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I'm looking for some input as to whether my planned recipe looks right. I have only just finished my first ever brew and wanted to try my hand at pulling together my own recipe (but I am not skilled enough, nor do I have all necessary equipment to do all grain or start partial mashes, so would be looking at extract with some steeped speciality grains). At the same time, I have been drinking a lot of Brooklyn Brewer's Sorachi Ace saison beer recently and it is probably my favourite ever beer, so I though I would try and clone it.

From the Brooklyn website I know that the beer has an OG of 15 degrees plato (about 1.062 gravity) and an IBU of 34. I also know that a little while back, they produced a homebrew kit which shows the hopping schedule but unfortunately not quantities (1/8 hops @ 60mins; 1/8 hops @ 30mins; 4/8 hops @ 0mins when boil is turned off and remaining 2/8 hops for dry hopping after 3 days of fermentation). I know they use a belgian strain yeast too. So... I was thinking of something like this:

My questions are:

  1. Do the calculations look right?
  2. The hops added at 0 mins when the heat is turned off and Belgian candi sugar stirred in to dissolve - my understanding is that there will be no efficiency and therefore no IBU contribution. If they are being strained from the wort, is this not a MASSIVE (given the amount used) waste of money and hops? Or is it a case that there would be an IBU contribution while the candi sugar is added and dissolved and then while the wort cools? If so, I definitely need to rethink my hop schedule, but I'm not sure how to calculate IBU contribution while the wort cools in order to adjust my other scheduled amounts.
  3. The yeast - Brooklyn use their own strain of Belgian yeast so I figured this would do the job - but does anyone know if it will be good for a beer that typically has or aims to achieve an FG of around 1.005 or an ABV of approx. 7.2%?

Thoughts/comments/guidance much appreciated, though I am happy method-wise and do appreciate it is not always necessary to boil extract I do feel it is worthwhile if nothing else to get experience of the boil and understand the process better, so really looking for advice on the recipe per se.

Edit looks like the image of my recipe didn't work so I'll try again

**Sorachi Ace Malt Extract Recipe Idea**
Target OG: 1.062 (62 points) / 15.2 Plato
Batch Size: 6 Gallons
**Malts - Gravity Contribution**
8lbs Extra Light DME (typical yield 40ppg) - (40 x 8) / 6 = 53.3
1.25lb Crystal 15L (typical yield from steeping 14ppg) - (14 x 1.25)/6 = 2.9
1lb Belgian Candi Sugar (clear) (typical yield 36ppg) - (36 x 1) / 6 = 6
Total Points / OG - 62.2 / 1.062
Boil Gravity @ 3 gallon boil - ((8 x 40) / 3) + ((1.25 x 14) / 3) = 112.5

**Hops - IBU Contribution (Target 34 IBUs)**
1.25oz Sorachi Ace (9%) @ 60 mins - ((11.25 x 0.136) x 75) / 6) = 19.13
1.25oz Sorachi Ace (9%) @ 30 mins - ((11.25 x 0.104) x 75) / 6) = 14.63
5oz Sorachi Ace (9%) @ 0 mins - 0
2.5oz Sorachi Ace (9%) Dry Hop - 0 added after 3 days following changeover of blow-off tube to Air-lock

**Yeast  - Fermentation Schedule**
White Labs WLP545 Belgian Strong Ale Yeast  - Primary Fermentation for 2 weeks – 3 days (or until vigorous bubbling subsides) with blow off tube, followed by remaining period with airlock

Method
1.  Add Crystal Malt (in grain bag) to 3 gallons of water, bring to 160F and steep for 30 minutes.
2.  After 30 minutes of steeping, remove grain bag, bring wort to boil and add DME plus 1.25oz hops.
3.  After 30 minutes of boil, add further 1.25oz Hops and continue boil.
4.  After 60 minutes of boil, turn off heat and add 5oz hops.  Stir in Belgian Candi Sugar to dissolve.
5.  Add wort to ice bath and use wort chiller to cool to 65F and add to fermentation vessel.
6.  Add cool water to bring wort to 6 gallons.
7.  Pitch yeast.
8.  Insert blow off tube with other end in bowl of sanitiser solution.
9.  After 3 days (or when vigorous bubbling subsides) remove blow off tube, add 2.5oz Hops to grain bag and add to wort.  Insert airlock and continue fermentation for remainder of two week schedule.
10. Bottle.
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    One thing I'll say is that the last hop addition is definitely not a massive waste. If you were considering only BUs then it pretty much would be. But late hop additions (along with dry-hopping) are where basically all of the characteristic hoppy aroma and flavor in your beer will come from. Hop oils, the major component of aroma and flavor, are volatile and are prone to boiling off if left in the kettle for any long period. Hence why we have to add them very late (late enough that they contribute little bitterness).
    – Franklin P Combs
    Feb 20, 2017 at 12:23
  • Interestin. I guess that's where my thinking falls down a bit - having a literal understanding of the things I read, but no practical experience to understand the other effects. I think I'll stick with the plan then and see how it comes out.
    – user14585
    Feb 20, 2017 at 12:35
  • You need to boil for isomerization of acids in the hops. You could type the recipe into a brewing calculator to validate the IBU's and gravities. I'm not a fan of this "question" because it's one that is more a matter of opinion than one with an answer. Maybe could be phrased, "please list the likely problems with this recipe"?
    – Dale
    Feb 21, 2017 at 4:31
  • Do see where you're coming from, but I think the 3 key questions in there are pretty certain as opposed to a matter of opinion. Franklin has answered the second one above and the other two I feel leave less room for speculation.
    – user14585
    Feb 21, 2017 at 8:08
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    5 ounces seems excessive for that 0 min addition — and if it takes a longer time for you to chill down to under 180º, you'll start to pick up extra IBUs along the way and exceed your target of 30-some IBUs. As to your dry-hops additions, they look fine. However, there was a study that was run by Rock Bottom Brewery with the help of Portland State University and at some point there's a diminishing return on late/dry hop additions. Link to that study: community.mbaa.com/HigherLogic/System/…
    – michael t
    Mar 9, 2017 at 17:40

1 Answer 1

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As a general suggestion on recipe formulation, this would be a good starting point: http://homebrewmanual.com/home-brewing-calculations/

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