Defiled Mild - "American Honey" Pale Ale - Opinions Please

WollenBrew · 10-08-2009, 12:07 AM

Okay, I posted a question about a honey addition to the Northern Brewer Mild Ale Kit... simply because I wanted to raise the ABV of what I think is a good basic kit. Well, I've gone a bit beyond adding honey (meaning I found some extra ingredients in my freezer) and I'd like some opinions (I'm specifically interested in opinions on how long to boil the hops... 60 min. for all? 15 min. for some? etc...) on the following recipe - I call it, "Defiled Mild - 'American Honey' Pale Ale":

Malt and Fermentables -
3.15 lbs. Amber Malt Extract Syrup (boil final 15 min.)
1.0 lbs. Amber Dry Malt Extract (boil 60 min.)
1.0 lbs. Extra Light Dry Malt Extract (boil 60 min.)
1.0 lbs. American 2-Row Pale (Steep)
.25 lbs Amber Malt (Steep)
.25 lbs Brown Malt (Steep)
.125 lbs. Chocolate Malt (Steep)
1.0 lbs. Honey (boil final 10 min.)

Hops
.5 oz. Tettnang pellet - 4.5% Alpha (60 min.)
1.0 oz. Kent Golding pellet - 5.3% Alpha (60 min.)
.5 oz. Kent Golding leaf - 6.5% Alpha (60 min.)
.5 oz. Czech Saaz leaf - 2.1% Alpha (60 min.)

Yeast
Safale US-05 Dry Yeast

Clarify with Irish Moss (5 min.)

Anyway... let me know... I ran the recipe through Hopville.com's brew calculator and the profile looks really balanced with an OG of 1.053 and FG of 1.014, 30.6 IBU and 5.2% ABV.

Bob · 10-08-2009, 11:59 AM

Looks like an interesting set of flavors! You're in for a neat beer here, one that isn't quite like anything I've seen before.

I do advise you to NOT steep pale malt. You won't get anything other than haze. If I were you, I'd toast that pound of pale malt on a cookie sheet in your oven at 350F until you can smell it. Check the malt by breaking open a couple of kernels; you're looking for a just-off-white 'parchment' color. Tasting the toasted malt should reveal a pronounced nutty, biscuity flavor. That's a really cool flavor for your beer.

It'll still throw haze, but at least now it'll give you an awesome flavor, too.

Another tip: Don't boil your honey. There's tons of argument over this one, but I've always found that boiling drives off volatile aromatics (just like hops but more pronounced). Since honey is almost totally fermentable, those volatile aromatics are what will allow the drinker to perceive that you put honey in the beer in the first place. So add it at flameout, before you start chilling. (That's when I'd add the late-extract too).

I don't know how you're arriving at your IBU total. ProMash is telling me between 44 and 54 IBU, depending on whether or not you're doing a full boil (full boil number is higher).

Me, I'd spread those hops around some. I hate to waste such lovely noble hops on just bittering. So here's what I recommend: Save the whole hops for flavor/aroma additions. Add the whole Goldings with ~20 minutes left to boil (flavor) and the Saazer at just before you turn off the flame. According to ProMash, you'll still get at least 30 IBU, plus you'll get some lovely flavors and aromas.

Cheers!

Bob

WollenBrew · 10-08-2009, 01:43 PM

This is exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks a ton NQ3X. The hops additions at different times sound perfect, I'll definitely do that. I'm using a website called beercalculus.hopville.com to figure the IBUs and OG/FG. I can't use ProMash simply because I'm cheap and too lazy to log into the Windows side of my Mac. LOL. Also, the boil is 2.5 Gallon, which may be why the numbers are off?

Okay, so, I toasted the 2-row this morning (excellent aroma, btw. SWMBO thought it stunk so I figure it must be good.

. I've modified the recipe again because according to hopville.com the IBUs went down below 30 when I changed the boil times on the hops. So... boil times are modified, with the addition of .5 oz of Columbus leaf hops @ ~14% alpha and 20 min. left in the boil. So, I'll add those at the same time I add the Kent Golding Leaf. This could be an interesting beer, indeed. Here's the full recipe with modifications for anyone who wants to run it through Beersmith and see the differences between that and hopsville.com.

Grains and Fermentables
3.15 lb. Amber Malt Extract Syrup (Add at flameout)
1.0 lb. Amber Dry Malt Extract (60 min.)
1.0 lb. X-Light Dry Malt Extract (60 min.)
1.0 lb. Lightly toasted American Two-row (Steep for "Awesome flavor" per NQ3X

1.0 lb. Honey (Add at flameout)
.25 lb. Amber Malt (Steep)
.25 lb. Brown Malt (Steep)
.125 lb. Chocolate Malt (Steep)

Hops/Boil Additions
1.0 oz. Kent Golding Pellet Hops 5.3% Alpha (60 min.)
.5 oz. Kent Golding Leaf Hops 6.5% Alpha (20 min.)
.5 oz. Columbus Leaf Hops ~14% Alpha (20 min.)
.5 oz. Tettnang Pellet Hops 4.5% Alpha (60 min.)
.5 oz. Czech Saaz Pellet 2.1% Alpha (5 min.)
.125 oz. Irish Moss (5 min.)

Yeast
Safale US-05 Dry Yeast (rehydrated 1 hr prior to pitching)

speedy2782 · 05-10-2011, 03:29 AM

How did this beer turn out? It looks like a great beverage- Any adjustments if you do it again?

WollenBrew · 05-10-2011, 04:39 AM

@speedy2782 - It actually turned out really well. There was just a touch of honey and the additional grains gave it a bit more punch in terms of ABV. The additional hops provided, in my opinion, a more "Americanized" balance between hops and grains and the beer itself ended up becoming an "almost" pale ale.

The only differences. I might take out the Kent Golding Leaf (kind of redundant) and add an entire ounce of Columbus. I like hops and I think the higher IBU would be good. And I don't rehydrate my yeast anymore. I simply pitch it dry. I don't notice any difference.