Homebrew Beer Recipes | Page 15382 | Browse 310,000+ at Brewer's Friend

Author:

Justin Misener

Boil Size: 27.3 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.041

Efficiency: 75

Mash Thickness: 3.2

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 20 ° C

Priming Method: co2

Priming Amount: 0.89 bar

Creation Date: 2/23/2025 11:44 PM

Notes: A great place to start is a basic pale ale. These numbers are more or less geared for my system by default, so you might need to tweak numbers a bit depending on what system you brew it on.

Something like 90% pale malt and 10% crystal 40L. The pale malt provides the majority of the starches which will convert to sugar during the brew and ultimately result in the lion's share of the alcohol content. Pale malt doesn't provide a huge amount of flavour on its own though, which is why we'll add crystal 40L. The crystal 40L gives the beer a bit of colour, toffee/caramel flavour, a fuller body, a bit of sweetness, and helps with head retention.

For hops, to keep it simple I chose one single variety, Cascade. Cascade is super popular and easy to source. Cascade hops have floral, citrus, and pine flavours and aromas. I've added enough at boiled for 60 minutes tend not to contribute much flavour and 60min of boil to get about 30-32IBU bitterness. Hops that have next to no aroma though, so we'll add another 28g at 5min for flavour and aroma. If you want you can substitute out the Cascade hops for any hop you want, just make sure you tweak the amount of hops you use for the 60 minute addition so that you end up with about ~30IBU. Also, if you like your beer bitter, you could increase your 60 minute addition to 35, 40, or even 45IBU, and like-wise if you really don't like bitterness you can reduce the 60 minute addition to 20-25IBU. 30IBU is a good balance though with enough bitterness to offset the residual sweet maltiness.

My water at home is kind of shit for brewing so I use a reverse osmosis system to get relatively pure water, but beer brewed without any minerals doesn't usually turn out great so I actually add some minerals back into the water to get the mineral profile that I want. That said, for starting out I would just use that spring water that you mentioned and not bother adding any minerals/salts back in; ignore my mineral additions listed under "Other Ingredients". The one exception is citric acid. It wouldn't be a bad idea to add a bit of citric acid or another appropriate acid to the malt to bring the pH down a bit. It isn't strictly necessary in this recipe, but it will only help! you'll need at least about 33L of water for this batch, and it's better to have more than you need on hand, so maybe collect 40L for brew day.

I've chosen Fermentis US-05 yeast for this brew. It's probably the most popular yeast both with homebrewers and with the craft brewing industry. It's super forgiving and doesn't impart a lot of flavour on its own, letting the malt and hops shine through. It's super accessible and not too expensive and can make great beer. There's dozens if not hundreds of yeast strains to choose from.

One other thing to mention is mash profile. The simplest you will get is a "single infusion mash". This is more or less that, though I add one step as my system is able to heat the mash up to 76°C before sparge which is beneficial for the sparge method known as "fly sparging", but I don't think it's necessary for the simpler "batch sparging". The mash temperature chosen is 67°C which is a good balanced temperature to sparge at, resulting in a beer that isn't too sweet or too dry. It can be tweaked higher or lower to suit preferences, but this is a good place to start. Probably 95% of beer styles can be brewed well with a single step mash. Lots of homebrewers like to complicate their mash schedules but the honest truth of it is that it often really just isn't at all necessary.

That's it for the ingredients/design basics! As for the very basics of brewing this recipe see below. Note that the steps with a (*) are steps that will likely change significantly depending on what equipment the beer is brewed in, but I can help you tailor the recipe to your system once you have one:

1. *Mix in grist to 17L of water at ~73°C, mash should be about 67°C. Add citric acid.

2. *After 60min, ramp up mash temp to ~76°C and vorlauf until wort is clear.

3. *Sparge.

4. Bring wort up to a boil. Optionally before boil is reached take a sample and measure the pre-boil specific gravity of the wort. Write it down somewhere. Note that you'll need to cool this sample down to room temperature before taking your measurement.

5. Once boil is reached add the 60min addition of hops and start a timer for 55minutes. Leave the pot uncovered for the duration of the boil otherwise your beer might tasted like canned corn or cooked cabbage. Keep a close eye on the boil for the first 5-10 minutes as wort has a tendency to foam up and boil over, making a sticky mess.

6. While boiling, make use of the time to clean up stuff, toss the spent grain (you can feed it to chickens/livestock, just make SURE there are no hops in the spent grain because they are very toxic to quite a few animals!), and/or get a fermenter sanitized and ready.

7. After 55min, add the 5min addition of hops and set a timer for 5min.

8. Once your second timer has gone off you've been boiling for 60 minutes and it's time to move onto the next step. Turn off the heat, and cool the wort. It is preferrable to cool the wort as quickly as possible, as the less time spent between 65°C and 20°C the less chance of picking up wild spoilage organisms and ruining your hard work. I use an immersion chiller, they're super simple to make out of soft copper tubing. Plate chillers are super high performance and fast but also hard to clean and less beginner friendly. Alternatively, if your fermenter is able to handle hot liquids you could instead opt for the "no chill method". I won't go into details but you can read about it online. It's a bit higher risk but with good sanitation procedures it works just fine.

8.5 A quick note, but the name of the game from this point forward is cleanliness, sanitizing, and minimizing exposure to microbes. Once the beer is below 65°C it is possible for microbes to survive and reproduce in the wort, which will lead to infected and bad beer. Make sure everything that the beer touches is clean and has been properly sanitized, and don't waste time getting the wort into the fermenter and getting the fermenter sealed. There's always some microbial exposure because there's bacteria and mould spores floating through the air and such, but our job is to minimize exposure and give the yeast their best chance to thrive and out-compete all the other microbes.

9. Once the beer is chilled to ~20°C, transfer it out of the kettle and into your fermenter, leaving behind the solids (trub and hop debris) in the kettle. Depending on your equipment you can do a "whirlpool" while chilling to help condense your solids into a cone in the middle to help get as much wort from the pot as possible, but it's not a requirement. If you do this make sure you sanitize your paddle or pump loop by exposing them to boiling wort for a few minutes before the end of the boil. When transferring the wort into the fermenter it is recommended to let the wort splash and froth to help aerate the wort. Yeast need dissolved oxygen at the start of the fermentation to be happy and healthy.

10. With the wort in the fermenter, open up the yeast packet and sprinkle it across the surface. If you didn't aerate the wort during the transfer from kettle to fermenter this is a good time to either shake the fermenter or to beat and froth the wort with a sanitized paddle or spoon. Seal the lid on the fermenter and install an airlock, as the fermenter will off-gas CO2 and needs to be vented in such a way that air and fruit flies can't get in but CO2 can escape, otherwise it would build up pressure and rupture. Take a specific gravity reading of the wort in the fermenter and record it as the Original Gravity, or OG. This will help us calculate the final alcohol content of the finished beer.

11. Leave the fermenter somewhere that's about 20°C or so for about 3 weeks and preferably somewhere dark or with a sheet draped over it to keep the light off, otherwise it might develop a skunky aroma like corona. You can remove the sheet to look at it, but leave the fermenter sealed for the duration of the fermentation. While oxygen is a great thing for the first day of fermentation, every day after that it becomes the enemy as it makes beer taste awful if it gets oxidized, so your best bet is to keep it sealed up.

12. The airlock should start bubbling within 24hrs of pitching the yeast and should slow to a stop after 5-12 days, typically, though that is a very generalized statement.

13. After 2.5-3 weeks, take a gravity reading. Record the value. 2-3 days later measure again and record. If you get the same value as the previous sampling the beer has finished fermenting and is ready to package assuming the beer is cleared up enough for your liking. It could be clear, it may never get completely clear, it might need the help of a clarifying agent like gelatin, or it might clear in the fridge. It doesn't really matter so long as there isn't visible chunks/bits floating in the beer. Chilling the fermenter to 4°C or so can help things settle out but isn't necessary and can cause problems as the cooled fermenter will want to suck in air which isn't good. It's fine to give it an extra week or three in the fermenter if you aren't happy with it's clarity or if you aren't super convinced it's done fermenting, it's better not to rush at these last last few steps.

14. Package your beer, using sanitary practices and doing your best to minimize exposure to oxygen in the process. Don't forget to carbonate! Nobody want's flat beer! I won't go into details regarding the packaging side of things as I don't know what you're looking to do. If you plan to bottle I personally recommend swing-top bottles, but my personal preference and recommendation overall is to keg your beer, but that's really expensive compared to bottling. Still, bottling is the worst part of brewing and where infections are most likely to happen. Kegging is easy and you only have 1 big keg to clean and sanitize vs 50 bottles, and it's super easy to minimize oxygen pickup. Plus having beer on tap is pretty cool!

Hope all of this helps!

Author:

Tim Bulin

Boil Size: 6.83 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.044

Efficiency: 75

Mash Thickness: 1.5

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: co2

Priming Amount: 10.2 psi

Creation Date: 4/17/2025 9:29 PM

Notes:

Author:

Boil Size: 7.5 Gallons

Boil Time: 90

Boil Gravity: 1.041

Efficiency: 75

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: BIAB

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 80 ° F

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 3/27/2025 10:39 PM

Notes:

Author:

Dougie Orr

Boil Size: 33 Litres

Boil Time: 90

Boil Gravity: 1.036

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: 2.5

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 1.011 ° C

Priming Method: dextrose

Priming Amount: 152.6 g

Creation Date: 3/25/2025 8:51 PM

Notes:

Author:

ConnorBarleywine

Boil Size: 396 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 10.8

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Plato

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 3/25/2025 2:24 AM

Notes:

Author:

NWBS

Boil Size: 6.5 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.039

Efficiency: 72

Mash Thickness: 2

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 3/20/2025 6:07 PM

Notes: Mill the grains and mash at 150°F (66°C) for 1 hour. Vorlauf until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and lauter as necessary to obtain 6.5 gallons (25 liters) of wort—or more, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. Chill to about 48°F (9°C), aerate well, and pitch plenty of healthy yeast. Ferment at about 50°F (10°C) for about 2 weeks, or until terminal gravity is reached. When it nearly reaches terminal gravity, raise the temperature to 57°F (14°C) for 1 day for a diacetyl rest. Then cool by about 2°F (1°C) per day until you reach lagering temperature, about 32°F (0°C). Lager for 4–6 weeks, then package and carbonate.

Author:

Pogue mahone

Boil Size: 7.5 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.05

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: 1.5

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 3/19/2025 5:53 PM

Notes:

Author:

GordonC

Boil Size: 7.02 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.037

Efficiency: 65

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: Extract

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 3/15/2025 12:34 PM

Notes:

Author:

Boil Size: 28.5 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.038

Efficiency: 71

Mash Thickness: 1.5

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 3/9/2025 2:17 AM

Notes: 70% efficiency

Batch Volume: 5.5 gal (Kettle)

Fermenter Volume: 5.02 gal

Boil Time: 60 min

Mash Water: 5.89 gal

Sparge Water: 1.88 gal / 7.8 gal HLT water

Total Water: 13.69 gal

Boil Volume: 7 gal

Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.043

Vitals

Original Gravity: 1.054

Final Gravity (Fixed): 1.016

IBU (Tinseth): 38

BU/GU: 0.70

Colour: 11 SRM

Mash

Mash In — 150 °F — 75 min

Malts (10 lb 13.9 oz)

8 lb 14.5 oz (82%) — Maris Otter Pale Malt, Maris Otter — Grain — 2.8 °L

11.3 oz (6.5%) — Biscuit Malt — Grain — 17.5 °L

7.8 oz (4.5%) — Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L — Grain — 30.1 °L

6.4 oz (3.7%) — Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L — Grain — 44.9 °L

4.2 oz (2.4%) — Wheat, Flaked — Grain — 1.7 °L

1.8 oz (1%) — Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L — Grain — 89.1 °L

Hops (3.76 oz)

1.5 oz (29 IBU) — East Kent Goldings (EKG) 5% — Boil — 60 min

0.99 oz (9 IBU) — East Kent Goldings (EKG) 5% — Boil — 15 min

1.27 oz — East Kent Goldings (EKG) 5% — Boil — 0 min

Miscs

1.42 g — Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) — Mash

0.4 g — Canning Salt (NaCl) — Mash

0.69 g — Epsom Salt (MgSO4) — Mash

3.2 g — Gypsum (CaSO4) — Mash

1.88 g — Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) — Sparge

0.91 g — Epsom Salt (MgSO4) — Sparge

4.24 g — Gypsum (CaSO4) — Sparge

1.19 ml — Phosphoric Acid 88% — Sparge

Yeast

36 ml — White Labs WLP002 English Ale 66.5%

Fermentation

Primary — 66.9 °F — 4 days

Secondary — 70 °F — 10 days

Conditioning — 34 °F — 30

Author:

Boil Size: 22 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.045

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: BIAB

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 20 ° C

Priming Method: dextrose

Priming Amount: 126.9 g

Creation Date: 2/25/2025 8:40 PM

Notes:

Author:

Boil Size: 15.7 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.032

Efficiency: 60

Mash Thickness: 2.8

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 11/3/2024 3:44 PM

Notes:

Author:

JureGregu

Boil Size: 43 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.045

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 2/21/2025 11:33 AM

Notes:

Author:

Nedo

Boil Size: 32.44 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.028

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: 3.65

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 2/21/2025 9:31 AM

Notes:

Author:

Boil Size: 17 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.048

Efficiency: 85

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.75

Primary Temp: 68 ° F

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 2/18/2025 4:10 PM

Notes:

Author:

Boil Size: 36.78 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.039

Efficiency: 65

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: BIAB

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 30 ° C

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 2/17/2025 10:02 AM

Notes:

Author:

Boil Size: 7.09 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.037

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: BIAB

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: 65 ° F

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 2/9/2025 3:11 PM

Notes:

Author:

Boil Size: 6.5 Gallons

Boil Time: 90

Boil Gravity: 1.039

Efficiency: 75

Mash Thickness: 1.75

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 1/19/2025 2:03 AM

Notes: # Brew Day Report - Altbier - January 18, 2025

## Style
Altbier

## Batch Size (Post-Boil)
5.25 gallons

## 1. Water Treatment
- **Initial Water Volume (Mash):** 7.25 gallons
- **Adjustments:**
- Added 4 g of Gypsum.
- Added 4 mL of Lactic Acid to lower mash pH to 5.5.

## 2. Grain Bill
- 8 lbs Pilsner Malt
- 1 lb Crystal 120
- **Total Grain Weight:** 9 lbs

## 3. Mash Details
- **Mash Temp:** 66.5°C
- **Mash Duration:** 60 minutes
- **Preboil Gravity:** 1.038

## 4. Sparge
- **Sparge Water Volume:** N/A (Full volume mash)
- **Sparge Water Temp:** N/A

## 5. Boil
- **Duration:** 90 minutes
- **Hop Additions:**
- 1.75 oz Hallertau Mittelfrüh @ 60 minutes
- 0.25 oz Hallertau Mittelfrüh @ 10 minutes

## 6. Cooling
- **Final Wort Temp:** 15.4°C
- **Cooling Method:** Immersion Coil

## 7. Post-Boil Gravity
- **Measured OG:** ~1.045
- **Target OG:** 1.047

## 8. Fermentation Setup
- **Yeast:** Safale US-05
- **Pitch Temp:** 15.4°C
- **Spunding Valve:** Set to 12 PSI
- **Fermentation Temp:** 15°C (Room thermostat adjusted)

## 9. Key Learnings & Notes
- Slightly longer boil improved gravity.
- Successfully controlled fermentation temp with thermostat adjustment.

Author:

Boil Size: 7.01 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.039

Efficiency: 75

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 1/7/2025 10:46 PM

Notes:

Author:

Pat Hundley

Boil Size: 7.5 Gallons

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 1.037

Efficiency: 70

Mash Thickness: N/A

Sugar Scale: Specific Gravity

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 0.35

Primary Temp: N/A

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 12/30/2024 3:26 PM

Notes:

Author:

Miguel M.

Boil Size: 2070 Litres

Boil Time: 60

Boil Gravity: 12

Efficiency: 80

Mash Thickness: 3

Sugar Scale: Plato

Brew Method: All Grain

Pitch Rate: 1.25

Primary Temp: 20 ° C

Priming Method: N/A

Priming Amount: N/A

Creation Date: 11/15/2024 9:54 PM

Notes: