Critique my Dry-hopped Pale Ale recipe?

This is my first time making my own recipe. I'm going to be serving this to a lot of people, so I'm going for something that is pretty drinkable. I want a bittering/gravity ratio to be 0.7 - 0.8, and I want a light, clean tasting pale ale with lots of hop aromas, like a dry-hopped Sierra Nevada.


Style American Pale Ale
Batch 5.00 gal
Recipe Characteristics
Recipe Gravity 1.051 OG
Estimated FG 1.013 FG
Recipe Bitterness 39 IBU
Alcohol by Volume 5.0%
Recipe Color 11 SRM
Ingredients
0.50 lb Crystal 40L (Steeped)
0.50 lb Flaked wheat (Steeped)
6.00 lb Light malt extract
0.50 lb Amber malt extract
2.00 oz Generic Hops Pellet 0 minutes
2.00 oz Generic Hops (10%) Pellet 10 minutes
0.50 oz Generic Hops (10%) Pellet 60 minutes
1.00 oz Generic Hops Pellet dry hop
WLP 001 california ale yeast

I didn't specify hops because it depends on what my LHBS has in stock, but the bittering will probably be magnum or centennial, the aroma will be centennial or cascade, and the dry hop will probably be amarillo. Quantities will be adjusted according to alpha acids to reach target IBUs.

I'm steeping flaked wheat for head retention, crystal for color, and the amber malt is for a bit of body.

Any comments, criticisms, or suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

I could be very very wrong, but I don't think flaked wheat will contribute much for head retention unless mashed. Someone please correct me if I am wrong!

You could probably get rid of the amber malt extract and sub a 0.5lb of munich for steeping.

Amber malt extact is essentially 2-row, munich, and 60L.

If you do this, you may want to bump your LME up to 6.5lbs to regain those lost gravity points.

Your hop choices and schedule look good, though I would consider 1 oz at 10 and 2 oz dry to get more aroma and a little less flavor...

Thanks for the replies. I think I might do a mini-mash with the specialty grains then (0.5 lbs each flaked wheat, munich, crystal 40L) and adjust my LME accordingly to reach target gravity.

I will post my final recipe when I brew, and of course will post results in 5 weeks.

Chenzo said:

Thanks for the replies. I think I might do a mini-mash with the specialty grains then (0.5 lbs each flaked wheat, munich, crystal 40L) and adjust my LME accordingly to reach target gravity.

I will post my final recipe when I brew, and of course will post results in 5 weeks.

Click to expand...

I would add .5-1 pound of 2 row into the mini mash just incase the munich can't convert both itself and the wheat!

Usually, the hops schedule is like this:

1 ounce hops 60 minutes (bittering)
1 ounce hops 15 minutes (flavor)
1 ounce hops 0 minutes (aroma)

I don't understand your hop schedule, as it looks "backwards" but I'm not sure.

Germelli, Thanks for the suggestion, I will do that.
Yooper, maybe it is, this is my first time putting one together myself. I wanted to keep the IBUs below 40, and I wanted lots of hop flavor, which is why I made it like I did. But from your comment and AZ_IPA's comment, I have modified it to what it shows below. It's a little more even, but still not 1-1-1. (Does that make sense? I don't know the reasoning behind the schedule you suggested). I also put in the hops that I will probably use, but again if I change I will adjust quantities to match IBUs.

Style American Pale Ale
Batch 5.00 gal
Recipe Characteristics
Recipe Gravity 1.053 OG
Estimated FG 1.013 FG
Recipe Bitterness 39 IBU
Alcohol by Volume 5.1%
Recipe Color 10 SRM
Ingredients
1.00 lb American 2-row (Mashed)
0.30 lb Crystal 40L (Mashed)
0.30 lb Flaked wheat (Mashed)
0.30 lb Munich malt (Mashed)
5.75 lb Light malt extract
0.90 oz Centennial (9%) 60 minutes
whirlfloc 30 minutes
1.00 oz Cascade (6.6%) 10 minutes
1.50 oz Cascade (6.6%) 0 minutes
2.00 oz Amarillo dry hop
WLP 001 california ale yeast

I like it!

One little point- Whirlfloc is a kettle fining that I use and like, but it needs to go into the kettle later than 30 minutes. You want to add it at 15 minutes or 10 minutes, along with the cascade hops would be fine!

Yum, looks good!

I love your idea of hopping heavily at the end. I'm all about hoppy beers that aren't overly biter, but really, really hoppy. So if you want to do like 2oz at 10min, and 2oz at 0min, I say giddy up.