Critique this XPA

What do you think... Is the OG too high?

Recipe: Larry's XPA
Brewer: Gonzo Brewer
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Size: 6.80 gal
Estimated OG: 1.054 SG
Estimated Color: 8.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 45.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 75.56 %
1.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 11.11 %
1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 8.89 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.44 %
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.20 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
0.75 oz Amarillo Gold [8.20 %] (15 min) Hops 10.5 IBU
0.75 oz Warrior [16.10 %] (15 min) Hops 20.6 IBU
0.75 oz Simcoe [13.20 %] (10 min) Hops 12.4 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [7.90 %] (2 min) Hops 2.3 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11.25 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 14.06 qt of water at 164.8 F 153.0 F

Looks tasty! Go for it.

I like to use 11 to 13 pounds total grain for a 6 gallon batch. Your recipe looks fine for 5.25 gallons.

Keep the crystal to 0.5 lbs or less.

PseudoChef said:

Keep the crystal to 0.5 lbs or less.

Click to expand...

I'm not sue, why? If I drop this crystal to 0.5 lb, (A) the beer will be a very light color and (B) I worry I won't get any maltiness to balance the high IBU. I am already dropping the mash to 153º, which should keep it crisp and dry.

You could compromise - say make it .75lb C60 and then up the Vienna to 1.5lb. However, I don't think ~10% is too much crystal.

First off, crystal malts won't really impart a "malty" type of sweetness in my opinion. They're more a caramelly taste.

Second, too much crystal will just make a beer underattenuate since it's mostly unfermentables leading to that sickeningly sweet and cloying aspect. Pales have an open-ended range of color as well...anywhere from 5-14 SRM I think for the style. If you're worried about it, I'd go to a higher L crystal.

Lastly, take a look at a beer like Pliny the Elder by Russian River; the disputed King of IPAs. All base malt except half a pound of crystal (per 5 gallons). They even add straight sugar to get it to dry out more. Their triple IPA, Pliny the Younger is all base malt and sugar: no specialty malts at all.

Your OG is not too high...You are brewing an Extra Pale Ale, right? So color and body should be light. I tend to agree with PseudoChef chef here on the crystal part. I'd keep it to no more than 1 lb. (Designing Great Beers recommends crystal to be no more than 10% of malt bill) If you are just looking for color, there are lots of other dark specialty grains your could add in very small quantities to get there (like 1-2 oz dark crystal or munich etc.) Again, as an XPA, not sure you want to go too dark? Otherwise, it looks like a great recipe! I have never dry hopped with Simcoe, should be interesting!

Happy Brewing, Tim

I made a beer with some C40 and a bit of C120. The flavor was awesome and I believe it was the added change of the darker grains. I arrived at the color I wanted and the other specialty grains had more contribution, like your vienna will.

If you want "malty" flavor without sweetness (which is the perfect combo in a balanced IPA, I think), sub in some Munich malt for the base malt. It'll still attenuate out (unlike a crystal malt), but leave a real nice, strong malt backbone. A wee bit of cystal's OK (half-pound in an IPA), too much can be cloying and really isn't to style. The historical origin of an IPA was less about making a beer with a high alcoholic content than about a beer that was more attenuated than most of the beers of the day, so there would be fewer residual sugars for wild yeast or bacteria to consumer and spoil the beer.

TimBrewz said:

I have never dry hopped with Simcoe, should be interesting!

Happy Brewing, Tim

Click to expand...

I dry-hopped my Lake Walk Pale Ale with Simcoe and Amarillo. This has a great flavor and aroma - love the grapefruit nose. This time I am going to try Simcoe only on the dryhop. I may make a simcoe only IPA in the future.

Thank you all for your help on this. I have reduced my crystal and added munich and here is my final grain bill:

Recipe: Larry's XPA
Brewer: Gonzo Brewer
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Size: 6.80 gal
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 6.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 45.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 78.26 %
0.75 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 6.52 %
0.75 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 6.52 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.20 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
0.75 oz Warrior [16.10 %] (15 min) Hops 20.4 IBU
0.75 oz Amarillo Gold [8.20 %] (15 min) Hops 10.4 IBU
0.75 oz Simcoe [13.20 %] (10 min) Hops 12.2 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [7.90 %] (2 min) Hops 2.3 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11.50 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 14.38 qt of water at 164.8 F 153.0 F

Unfortunately, I have to clean up after my daughters sweet 16 birthday party last night and can't brew this til next week. 150 high school teenagers trying to sneak alcohol in was a challenge last night. I had to lock the garage where all my homebrew is stashed.