klfiend

Recipes 

I just brewed a brown ale with this recipe however I was playing around with an IBU calculator as I was brewing I freaked myself out about brewing a far to bitter beer for my liking. If someone could critique the recipe and give some feed back it would be greatly appreciated.

6 pounds amber malt extract
1/4 pound black patent malt
1/4 pound british chocolate malt
1/4 pound carapils
2 oz cascade pellet hops @boil 60 minutes (package said 7.2% alpha acid)
1/2 oz cascade pellet hops @10 minutes (I didn't add this for fear of bitter beer)
White Labs Irish Ale yeast (washed and repitched from last batch)

This is a partial boil extract recipe making 5.5 gallons, I guess my basic question is how bitter will this beer be? Also, can I dry hop in the primary to give it some aroma without adding too much to bitterness?

LexusChris

Recipes 

I think this would be pretty tasty!

I love porters & dark brown's, and this is leaning towards the robust porter style with the black patent malt & choclate malts. The IBU's should be good for all that roasty malty goodness. I guess that just depends on how you like your brews.

If you are doing a partial boil (3 - 3.5 gallon boil) your hop utilization should be lower and not look as scary as if you used the 2oz Cascade in a full boil (6+ gallons).

Dry hopping should only add to aroma .. no bitterness .. so add an ounce or two if you want

RDWHAHB ... should be great!
--LexusChris

Bob

Recipes 

I agree, it's going to be a good beer.

It will, however, be quite bitter. By my calculations you're at ~65 IBU. That's why I also agree that dry-hopping this will be a good idea. You've brewed a hops vehicle. Emphasize the positive.

Cheers!

Bob

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klfiend

Recipes 

Thanks for the advice, I added .75 ounces cascade hops to the primary. Its looking and smelling great today, deep rich brown and smells awesome. Roasted malty smells and a bit of spicy/citrus mmm.

Thanks for the reassurance