What did i make?? 4th AG

here's the recipe:

10# 2-Row
2# Vienna
12 oz. 40L
4oz Melanoidin

Mash was a bi**c, could not hold temp in my crap cooler in the cool weather we had today. Took close to three hours, with lots of extra boiling water and a few "decoction" drainings/heatings just to keep the mash temp aboce 150*. Very annoying.
And follow that with a stuck sparge. Not too surpising.
Finally, it was time to boil.

1oz Cluster 60 min
.5oz Wilamette 30 min
.25oz Fuggles 15 min
.25oz NZ Styrian Goldings @ flameout

Just the hops I had on hand. Haven't measured FG yet, but it's tasing pretty sweet. I'm guessing, with my low efficency and looooong mash, it'll be in the 1.060's?

Sorry for the vent. I started this 7 hours ago and thought it would be done in 5.

So....what did I make? I'm thinking it's either a hoppy amber, or a not-so-hoppy IPA. It's a bastardized version of EdWort's Haus Pale Ale that i just came up with off the top of my head while visiting a new (to me) LHBS that was absolutely no help in formulating a recipe.

time for more apfelwein

What yeast are you using? You have grain and hops from USA, Germany, UK, and New Zealand. It's not an IPA or a Pale Ale, but it looks good, and your a homebrewer, so you don't need to follow style guidelines. Brew what you want.

I used WLP 001 California Ale. I know the whole thing is all over the spectrum, the recipe was partly what I threw together at the shop (grain and the cluster hops), and partly what I had on hand (all other hops and yeast).

FG ended up at 1.052. I was pretty bummed at that. I'm using the double bucket LT. It's going in the trash with spent grain. This weekend I will buy a proper Coleman cooler and convert to a MLT and I will fabricate my own wort chiller. SWMBO is buying clothes like we can afford it, so why can't I use our credit card like we can pay it off this decade?

All in all, this brew is pretty bitter and i'm looking forwrad to it

I would just call it an American Pale Ale, after all, we are a melting pot right? I have never used Melanoidin before, what is it's characteristics?

Kauai_Kahuna said:

I would just call it an American Pale Ale, after all, we are a melting pot right? I have never used Melanoidin before, what is it's characteristics?

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Red color with a malty profile, usually. Vienna and munich have high melanoidin content.

Kauai_Kahuna said:

I would just call it an American Pale Ale, after all, we are a melting pot right?

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I think even the micros are trying to categorise some beers in places they don't really belong just so they have something descriptive to put on the label. So it has to be even harder for a home brewer to make such a distinction! Much of it is simply good beer, but a little (or somewhat) too far removed from it's style to keep the buyer in the ball park regarding knowing what he's buying. I reckon there could almost be a "pot luck" style where you just have to expect the unexpected.

Pot Luck Ale it is!

I didn't realize Vienna and Munich malts contained Melanoidin. I'm quite fond of all three

Beersmith puts your recipe right on the numbers for an American Pale Ale:

Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 7.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 32.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.92 %
2 lbs Vienna Malt (4.0 SRM) Grain 15.38 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5.77 %
4.0 oz Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 1.92 %
1.00 oz Cluster [7.00 %] (60 min) Hops 27.3 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [3.80 %] (30 min) Hops 3.8 IBU
0.25 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (15 min) Hops 1.2 IBU
0.25 oz Styrian Goldings [4.20 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale

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My guess would be that you got 60-65% efficiency, depending on your batch size and the actual amount of wort you ended up with. I would also assume that your long, low-temp mash will result in a highly fermentable wort. If we had a betting pool, I'd put my money on 1.010 FG, for just under 5.5% ABV. If you keep your fermentation temperatures under control you'll most likely end up with a moderately hoppy APA balanced with a good malt backbone. I'd drink it.

Edited to add BJCP Style Guidelines for American Pale Ale.
Chad

awesome, thanks for the analysis! I ended up with about 5.5 gallons. The mash started good at 155* and cooled quickly. I need a good thermometer, the two probes I have are both calibrated at 32* but gave +/- 8* difference at mash temp. Who knows, maybe it did hold heat well? But there's no spigot, so i needed the buckets.
So much for brewing to save money....