I'm a Drinker, not a Brewer. Can' t help.
I think most, if not all hops, are interchangeable to a degree in terms of bittering and such. The thing that comes into play is that some hops are better suited for certain things (bittering, aroma, flavor) than others. To really get the bittering aspect out of hops you have to boil them and the longer they are boiled the more bitter your beer becomes. The higher the alpha acids the more bittering you can get, as well, which is why hops like magnum are used more for bittering. It requires much less magnum at 14% aa to get the same 'bitter' from another hop at 5% aa.
Also, keep in mind that some varieties of hops are used both for bittering and for aroma and flavor. A beer that only has one type of hop might still call for some at 60 minutes and some at a later time (often even 30, 20, 10, 5 and 0 minutes) and some only call for a 60 minute bittering addition.
Really, though, it sounds like you'll be fine. The hard part about beer is that you wont know what it will taste like until you're several weeks removed from brewing. Adding and changing things after the fact is more akin to adding salt to a dish you haven't tasted. You could improve it or you could screw it up.
Brewing beer is as much art as science. Two brewers will take the same recipe and come up with different beers.
Thanks for the info; I think I'll leave it be. You seem to know more than the authors of the books I've read. Your info was an eye opener. I'm gonna study up on "more hopssssss"
I'm a fan of homebrewtalk.com. Good info and a great community. Plus, lots of good recipes.
The good and bad of homebrew books and such is that they want you to get hooked and thus try to make things happen quickly. They want you to be able to drink your beer as soon as possible so you'll order more ingredients more often. It's not malicious or anything, just not geared towards making the best beer possible.
If you get into it as a hobby, you start to build up a pipeline of beer that allows you to be more patient and allow your beers to really age and improve since you have some beers you can drink while you brew and age the next batch. Some beers are ready in two weeks, but most seem to need 4-6 weeks to really his their stride. Not always, but most i've brewed get better with a bit of age.
The good and bad of homebrew books and such is that they want you to get hooked and thus try to make things happen quickly. They want you to be able to drink your beer as soon as possible so you'll order more ingredients more often. It's not malicious or anything, just not geared towards making the best beer possible.
If you get into it as a hobby, you start to build up a pipeline of beer that allows you to be more patient and allow your beers to really age and improve since you have some beers you can drink while you brew and age the next batch. Some beers are ready in two weeks, but most seem to need 4-6 weeks to really his their stride. Not always, but most i've brewed get better with a bit of age.
I'm buying the "kits" from Learn to Brew in OKC/Moore. The end product is pretty good but I'm still looking for the beer that knocks my socks off. Thinking of the Red Ale kit and adding 1 lb DME and 1 extra oz of bittering hops at the start. I don't really want to get into all grain, just looking for a really good beer, the way it's supposed to taste.
donner has been pretty right on in my opinion. I prefer reds and browns, not the blacks so much. I do not think you will have issues with your brew. I also get my stuff from learn 2 brew as I like to support the locals and they are pretty nice guys. I think they are closed on Mondays by the way.
Homebrew talk is great too, they do not mind helping new guys on there like a lot of forums and there are some really knowledgable guys on there. I usually print the recipe off of northernbrewer and take it to learn to brew to get the goods.
I do not think you will want to add anything since you have started the fermintation, too much risk in contamination, not enough reward if it takes. Also, that would be more of a dry hop and you could come out more bitter than you want.
Hops are kind of strange once you start looking in to them. I do not like the citrus stuff so I stay away from those brews or change them out.
The drawback to homebrewing is that now I can barely drink a "normal" beer. Most regular bars only carry crap beers. I do like to go to places like BJ's and Tapwerkz to try new things and see what I might like.
I will have a new batch going in a couple weeks. Right now I am trying to decide if I want to start kegging instead of bottling.
Homebrew talk is great too, they do not mind helping new guys on there like a lot of forums and there are some really knowledgable guys on there. I usually print the recipe off of northernbrewer and take it to learn to brew to get the goods.
I do not think you will want to add anything since you have started the fermintation, too much risk in contamination, not enough reward if it takes. Also, that would be more of a dry hop and you could come out more bitter than you want.
Hops are kind of strange once you start looking in to them. I do not like the citrus stuff so I stay away from those brews or change them out.
The drawback to homebrewing is that now I can barely drink a "normal" beer. Most regular bars only carry crap beers. I do like to go to places like BJ's and Tapwerkz to try new things and see what I might like.
I will have a new batch going in a couple weeks. Right now I am trying to decide if I want to start kegging instead of bottling.
If you have the fridge or freezer* to dedicate to kegging, it's great. One keg vs. 48-50 bottles is much easier to both clean and store. I've got three kegs tapped and a forth conditioning at almost all times. If i need to take bottles somewhere i just fill a growler or bottles off my taps and go.
To the OP, as you go you'll find that you like some times and some hops better than others. I really like the earthy hops that are in more of the english bitters (fuggles and EKG and such) and less of the citrus hops. That said, i've made some great pale ales with some new zealand hops that were somewhat lemon/lime.
The great thing about brewing is that you can make the beer to your specs. Spend some time on the homebrew forums and you'll learn a lot. Honestly, the recipe is somewhat secondary to technique. The biggest improvement most brewers make is not extract to all-grain but controlling fermentation temps. When yeast get active they give off heat and the more heat they give off the more stressed they become. The more stressed they are the more off-flavors you get. If you want a 'clean' beer then you want to make sure to keep your yeast in the temp range they like.
To the OP, as you go you'll find that you like some times and some hops better than others. I really like the earthy hops that are in more of the english bitters (fuggles and EKG and such) and less of the citrus hops. That said, i've made some great pale ales with some new zealand hops that were somewhat lemon/lime.
The great thing about brewing is that you can make the beer to your specs. Spend some time on the homebrew forums and you'll learn a lot. Honestly, the recipe is somewhat secondary to technique. The biggest improvement most brewers make is not extract to all-grain but controlling fermentation temps. When yeast get active they give off heat and the more heat they give off the more stressed they become. The more stressed they are the more off-flavors you get. If you want a 'clean' beer then you want to make sure to keep your yeast in the temp range they like.
