Will this recipe work?

[dannypo]

You can steep them but since you are mashing just throw them in there. It's easier and you will get a bit more extraction.

[Savage Brewer]

You could mash or steep them. It is up to you. If you are more comfortable steeping them like an extract brew go ahead. It wont hurt anything. You could also mash them but make sure you calculate for the added grain. Personally, I would just steep them in the extract while the mini mash is resting.

[ScrandyAndy]

Brew day done....welp here's the synopsis.

I came in a bit under temp....and by way under I came in at 140. Was NOT ready for that. So it took a good 10-15 min to get up past 150 degrees.

From there, after topping to about 5 gallons...my og came in at 1.035...a wee bit short of 1..048.

Luckily I had some spare light dme on hand from making my yeast starter, and I was able to boost it up to 1.047ish. I'm excited to see what happens. This is the joy of making your own recipe and learning about your equipment (or lack there of) right!?

Within 12 hours it was fermenting vigorously. Thanks to a good yeast starter (which I did for the first time).

Last night I was able to harvest some yeast off the top and store that in the fridge. I'm planning on starting another batch of this in two weeks and see if I can come in closer to what I wanted on it.

I have faith this will taste good, as my fermenting room smells DELICIOUS because of all the hops.



That all being said.....any advice?

[BDawg]

Sounds like a winner.

1) As you found the hard way, it's always a good idea to have some boiling and cold water on hand to adjust mash temp if you miss it.
2) 50% is a normal minimash extraction efficiency.
3) Also, having extra DME on hand is a good idea so you can top up as you did. Great recovery and I'm sure it will be just fine!

RDWHAHB!
And congrats on your first mash!