Help First AG brew Ale

[Segal]

So I've brewed a few kits (lager) and now I wanna try a grain brew from scratch.
I'm wanting an ale nothing too bitter something like Newcastle brown.
What I need from you guys is a recipe and a few pointers, maybe some links to some videos.
I'm a noob so If you know any good books i could read???

PS I need to know about any equipment I need too

Thanks guys

[Mountain]

Hi,

Something to mash your grain in and a thermometer-electric one with a sensor that sits in your mash tun.
I made a mash tun from a cheapo coolbox and it works fine(google home made mash tun). Coolbox, a tap, something to filter the wort from the grain. Lots of ways of doing it. Or you could buy one.

Constant temp is important. I find 66C is a good standard. I cover my mash tun with a sleeping bag and it will hardly lose any heat in an hour and a half.

You will then boil your wort (from the mash) instead of boiling water and extract/spraymalt. Everything else will be pretty much the same process as your kit beers.

With AG you can make exactly what you want. You have a huge choice of grains and hops. More recipes than you'll ever make.

You will perhaps find your to start with things may not go exactly to plan, but don't give up! When you get it 'sussed' you'll be making beer as good, if not better than any bottled beers.

[Segal]

i'd like that coffee stout recipe m8

[Mountain]

Off the top of my head it was ...

About.....for 23L
4kg Marris Otter
250g Chocolate Malt
200g Roasted Barley
200g Crystal Malt
A teaspoon Magnesium Sulphate

25g Fuggles hops full boil.
15g Fuggles last 15 mins + 5g irish moss

I think I used Safale 05 yeast- all I had.

I pint strong filter coffee end of boil(I used some organic Java coffee grown, hand roased and ground by my mother in law in Java!!!!)

Another pint of coffee at bottling/priming time.

It's been a hit with everyone. Got a chocolately coffee taste, but not overpowering.

I'd defo use Java coffee as it is one of the most chocolatlely coffees.

[staplefordbill]

Get a copy of Graham Wheeler's Brew your Own British Real Ale and read it cover to cover. It's got loads of recipes and loads of useful information about the AG process.

[GARYSMIFF]

Segal,
good to hear your taking the jump to AG

Defo get Grahams book and read over and over.

My advice on equipment is an A4 pad and a pencil and dont try to mimic too much, similar is just as good if not better.

Temps, weights, Times, AA of the hops any thing that can be measured write it down even the ambient air temp temp because when you hit the magic brew you will want to make it again.

Also relax into it and enjoy what you are doing.

[Nobby Novice]

I have just made my first AG. Lots of improvements to make to my process. I got GW`s book from The Home Brew shop. But I did borrow it a couple of times from the library until I was ready to start extract. Good luck.

[Sandybee]

You made the right move to AG brewing. This time round I'm on my third AG brew and all have been successful despite making mistakes on all of them. So the hobby can be quite forgiving. I'm making fewer mistakes each time, so the brews are becoming more predictable.

My ambition is modest - make a steady supply of quaffable bitters. To date I'm achieving this. Keep at it - you'll be surprised at the quality of beer you can produce. Final piece of advice - buy GW's "Brew your own British Real Ale" I can see this keeping me going for years. With a modest stock of malted barley, crystal malt and a few varieties of hops you'll have upwards of 20 beers you can brew whenever you want.

Keep up the good work!

[L2wis]

I asked a very similar set of questions not so long ago and was also recommended Graham Wheeler's book, for a start I thought maybe I would just find all the information on the net but with more suggestions to buy BYORBA I decided to. Anyway long story short it's a fantastic book! The first half explains all the different ingredients, bits of kit, methods and even then also into the history of types of beer. It's fantastically interesting, I was expecting it to be more facts so was pleasantly surprised when I got into the book, it's wrote in a non-preaching way too which makes it all the more interesting to read.

There's also tonnes of beer recipes in there for you to base your own creations upon!

[simco999]

You really don't need a book - all you need to know is on here. Just keep reading.

[L2wis]

There is probably all the info/facts you need here, I personally thought the book was worth it for all the other bits in there mentioned in my post above.