Pale Ale Recipe Critique

Hey all -

Threw this together to use up some leftovers. Let me know what y'all think, please.

Type: Partial Mash
Date: 6/21/2008
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Brewer: David
Boil Size: 2.43 gal
Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00

Taste Notes: Classic American Pale Ale with huge hop flavor and aroma.


3.25 lbs. Pale Malt
.5 lbs Crystal 120L
.25 lbs. Crystal 60L
4 lbs. Extra Light DME
1 oz. Chinook (60 min)
.5 oz. Cascade (20 min)
.5 oz. Cascade (5 min)
1 oz. Cascade (whole hops) DH for 7 days
US-05 dry ale yeast.

Specs:
OG: 1.056
IBUs: 40.6
Color: 11.1SRM

Single Infusion Batch Sparge at 151F


So I'm debating on changing a few things:

1. Move the 20 min addition to 10 min
2. Substitute 1 pound of Pilsner malt for 1 lb. of Pale malt
3. Should I add some Munich to the grain bill in place of some pale malt?

I tried to keep this one simple, as I am aiming for a decent house brew with lots of hop nose and flavor with moderate bitterness.

Any thoughts and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

i did a pale with 120 crystal and it had a raisin/prune quality that i wasn't too fond of. not to say you shouldn't use it, but just be aware.

tagz said:

i did a pale with 120 crystal and it had a raisin/prune quality that i wasn't too fond of. not to say you shouldn't use it, but just be aware.

Click to expand...

What was the grain bill for that one?

I was afraid of the 120 imparting a darker caramel/dark fruit flavor and wasn't sure how it'd end up.

tagz said:

i did a pale with 120 crystal and it had a raisin/prune quality that i wasn't too fond of. not to say you shouldn't use it, but just be aware.

Click to expand...

+1. I don't advocate going darker than 60L crystal in an IPA. You risk the sweetness being cloying, which, even with such a high hops bill, can take the flavor way out of whack.

IndyPA - Why not delete the 120L and substitute the Munich you're considering? I'd use two pounds of Munich for a nice, smooth maltiness, and adjust the rest to give you the four pounds in your partial mash. I did 50/50% Pale/Munich in a partial-mash English IPA I brewed once, and it turned out fine.

Worth a try, anyway!

Cheers,

Bob

I took the previous advice and tweaked it a bit.

Thoughts?

Pale Ale
American Pale Ale


Type: Partial Mash
Date: 6/21/2008
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Brewer: Dave
Boil Size: 2.43 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes: Classic American Pale Ale with huge hop flavor and aroma.

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 50.00 %
3.25 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (1.8 SRM) Grain 40.63 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3.13 %
0.25 lb Munich 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 3.13 %
0.25 lb Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.0 SRM) Grain 3.13 %
1.00 oz Chinook [10.70 %] (60 min) Hops 35.9 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade (Whole) [5.90 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (20 min) Hops 3.1 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.5 IBU
1 Pkgs US-05 Dry Ale Yeast (Safale #US-05) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.26 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 40.6 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 5.7 SRM Color: Color



I don't have enough Munich around to throw two pounds in a la Bob's reply, so I played with it a bit.

Also, any thoughts on the hop schedule?

Thanks,

I think you're on the right track. As it reads now, it's going to make a damn fine beer!

I can't help you on the hops, as I really can't abide my beer tasting like grapefruit juice. (None of the "C" hops really agree with me.) It'll definitely have the classic American Pale Ale/IPA hops profile.

Not sure for why the Pils malt. I wouldn't fiddle with it unless I had it lying around going stale. Were you going for something specific with that?

Here's a thought - Extra Light extract usually has a proportion of adjunct in the mash, like rice and/or corn. I'm certain both Muntons and Briess do this (you could check the product PDFs on their websites to make sure). That might actually offset any body-enhancing specialty grains you add!

But like I said before, as it stands it's gonna be a damn fine APA/IPA!

Cheers,

Bob

Thanks, Bob. I actually did a little more tweaking to it, and answered your question at the same time. I removed the pils and replaced it with another .25# of Crystal 60. I only had it in there to have a 4# grain bill, since after beer #1 on Saturday, I'll only have 3.25# of Pale malt left. (Plus, if the pale malt was less than 3.25, I could just up the Pils)

I also moved the 20 min addition to 10 min for a bit more hop flavor (C hops make me happy).

Any thoughts on this?

Cheers,

Any thoughts on this?

Click to expand...

Other than one, no.

That one is this: Dry-hopping. I know it's 'the done thing' to add multiple additions in the kettle, then dry-hop. But I wonder if it doesn't make more sense to just dry-hop the hell out of it instead of doing all those fiddly kettle additions...No real answer, just conjecture. It gives you something to do during the boil, I guess.

See, there's this bitter I do that has one hops addition, the main one. No flavor hops, no aroma hops. I dry-hop it in the keg with an ounce or so of whole-flower hops in a sock. But the drinker finds lots of fresh hops flavor and aroma.

I've not made a study of it, and I'm not telling you to do it. I'm just thinking while typing.

Cheers!

Bob

BobNQ3X said:

Other than one, no.


See, there's this bitter I do that has one hops addition, the main one. No flavor hops, no aroma hops. I dry-hop it in the keg with an ounce or so of whole-flower hops in a sock. But the drinker finds lots of fresh hops flavor and aroma.

Click to expand...

Sounds friggin' interesting, and very traditional. If I kegged, I'd definitely try this out, and may do so in secondary with subsequent batches of this, but for this beer, I'm really looking to get a "house pale" recipe together and want to stick to what I know to start off to have a basis for comparison.

I'd be interested in seeing that bitter recipe and may incorporate some if it into my own, if you're willing to share.

Thanks,

Ask and ye shall receive.

As you will find, I am a huge fan of simple grists; the simpler the grist to get my beer to where it needs to be, the better. This is the PM version. For AG, just delete the DME and add Maris Otter to get to the target OG. Muntons extract ferments quite dry, so I mash the Maris Otter at a higher temperature for the PM.

If you make this, carbonate it naturally, and please please please don't carbonate it to more than 1.8 volumes. A., this is supposed to be real ale; and B., too much carbon dioxide gas masks and ruins the hops bitterness, instead supplanting it with a coarse bitterness from the carbonic acid. Give it enough gas to throw a head and visible bubbles, but no more.

Anyway, let me know what you think.

Yes, Please

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

08-A English Pale Ale, Standard/Ordinary Bitter

Min OG: 1.032 Max OG: 1.040
Min IBU: 25 Max IBU: 35
Min Clr: 4 Max Clr: 14 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 3.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 5.50
Anticipated OG: 1.036 Plato: 8.91
Anticipated SRM: 9.5
Anticipated IBU: 30.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
54.5 3.00 lbs. Maris Otter Great Britain 1.037 4
18.2 1.00 lbs. Crystal 55L Great Britian 1.034 55
27.3 1.50 lbs. Muntons DME - Light England 1.046 5

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.50 oz. Fuggle Plug 5.00 30.8 First WH
1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 4.75 0.0 Dry Hop


Yeast
-----

Danstar Nottingham


Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Type: Single Step

Grain Lbs: 4.00
Water Qts: 5.00 - Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 1.25 - Before Additional Infusions

Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.25 - Before Additional Infusions

Saccharification Rest Temp : 154 Time: 60
Mash-out Rest Temp : 165 Time: 10
Sparge Temp : 175 Time: 15


Total Mash Volume Gal: 1.57 - Dough-In Infusion Only

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.