Tropical Fruit Pale ale advise/critique..

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DankHead

DankHead

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Location
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Looking for get a nice medium bodied, citrus fruit/ tropical fruit flavored pale ale. Looking for mango/pineapple/grapefruit and pine flavors.

anyway, this is what I've got:
OG:1.055
SRM: 10.1
IBU: 78
ABV: 5.7%
Efficiency: 62%
Mash @154

10# Pale 2 row
1# Crystal 60
1# Crystal 20
8 oz. Flaked Wheat
8 oz. Cara Pils

0.5 oz Warrior @60 (FWH)
0.5 oz Columbus @60 (FWH)
0.5 oz Simcoe @10 & 5
0.5 oz Centennial @10 & 5
0.5 oz Chinook @10 & 5
0.5 oz Columbus @FO

WLP 001

Any advise on the hop selection/additions would be great. Really wanting some nice tropical fruit and grapefruit flavors in this one.
 
DankHead said:
Looking for get a nice medium bodied, citrus fruit flavored pale ale. Looking for mango/pineapple/grapefruit and pine flavors.

anyway, this is what I've got:
OG:1.055
SRM: 10.1
IBU: 78
ABV: 5.7%
Mash @ 154
Efficiency: 62%

10# Pale 2 row
1# Crystal 60
1# Crystal 20
8 oz. Flaked Wheat
8 oz. Cara Pils

0.5 oz Warrior @60 (FWH)
0.5 oz Columbus @60 (FWH)
0.5 oz Simcoe @10 & 5
0.5 oz Centennial @10 & 5
0.5 oz Chinook @10 & 5
0.5 oz Columbus @FO

WLP 001

Any advise on the hop selection/additions would be great. Really wanting some nice tropical fruit and grapefruit flavors in this one.
Click to expand...

Nelson Sauvin for the tropical win. Cascade for all the grapefruit you want. Chinook, imho, tastes like Pine Sol. Centennial can be good if used in moderation. It easily overpowers other hops in my experience.
 
Well, I think that is a nice start on the grainbill. That said, too much crystal. With 60 and 20 and carapils you got almost 20% of your grainbill, I'd cut it down to 10%. Also, I always want to add a bit of flaked wheat for head retention and body because it always seems like a good idea but I almost always cut it out. Go simple.

As far as hops go I would cut one of the FWAs, maybe warrior. That's a lot of IBUs for a 1.055 beer. The hop combo isn't bad though. That said, I just used Galaxy hops for the first time and loved them. If you can find some and want fruity/mango/citrusy I'd try some of those with centennial and simcoe. Just an idea. Otherwise you're looking good!
 
klnosaj said:
Nelson Sauvin for the tropical win. Cascade for all the grapefruit you want. Chinook, imho, tastes like Pine Sol. Centennial can be good if used in moderation. It easily overpowers other hops in my experience.
Click to expand...

Good point, missed the Chinook in there. Not necessarily what you're going for in your description. Haven't used the Nelson Sauvin but have been very interested in them for an APA but like I said, Galaxy are good too.
 
Might try some Citra in place of the Centennial or chinook. It has a nice mango/passion fruit flavor. It really lacks any of that pine-y grapefruity flavor that you're going to get plenty of from the other hops, IMHO. I'm kind of a sucker for Citra.
 
Ok, made some changes:

OG: 1.053
SRM: 9
IBU: 57
ABV: 5.5%

10.5 lbs 2 row
1 lbs crystal 60
8 oz cara pils
8 oz flaked wheat

0.5 Columbus @60 (FWH)
0.25 Centennial @10 & 5
0.5 Cascade @10 & 5
0.5 Simcoe @10 & 5
0.5 Nelson Sauvin @10 & 5 (or Galaxy, which ever I can find)
0.5 Columbus @FO

Dry Hop:
.5 oz. Cascade
.5 oz. Simcoe
.5 oz. Nelson Sauvin
 
I might be the only one but I get crazy pineapple from Amarillo. That and Galaxy would be my recommendation. Replace Simcoe with one of these maybe?
 
treehousebrewing said:
I might be the only one but I get crazy pineapple from Amarillo. That and Galaxy would be my recommendation. Replace Simcoe with one of these maybe?
Click to expand...

I want to keep the simcoe for pine, but I think I might replace the centennial with the Amarillo. It's been sold out here for awhile though..
 
IMO you have to go citra if you want mango/tropical. All citra beers taste like mango juice. Be careful with the nelson as it is very strong. I have an all nelson beer right now that has a strong wine grape flavor and aroma. Very young though so maybe that will fade.

I'd go simcoe, centennial, and citra if it were me. Pine, citrus, and mango.
 
chumpsteak said:
IMO you have to go citra if you want mango/tropical. All citra beers taste like mango juice. Be careful with the nelson as it is very strong. I have an all nelson beer right now that has a strong wine grape flavor and aroma. Very young though so maybe that will fade.

I'd go simcoe, centennial, and citra if it were me. Pine, citrus, and mango.
Click to expand...


After thinking more about it I'm now thinking, Keep in mind, and I should have mentioned before I'm looking at going nice and hop forward

1 oz Columbus @60 (fwh)
0.5 simcoe @10 & 5
0.5 citra @ 10 & 5
0.5 cascade @ 10 & 5 (or galaxy)


Dry hop:
1 oz cascade (or galaxy)
1 oz citra
 
Might be late but it is probably worth saying anyway; in my humble experiences, many of the Australian hops are good for tropical flavors. Which seems almost stereotypical when I think about it...but anyway, there is a hop not mentioned yet called Motueka which imparts great lime, mango, and pineapple notes.

The last thing that I will mention is that I often dry hop with Chinook for grapefruit. For some reason I find that it is very noticeable when used this way.
 
I like where you're going with the hop bill with a bit of simplifying. I know you want a hop forward beer but those IBUs are still pretty high for a pale ale. Not that you need to stick to the style guidelines but they are a good resource and in the link below you can see IBUs are 30-45.

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style10.php

Hops should be balanced with the gravity of the beer. Look up the bitterness ratio for a Pale Ale because I'm sure at 1.58 you're pretty high. For a 1.055 beer I think I would try and get in around 55-60, maybe by doing a half ounce of columbus at first. You'll get plenty of hop aroma/flavor from late additions and that massive dryhop. Again, just my thoughts, I don't know how much you love hops.
 
inhousebrew said:
I like where you're going with the hop bill with a bit of simplifying. I know you want a hop forward beer but those IBUs are still pretty high for a pale ale. Not that you need to stick to the style guidelines but they are a good resource and in the link below you can see IBUs are 30-45.

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style10.php

Hops should be balanced with the gravity of the beer. Look up the bitterness ratio for a Pale Ale because I'm sure at 1.58 you're pretty high. For a 1.055 beer I think I would try and get in around 55-60, maybe by doing a half ounce of columbus at first. You'll get plenty of hop aroma/flavor from late additions and that massive dryhop. Again, just my thoughts, I don't know how much you love hops.
Click to expand...

This is good advise. I'll look at the numbers when I get home. Thanks man!
 
Thank you to everyone for the input, I think I've nailed down a pretty good recipe. Just as long as i execute it well, it should turn out great.

OG: 1.055
SRM: 9
IBU: 53 (will probably be higher, depending on AA content)
ABV: 5.5%
Yeast: US-05
Efficiency: 62%
Mash @ 154

10.5 lbs. Pale 2 row
1 lbs. Crystal 60L
8 oz. Cara Pils
8 oz. Flaked Wheat

0.5 oz. Columbus @60(FWH)
0.5 oz Cascade @10 & 5
0.5 oz. Citra @10 & 5
0.5 oz. Simcoe @10 & 5
1 oz. Amarillo @FO

Dry Hop: 10 days
1 oz. Cascade
1 oz. Citra
1 oz. Amarillo

Maybe?
 
That looks good to me! IBU's are more suitable I think and they may seem low but with three ounces of dry hops you'll have a ton of flavor/aroma.
 

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