Brewer’s Friend Templates: Quick-Start Recipes for IPAs and StoutsBrewer’s Friend is a powerful, user-friendly set of tools for homebrewers. Its recipe templates and calculators make turning ideas into drinkable beer faster and more reliable. This article walks through how to use Brewer’s Friend templates to create quick-start recipes for two of the most popular styles — IPAs and stouts — and includes ready-to-use example recipes, tips for customization, and troubleshooting notes.
Why use Brewer’s Friend templates?
Brewer’s Friend templates save time by pre-populating key parameters (batch size, efficiency, basic ingredient lists, OG/FG targets, and typical mash schedules). For brewers who want to iterate quickly, templates reduce the bookkeeping and let you focus on flavor and technique. Templates are especially helpful for beginners and for anyone scaling recipes between batch sizes.
Key template components to check before you brew
Before you hit “Brew,” verify these template fields:
- Grain bill and amounts — ensure they match your batch size and system efficiency.
- Target Original Gravity (OG) and Final Gravity (FG) — match the style guidelines you’re aiming for.
- Mash schedule — single infusion vs. stepped mash appropriate for your grains.
- Hop additions — timing (e.g., 60/15/5/0 minutes) and alpha acid (%) for bitterness calculations.
- Yeast strain and attenuation — impacts FG and mouthfeel.
- Boil time and batch volume — change both if you’re scaling or using a different kettle.
Quick-start IPA template (5-gallon All-Grain)
- Batch size: 5.0 gallons (19 L)
- Efficiency: 75% (adjust to your system)
- OG: ~1.065
- FG: ~1.012
- ABV: ~7.0%
- Mash: Single infusion at 152°F (67°C) for 60 minutes
- Boil: 60 minutes
Grain bill (example)
- 10 lb (4.5 kg) Pale Ale Malt
- 1.5 lb (0.68 kg) Munich or Light Crystal 10L
- 0.5 lb (0.23 kg) Carapils (for head retention)
Hops (example — adjust alpha acids)
- 1.0 oz (28 g) Centennial — 60 min
- 0.5 oz (14 g) Mosaic — 15 min
- 1.0 oz (28 g) Citra — 5 min
- 2.0 oz (56 g) Citra/Mosaic/Amarillo — Whirlpool/Flameout (or 20 min steep at 170°F / 77°C)
- Dry hop: 2.0–3.0 oz (56–85 g) combined for 3–5 days
Yeast
- American Ale strain (e.g., Wyeast 1056, White Labs WLP001, or Safale US-05) — healthy 1–2L starter or 1 packet/rehydrated pitch for 5 gal.
Notes
- Use Brewer’s Friend hop calculator to adjust bitterness (IBU) based on alpha acids and boil gravity.
- Adjust final dry-hop weights to taste; higher late additions increase aroma without raising bitterness.
Quick-start Stout template (5-gallon All-Grain)
- Batch size: 5.0 gallons (19 L)
- Efficiency: 72%
- OG: ~1.055–1.060
- FG: ~1.013–1.016
- ABV: ~5.5–6.5%
- Mash: Single infusion at 154°F (68°C) for 60 minutes (for fuller body)
- Boil: 60 minutes
Grain bill (example)
- 8.0 lb (3.6 kg) Maris Otter or Pale Ale Malt
- 1.0 lb (0.45 kg) Flaked Barley (for mouthfeel and head)
- 0.75 lb (0.34 kg) Roasted Barley (for color and roast)
- 0.5 lb (0.23 kg) Chocolate Malt
- 0.5 lb (0.23 kg) Crystal 60L
Hops
- 1.0 oz (28 g) East Kent Goldings or Fuggle — 60 min
- 0.5 oz (14 g) same hop — 15 min (optional)
Yeast
- English Ale strain (e.g., Wyeast 1968, White Labs WLP004, or Safale S-04) — moderate attenuation to preserve body.
Notes
- If you want a milk stout, add 1.0 lb (0.45 kg) lactose to the boil (lactose is unfermentable and adds sweetness/body).
- Cold steep or use a portion of dark malts carefully — too much roasted barley can create harsh astringency. Brewer’s Friend template fields for color (SRM) and bitterness will update as you edit the grain bill and hops.
How to customize templates for your system
- Adjust mash efficiency in the template to match measured brewhouse efficiency from previous batches.
- Scale ingredients: use Brewer’s Friend scaling tool to change batch size; check that IBUs and gravity scale appropriately.
- Swap yeasts: try different strains to explore dry vs. fruity ester profiles. Brewer’s Friend will recalc expected attenuation and FG.
- Carbonation: use the carbonation calculator for priming sugar or keg PSI for target volumes CO2.
Troubleshooting common template mistakes
- OG too low — increase base malt or efficiency, check mash temperature and conversion time.
- Thin body in stout — raise mash temp by 2–4°F (1–2°C) or add dextrin malt (e.g., CaraPils) or flaked adjuncts.
- Overly bitter IPA — reduce 60-min hop additions or shorten boil; increase late/hopstand/dry hop for aroma instead.
- Harsh roast flavor — decrease roasted barley or cold-steep dark malts separately and add late in the boil or to secondary.
Example Brewer’s Friend workflow
- Choose an IPA or stout template.
- Set batch size and system efficiency.
- Edit grain bill, hops, and yeast to taste.
- Use calculators for mash water, strike temp, and IBUs.
- Save template as a new recipe; print/export your brew sheet.
- Brew, record actuals, and update the recipe’s efficiency for next time.
Final tips
- Keep a digital log in Brewer’s Friend of actual OG/FG and efficiency — it makes future template tuning faster.
- Start modest with hop quantities until you learn how your hops perform; some hop varieties are more intense than label alpha percentages suggest.
- Use clone recipes and community templates as starting points, then iterate.
If you want, I can: convert these two example recipes into a Brewer’s Friend recipe file, scale them to a different batch size, or produce a fermentable/grain inventory list for shopping.
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