Opinions on this recipe please

Shooting for a series of beers that step up gradually from a very Pale Ale to a rather big and burley Stout.

First recipe I am making up on my own, not sure how it will taste so I was thinking of maybe making a 2.5gal test batch to keep costs down in case its awful. So here goes. I'm going to call these the Otter series.

For 5.5 gal yield:


7lbs Marris Otter
1lb Crystal 20°L
.5lbs Victory

Mash 1.75qt/lb @ 154° for 60min
Batch Sparge @ 178° for 15 min

Collect 6.5gals wort

60 min boil

.50oz Warrior pellets - 60 mins
.25oz Cascade Pellets - 2 mins

EDIT:
Safale-05 @ 67* for 7 days
Additional fermentation: 2 weeks at room temperature (Diacetyl rest)

OG: 1.043
FG: 1.011 EDIT: Actual FG was 1.010
ABV:4.2
SRM: 7.9
IBU: 26.0


Anyone see anything blaringly wrong with this recipe?

What yeast are you planning to use?

I think it'll be tasty. Balanced toward the malt rather than the hop end of the spectrum, with all that MO plus a pound of crystal, and only a quarter ounce of aroma hop. If this was me I'd consider using just a half pound of crystal, and increasing the late hop additions, but that's personal taste.

I'm with Shawn on this one, if you're going for a Pale Ale, then pump those hops up a bit and cut the 20L in half. I recommend adding a 20min hop addition for a bit of hop flavor (cascade works great for this). If you're worried about cutting the 20L in half, then also double the Vienna. That'll give some more malt taste without the sweetness that the Crystal malt has.

What I am really going for is a not so hoppy Pale Ale. I want to stay on the south side of hops for the style but make sure a sweet or malty taste comes through more than the hops. I find Pale Ale to be mundane so instead of trying to be the 100 millionth person to brew a pale ale to style guidelines I want to tweak it a little to my taste. I like less bitter, and more sweet or malt taste in a pale colored beer.

That said, thank you both for your suggestion. I think I will reverse the 20 and the Victory amounts. It does sound better in my head that way.

I'd leave it just the way it is, if those characteristics are what you're after. A half-pound of Victory is the maximum I'd recommend in a batch that size.

Victory can easily overpower if used in excess. I'm generally leery of more than 4 oz in five gallons.

Cheers!

Bob

I am with Bob, leave the recipe how it is and test it out. The only thing that matters is to add roasted barley to a stout. This is your pale ale, make it like you want. If you want this to be more sweet and less hoppy you might look into going up to 159 mash temp. I had good results in creating a delicious malty (MO base) beer with that method and had about 19 IBU's all as a bittering addition.

"20 Otter Victory" is in the fermenter as of last night at about 6pm. The color is very light as I was expecting. This morning I awoke and checked the fermenter and I have a nice 1/4" of Krausen starting to form. My OG was 1.040 because I was between 5.5gallons and 6, closer to 6 though. Its fermenting with Safale-05 at 67* right now. Mash temp was about 154-156. (Its time for a new thermometer.) I'll let you guys know how this turned out in about a month and a half.

Excellent! Please do let us know.

Bob

The Label haha!

Bottling this one today after work! Got a lot of work to do, bottling this and BM's "Challenger" Blonde. I'll let you guys know about this beer in about 2-3 weeks.

Cracked one open last night, and had a taste test with my GF and my brother. My brother said he would rather drink any beer I make than anything he buys at the store, so I asked him, "Well why don't you then, I have 7 cases of beer in the house."

My GF said it tastes really good. Her normal comments are, "hmm, tastes like beer." She is not a beer drinker.

One issue that concerns me currently is that its too dry. Its crisp like a lager, but you expect more because its a wonderful golden brown hue. I think it fermented about 3-4 points too much. Maybe I'll make this again and mash at 156 or 157 to get a few more unfermentables.

My unprofessional review:

I think you start with nose right? Nose was very light, slight alcohol that went away completely as it warmed, slight malt, strawberry smell apparent at the very end of inhale (Safale)

Taste: good (young) carbonation gives way to a slight malty character, which leaves as fast as it arrives. Very little bitterness (what I was going for) imparted from the hops. No off flavors apparent.

Mouthfeel: Does not loiter, but is apparent for a few seconds. I think it needs a little more in this category. We'll see in about 2 months.

Finish: Leaves you with a slight malty taste and a fruity aftertaste imparted by the yeast. Not as crisp as a BMC lager thank god, or an Asahi but close.

This would be a very good extra light Ale for people accustomed to drinking BMC or for sitting on the deck in the summer.