Partial Mash Pale Ale. Thoughts?

Went to the LHBS today and got them to help me put together a pale ale. My only wish was that it have lots of Cascade flavor and aroma. Here's what we came up with:

6 lbs. 6 row pale malt 1.5L
1 lb. 6 row carmel malt 60L
4.95 lbs. light LME
3/4oz. Yakima Magnum 13.1 a/a
2oz. Cascade 6.3 a/a
Nottingham Ale Yeast

Schedule:
Mash for 1 hour at 150 with 2 gallons
Sparge with 2 gallons at 180 for 30 minutes
top off to 6 gallons

boil for 75 minutes

Hop additions:
3/4 Yakima Magnum at 60 minutes
1 oz Cascade at 20 minutes
1 oz Cascade at 5 minutes

Questions:
I don't know about calculating efficency or using beersmith type programs to get my IBUs and OG etc... any help would be appreciated. Also when it comes to sparging the LHBS owner and i discussed Fly vs. Batch sparging. It sounds like fly would be more effecient but Batch is easier. I will be using either a cooler or my small brew pot with a sparge bag for the mash as i haven't assembled anything fancy yet. I am thinking of going with the batch sparging since i can easily remove the bag and dump the wort into the big brew pot. Thoughts? Thanks for the help. Any comments or concerns would be appreciated.

anybody???


Yeah... i know i'm impatient. but you guys are usually lightning fast!!

As for the IBUs and OG estimate. The recipe calculator at Tastybrew works pretty well. TastyBrew.com | Recipe Calculation

I've used that site for numerous brews. It at least gives you a target. As for efficiency, I usually shoot a little low (ex. 60%) for my partial mashes.

Like your LHBS mentioned, batch sparging is easier, especially for partial mashes, where you make up for the missing sugars with extract and efficiency may not be as critical.

If you are going to do the stovetop partial mash. Check out this article on BYO. It's a good reference.

BYO - Countertop Partial Mashing

Here ya go...

BeerSmith Recipe Printout -

Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: Partial Mash
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 5.72 gal
Estimated OG: 1.072 SG
Estimated Color: 12.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 43.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.95 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 41.42 %
6.00 lb Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.21 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.37 %
0.75 oz Magnum [13.10 %] (60 min) Hops 30.1 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (20 min) Hops 10.2 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 3.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale

Click to expand...

Your OG is a little high for the style, but I wouldn't sweat it...especially since your anticipated FG falls right in the style range, as does the srms and the ibus...

I think you are golden!

My only question is why 6 row as opposed to 2????

Thanks Revvy. We added a little extra LME to increase the SG in case my efficency was a bit low this being my first PM and all... As far as the 6 row vs 2 row, i was just going with the recommendation of the LHBS. To be perfectly honest i'm still kinda new to understand the difference.

bearkluttz said:

Thanks Revvy. We added a little extra LME to increase the SG in case my efficency was a bit low this being my first PM and all... As far as the 6 row vs 2 row, i was just going with the recommendation of the LHBS. To be perfectly honest i'm still kinda new to understand the difference.

Click to expand...

I would use 2-row, if you have it. 6-row is higher in protein, and has a higher diastastic power, to convert adjuncts (which you're not using.). I think 6-row will give you a harsher, grainier flavor. If all you have is the 6-row, though, it'll be fine since it's a small amount.

YooperBrew said:

I would use 2-row, if you have it. 6-row is higher in protein, and has a higher diastastic power, to convert adjuncts (which you're not using.). I think 6-row will give you a harsher, grainier flavor. If all you have is the 6-row, though, it'll be fine since it's a small amount.

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Yoop, the 6-row is 50% of his grain bill....

Bear, if you already got the grain, then go for it, like yoop said it may be "grainy" and harsh, but that will smooth out with time....though some people, myself included, enjoy grainy beers on occasion.

(I did a recipe recently that called for 6 instead of 2, it came out fine, but then again I had a lot of adjuncts.)

Since it's your first PM, it prolly won't be that noticeable...Either way, it still will be beer!!!

You'll do fine!

Not sure if i like Grainy Beers or not. Guess i'll find out cause yep, i've already got the grain milled and ready to go. I'll let everybody know in a month or two. Thanks for all the help.
Bear

So how'd it go, how'd it go, how'd it go?????

got the call for overtime today... will be brewing first thing in the morning tuesday. on another note, did some experimenting with my cooler. Its 40 quarts and i'm only mashing with 2 gallons and 6 lbs grains. i added 2 gallons of 168 degree water last night and it dropped 24 degrees in an hour. i know there will be a bit of heat loss but i figure i may need to run to walmart to get a smaller cooler in order to minimize loss. any other suggestions? i know i could add hotter water but in order to hit my temps i would have to add so much i end up with a few hour boil.

bearkluttz said:

got the call for overtime today... will be brewing first thing in the morning tuesday. on another note, did some experimenting with my cooler. Its 40 quarts and i'm only mashing with 2 gallons and 6 lbs grains. i added 2 gallons of 168 degree water last night and it dropped 24 degrees in an hour. i know there will be a bit of heat loss but i figure i may need to run to walmart to get a smaller cooler in order to minimize loss. any other suggestions? i know i could add hotter water but in order to hit my temps i would have to add so much i end up with a few hour boil.

Click to expand...

You could try preheating the cooler with almost-but-quite-boiling water. Cover, and let sit for 15 minutes, and dump out. That should help minimize the heat loss. Remember, grains hold heat better than plain water, too, because of the mass. you can also wrap your MLT with a sleeping bag.

I'll give it a shot. thanks Yooper!

Brewed today. Only thing i did wrong was just plain forgetfulness... I forgot to take my SG b4 pitching. remembered about 15-20 minutes later. 1.062. Is taking it this soon after brewing a problem? Also it ended up looking a lot more like a red ale than a pale ale.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f85/9-16-08-cascade-pale-ale-brewing-now-80655/