BPA Recipe - Looking for Feedback.

BPA = Belgian Pale Ale, hopefully this will be better than the other BPA that gives you cancer....

So this is the first recipe that I have put together more or less from scratch. My wife enjoys hoppier beers, I like Belgians. I was looking for something lighter in color but still interesting that we could enjoy spring/summer. This one is loosely inspired by Weyerbacher's Verboten but is by no means intended to be a clone.



HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: BPA

Brew Method: Extract
Style Name: Saison
Boil Time: 30 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 3 gallons
Efficiency: 50% (steeping grains only)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.011
ABV (standard): 5.94%
IBU (tinseth): 33.77
SRM (morey): 6.27

FERMENTABLES:
3 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light (38.7%)
2 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light (25.8%)
1 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Wheat (12.9%)

STEEPING GRAINS:
0.5 lb - German - CaraHell (6.5%)
0.5 lb - Flaked Wheat (6.5%)
0.25 lb - American - Pale Ale (3.2%)
0.25 lb - American - White Wheat (3.2%)
0.25 lb - Belgian - Aromatic (3.2%)

HOPS:
0.5 oz - Bullion, Type: Pellet, Use: First Wort (AA 7, IBU: 5.41)
0.5 oz - Sorachi Ace, Type: Pellet, Use: First Wort (AA 11.1, IBU: 8.58)
0.5 oz - Bullion for 30 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 7, IBU: 6.87)
0.5 oz - Cascade for 15 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 7, IBU: 4.44)
0.5 oz - Sorachi Ace for 15 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 11.1, IBU: 7.03)
0.25 oz - Cascade for 2 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil (AA 7, IBU: 0.34)
0.5 oz - Sorachi Ace for 2 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil (AA 11.1, IBU: 1.09)
0.25 oz - Cascade for 7 days, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop (AA 7)
0.5 oz - Sorachi Ace for 7 days, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop (AA 11.1)

YEAST:
Wyeast - French Saison 3711
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 80%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Temp: 65 - 77 F

NOTES:
Procedure:

Steep grains in 0.75 gal water (~1.75 qt/lb) for 45 minutes at 150 F. After 15 minutes add FWH hops.

Remove grains and rinse with hot water (~175F). Bring total volume up to 3 gallons.

Boil, Add DME, return to boil. Add 30 minute hops and start timer.

Combine flavoring and finishing hops. Add continuously over the last 15 minutes of the boil (DFH style).

Cool, add water to bring volume to 5 gallons. Pitch Yeast, etc.

Target fermentation temp: 70F

Extract
I tend to use mostly DME. I might have gone Pilsen light but I already have a bunch of golden light on hand.

Grains
Weyerbacher has "Carahell" and "wheat". I added some of that. From what I read, the flaked oats need to be mashed. I added the Pale Ale malt for diastatic power. I think of this step as a BIAB-PM. Even if I don't get much out of it I still have plenty of fermentables from the DME. Added the Belgian Aromatic cause its Belgian and I like it.

Hops

The Sorachi Ace and Cascade hops came from some other beers we both like. The bullion just sounded good and different, but I'm not sure if I've ever had it before. I've included and extract approximation for first wort hopping. Never done this before but I like how it sounds. Also planning on a 15-minute continuous addition of the flavoring/finishing hops. Plus a lite dry-hop for good measure.

Yeast

Wanted some interesting yeast character in here to go with the hops. I like Saisons. Temp range I think is achievable for me in a Pennsylvania winter. Plus it is low flocculation so nice cloudy beer. Description of the yeast says that in complements hop flavors. I didn't really intend this to be a Saison but it worked out that way. I ended up picking a Saison yeast and all the parameters (OG, SRM, etc.) match Saison.

Let me know if you have any suggestions or comments.... Or if anything looks really out of proportion.

Thanks

Any thoughts on the bullion hops? After posting this I read that Bullion is usually used for dark beers like stouts. Also it is becoming obsolete due to poor storage characteristics. My LHBS carries it but I'm concerned about freshness. What do you think of some Perle or possibly more Sorachi to replace the bullion?

That looks like a great beer! If I made a Belgian pale I'd probably have come up with the same recipe as you. One addition you might consider is biscuit. I haven't had Verboten but I am a fan of Ommegang BPA which also uses Cascade, and I think it works great. It is a pleasant, toasty beer with a touch of citrus.

I wouldn't be concerned with the bullion, they're just for bittering. Shouldn't affect flavor much.

What you have looks good. The bullion is fine and its flavor contribution will be masked by the the other hops. I don't think the white wheat malt is necessary, as the wheat malt extract already has wheat malt in it. You should have a nice hoppy saison, as Wyeast 3711 should dry this beer out pretty well.

Looks really good, but plan on it finishing closer to 1.005 with that yeast. I made a Saison with Sorachi Ace and it was great. I bet it would be good with the Cascade. If you are concerned about the Bullion then don't use it. Not worth worrying about for something you are bittering with anyway

I didn't realize that Ommegang made a BPA, might have to research a bottle of that this weekend if I can find it.

I thought about Biscuit. I brewed a Tripel last fall (LHBS kit) that had both aromatic and biscuit in it. I think I might bump up the aromatic a little since I think they are pretty similar.

I'll probably stick with the Bullion for the bittering hop. It probably won't matter much with all the other hops. If they are out of it I might go to Bramling Cross or Perle. My LHBS uses it for bittering in their Abbey Pale Ale kit. That is where I first heard about it.

Hopefully I can brew this in the next week or two. Next step is to figure out my fermentation heater. Probably going with a water batch with an aquarium heater. I get around 59 F in the basement and 65 F upstairs this time of year.

Thanks for the help, I'll post final results when it is done.

Curious about the result on this... also, did you brew with Bullion again?

I ended up not using the bullion. After reading about it being harsh and primarily used in dark beers I decided against it. I ended up using Bramling Cross. Bramling Cross has a similar description to Bullion but I didn't see anything about it being harsh. Final recipe is below.

The smell of this beer is awesome but I think I would like a few less IBU's. This was my first and only attempt at an extract FWH so I might have gotten more IBU's from those hops than the software predicted. Below is the final recipe that I brewed. If I do it again I will just omit the Bramling or Bullion and use all Sorachi Ace with a little Cascade.

FERMENTABLES:
3 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light (38.7%)
2 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light (25.8%)
1 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Wheat (12.9%)

STEEPING GRAINS:
0.5 lb - German - CaraHell (6.5%)
0.5 lb - Flaked Wheat (6.5%)
0.25 lb - American - Pale Ale (3.2%)
0.25 lb - American - Wheat (3.2%)
0.25 lb - Belgian - Aromatic (3.2%)

HOPS:
0.5 oz - Bramling Cross, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.5, Use: First Wort, IBU: 5.03
0.5 oz - Sorachi Ace, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.1, Use: First Wort, IBU: 8.59
0.5 oz - Bramling Cross, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.5, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 6.38
0.5 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 4.44
0.5 oz - Sorachi Ace, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.1, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 7.04
0.25 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Boil for 2 min, IBU: 0.38
0.5 oz - Sorachi Ace, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.1, Use: Boil for 2 min, IBU: 1.2
0.25 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days
0.5 oz - Sorachi Ace, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.1, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days

YEAST:
Wyeast - French Saison 3711
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (custom): 85%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Temp: 65 - 77 F
Fermentation Temp: 74 F

NOTES:
Procedure:

Steep grains in 0.75 gal water (~1.75 qt/lb) for 45 minutes at 150 F.

Remove grains and rinse with hot water. (~170 F). Bring total volume up to 3 gallons. Add 3# of DME. Add FWH hops. Hold for 30 minutes.

Boil, Add remaining DME, return to boil. Add 30 minute hops and start timer.

Combine flavoring and finishing hops. Add continuously over the last 15 minutes of the boil (DFH style).

Cool, add water to bring volume to 5 gallons. Pitch Yeast, etc.

Target fermentation temp: 75F
Updated for actual attenuation.