Re: First recipe without a kit

"James" <post_master@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:K25ak.12797$uE5.6733@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>I just made my first batch with a recipe instead of a kit.  See below* I 
>had a couple of questions.  What is the purpose of gypsum and does it
make 
>a huge difference?  From my brewing books, it gives the water some
minerals 
>making it heavier and changing the PH levels.  I use city tap, but it
still 
>has a little "flavor" to it.
>
> Second, for priming, is corn sugar the best or are there other options?
>
> 3 lbs dark malt
> 1 lb Belgium candy
> 2.5-3lbs Honey
> 1 oz Cascade
> 1 oz Fuggles
> 1 tsp Irish moss
> 1 package Muntons

Well over half your fermentables are sugar which are 100% fermentable.
It's 
almost not beer. From the description of what you are trying to achieve, I

think you went the opposite of where you should have gone. I don't think 
you're going to end up with a mellow dark beer, but a thin dark beer with
a 
light body and little or no head.
The hops could well get in the way, making it taste very bitter. Fuggles
is 
also a much more mellow hop than cascade and I think the strong citrus, 
grapefruity flavour of cascade will drown out the fuggles. My opinion only

but I don't think it's a very good combination.
How would I have gone about it? Use 100% malt, maybe 50/50 dark and light 
malt extract then steeped some crystal and dropped the cascade altogether
- 
cascade is better in IPA's not dark beers IMO. Then, if you want a bit of 
honey flavor, add it to the secondary.
As far as corn sugar for bottling goes, plain white table sugar is just as

good and a fs cheaper.
To answer another question, it's not so much the gravity you're looking
for 
but try to judge when primary fermentation is nearly finished and then
rack 
to the secondary - don't do it when fermentation is totally complete.
Good luck, I don't mean to be critical but I'm sure others will have
similar 
thoughts.
Keep up the good hobby. Steve W (in Aus)