 (London Ale III) for a variety of styles, and may use it on my next Scottish.

 

[Bruinpilot]

I can't remember the number, but it was wyeast's Scottish ale yeast. I fermented at 63 and I saw no signs of fermentation ie. bubbling at the airlock and when I opened the fermenter a month later, I could tell by where the krausen had been that this yeast is not a violent fermenter, at least at that temperature, but it yielded a great result. I highly recommend it!


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