Pale Ale recipe thoughts

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TheCatman

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I'm planning the recipe for my second batch. I'd already like to move away from the recipe kits and start creating my own, even just with extracts for now.

This is a recipe a came up with today. The best I can describe it is a hybrid between an American Pale and an ESB, as in malts that you might see in an ESB plus a small amount of wheat, but hopped with American hops and using American yeast.

6 lbs. Gold LME
2 lbs. Victory Malt
1 lb. White Wheat
1 lb. Carapils

1 oz. Centennial - 60 min
1 oz. Cascade - 10 min
1 oz. Cascade - 0 min

US-05 yeast

Thoughts?
 
I'd say that using Victory is good idea, but 2 lbs is a little much. The same goes for carapils. I'd probably use 1 lb of Victory and .5 lb of carapils. For the hops I might move .5 oz of the 10 min addition to 30 min to get more flavor. Those are just minor things. I think it looks like a good start.
 
slarkin712 said:
I'd say that using Victory is good idea, but 2 lbs is a little much. The same goes for carapils. I'd probably use 1 lb of Victory and .5 lb of carapils. For the hops I might move .5 oz of the 10 min addition to 30 min to get more flavor. Those are just minor things. I think it looks like a good start.
Click to expand...

What he said, especially regarding the malts.
Only thing different is I'd say move the full 1oz to 15 min. 30 min is a little too far in my opinion for flavor. But really it's just picking nits at this point.
 
Good suggestion on the malts, I'll do that. And it makes it a little cheaper ;)

Maybe I'll split the difference on the flavoring hops and throw them in at 20 mintues lol

Thanks for the suggestions!
 
Also, I'm not sure what to call this beer. Does anyone know if there is a style that this would fit into? Otherwise, I was thinking something along the lines of American ESB.
 
TheCatman said:
I'm planning the recipe for my second batch. I'd already like to move away from the recipe kits and start creating my own, even just with extracts for now.

This is a recipe a came up with today. The best I can describe it is a hybrid between an American Pale and an ESB, as in malts that you might see in an ESB plus a small amount of wheat, but hopped with American hops and using American yeast.

6 lbs. Gold LME
2 lbs. Victory Malt
1 lb. White Wheat
1 lb. Carapils

1 oz. Centennial - 60 min
1 oz. Cascade - 10 min
1 oz. Cascade - 0 min

US-05 yeast

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I love the hopping, but agree on the malt bill. .5 ounce carapils and .75 victory would be great.

It still looks like an APA.
 
My thoughts with the higher amount of Victory, and the wheat, was to move it a little bit away from a straight APA. I'll guess I'll just have to wait and see how it tastes ;)
 
TheCatman said:
My thoughts with the higher amount of Victory, and the wheat, was to move it a little bit away from a straight APA. I'll guess I'll just have to wait and see how it tastes ;)
Click to expand...

If you want a maltier beer, you could go with "malty malts" like Munich or Vienna and if you want to have a bit of a sweeter finish you could use crystal malt in there.

If you want an ESB-ish grain bill, you could go with crystal malt and some maris otter. An ESB needs some dark crystal. I like a mix of light and dark, like .5 pound of 40L and .5 pound of 80L. Or .25 pound of 120L for a raisiny/toffee flavor.
 
I was saying ESB because I'm a n00b lol. I honestly don't care what it ends up being categorized as. I think I'll just roll with the Victory, probably 1 lb, and see how it turns out.
 
TheCatman said:
I was saying ESB because I'm a n00b lol. I honestly don't care what it ends up being categorized as. I think I'll just roll with the Victory, probably 1 lb, and see how it turns out.
Click to expand...

So you're asking whether or not it'll be beer? Yes, it'll be beer :D
 
Exactly ;)

I just want to brew something tasty that has elements from a few styles I like. Then I'll slap on whatever category fits best.
 
My $.02

Drop the victory to .75 lb. Also, drop the white wheat and replace it with 1lb wheat DME. Wheat malt should be mashed, not steeped.
 
Hmm I forgot to consider the mashing recommendations on the malts...looks like I need to research a little more and tweak a few things here.
 
I've brewed an APA with just 2 row and about .5 pounds of both crystal 80 and carapils, turned out great. if you want something a bit more sweet without having it under attenuated I have had good results with 3 -5 % honey malt added.
 
I'm not looking to brew a straight APA. I want this beer to be hopped like an APA would be, but I'm looking for it to be a little fuller and maltier, without the sweetness that the crystal malts would add.
 
This is a very similar recipe to my cream ale, except instead of centennial I use willamette. For APA I would use crystal instead of wheat.
 
TheCatman said:
I'm not looking to brew a straight APA. I want this beer to be hopped like an APA would be, but I'm looking for it to be a little fuller and maltier, without the sweetness that the crystal malts would add.
Click to expand...

My suggested recipe based on what you want:

6lb gold lme
1lb wheat dme
.75 lb victory
.75 carapils

Follow the rest of the recipe the way you had it. That should give you what you're looking for. Cheers!
 
I definitely like the suggestion for Wheat DME, I'll use that for sure.

From what I've looked up, it's recommended that Victory be mashed. What would be the results of steeping a grain that is recommended for mash?
 
You can steep victory malt for sure. Another idea would be using weyerman carafoam instead of the carapils. I find that it's a superior dextrin malt.
 
You're going to end up with a toasty pale ale, rather than the more common Carmel pale. Should be pretty good. You might want to consider dry hopping with 1/2 oz of a citrusy American hop too. Any of the c hops would great in pales.
 
I think my recipe will be:

6 lb gold LME
1 lb wheat DME
up to 1 lb light DME (used as needed to raise gravity)
0.5 Carapils
1 lb Victory

1 oz Centennial @ 60 min
1 oz Cascade @ 15 min
1 oz Cascade @ flameout

US-05 yeast

Assuming my calcuator is accurate, the stats will be:
@ ~72% efficiency
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.012
ABV: 5%
SRM: 8.1
IBU 44.3
 
I'm considering changing this recipe to a 3-gallon BIAB batch.

4 lb 2-row
1 lb White Wheat
1 lb Victory

0.5 oz Centennial @ 60 min
0.5 oz Centennial @ 10 min
0.5 oz Cascade @ 5 min
0.5 oz Cascade @ flameout

US-05 yeast

I'm changing this up due to some new hardware I have acquired, and just to make it so I can brew more often. Thoughts?
 
I brewed this recipe on Saturday with a few minor tweaks:

4-gallon BIAB

5 lb 2-row
1.5 lb White Wheat
1 lb Victory
0.5 lb C60

0.5 oz Centennial @ 60 min
0.5 oz Centennial @ 10 min
0.5 oz Cascade @ 5 min
0.5 oz Cascade @ flameout

US-05 yeast

It's currently bubbling away, so we'll see how it turns out!
 

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