Critique My Pale Ale Recipe

Take a look at this American Pale Ale recipe and tell me what you think. I'm going for something with a little toasty malt character with a touch of sweetness and a heavy citrous flavor and aroma without being too bitter.

OG: 1.052
FG: 1.013 (ABV 5.11%)
IBU: 40
Color: 7.9 SRM
Batch size: 5 gallons
Wyeast 1056 w/ starter

Grain Bill
5.50 lbs. Pale 2-row
2.00 lbs. Munich 10L
3.00 lbs. Vienne 20L
0.50 lbs. Caramel 40L

Single infusion mash at 150 F for 60 mins. Batch sparge.

Hop Additions
1.0 oz. Cascade (60)
1.0 oz. Cascade (15)
1.0 oz. Citra (5)
1.0 oz. Cascade and 1 oz. Citra at flameout
1.0 oz. Citra dry hop 7 days

I'll ferment in primary for 7 days at 68 F and then rack into secondary with the dry hops for another 7 days before bottling.

Thoughts? Tips?

Just my thoughts. If you're looking for a toasty flavor add some Victory and lower the Vienna a little. Although it will darker the beer, Victory is one of my favorite Malts. Also, look at replacing the Cascade with Amarillo . Amarillo goes well with Citra. If you can find Simcoe, use those for the bittering hops.

Thanks. I had thought about using Amarillo, but I'm not sure if the LHBS is going to have it. I'll take a look and switch if possible. Would you switch out all the cascade for amarillo? Or just the flavoring and aroma hops?

Honestly I'm not a fan of cascades. But that is just my opinion. I don't think they make for a good bittering hop, Nugget or Simcoe would work well with your recipe. Amarillos are hard to find right now. If you can't find those try Centennial hops.

I agree with adding something like victory or biscuit to get a more nutty/bready character. I would use a 60 minute addition to get about 50-60% of your IBUS, then you use a 15 addition and a flameout for the rest. I would probably increase the flameout hop amount to 2 oz (you choose how you split that up) and dry hop with 2 oz if you really want that flavor/aroma punch.

This is just me but I'd pick either Munich or Vienna

I'm a huge fan of cascades (but not citra), so I'd say to leave the hopping for now and see what YOU like.

I like the grainbill, and think it'll give you exactly what you're looking for.

not sure if it was a typo or problem with your brew software but Vienna malt is usually around 3-4 lovibond, not 20

it has a nice breadiness to it but not too toasty

you could also home toast some of your 2 row instead of using victory or biscuit or add a few oz of amber malt but I think it also looks really good as is

Yea, you should brew it as is. Let us know how it turned out...

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. I'm glad I asked because I've already learned a lot. Here is what I've settled on, but this will probably change a dozen times between now and when I get to the LHBS on Thursday, and then when I can't get all the hops I want it'll probably change again on the fly. But for now, here it is.

OG: 1.053
FG: 1.013 (ABV 5.24%)
IBU: 44
Color: 7.4 SRM
Batch size: 5 gallons
Wyeast 1056 w/ starter

Grain Bill
5.50 lbs. Pale 2-row
2.00 lbs. Munich 10L
3.00 lbs. Vienna (I had pulled the Vienna 20L out of the iBrewmaster software for whoever asked. Fixed it.)
0.50 lbs. Caramel 40L

Single infusion mash at 150 F for 60 mins. Batch sparge.

Hop Additions
0.5 oz. Simcoe (60)
0.5 oz. Citra (15)
0.5 oz. Amarillo (15)
1.0 oz. Amarillo and 1 oz. Citra at flameout
1.0 oz. Citra and 1 oz. Amarillo dry hop 7 days

I'll ferment in primary for 7 days at 68 F and then rack into secondary with the dry hops for another 7 days before bottling.

I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

Most LBHS are out of Simcoe and Amarillo. I have a few oz left of Amarillo till Oct, and I have some leaf Simcoe, maybe I can ship you a few if you don't mind covering shipping. Let me know and send me and email [email protected]

That's what I'm afraid of. I'll switch out anything I can't find with centennial most likely.

Looks good, Ive personally been brewing a lot of american ales with the combo of Vienna and Munich like you have there. I can't put my finger on what it is about the flavor but I like it.

Odin_Brews said:

Looks good, Ive personally been brewing a lot of american ales with the combo of Vienna and Munich like you have there. I can't put my finger on what it is about the flavor but I like it.

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Thanks, but I have to give credit where it's due. The grain bill is mostly lifted from Yoopers Pale Ale recipe in the database.

another idea would be to do first wort hop with the simcoe, take advantage of the great flavor and pairing with amarillo

terrapinj said:

another idea would be to do first wort hop with the simcoe, take advantage of the great flavor and pairing with amarillo

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I agree. Simcoe and Amarillo go very well together.

I made a similar APA/AIPA using a similar grain bill with simcoe, cascade and citra, dry hopping with cascades. It was VERY citrus forward and not bitter at all, but after a month in the bottle it faded quickly. it's still a delicious beer but not as citrus as it was when young. I'd recommend dry hopping 1oz each of cascade and citra to really smash that citrus in there.