Grapefruit Pale Ale Recipe - Comments?

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jeffdill

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I'm very new to recipe creation so I'm hoping I could get some comments on my recipe as far as if the extract and specialty grains amounts look good, along with the hop schedule.

I had recently tried the Southern Tier Pale Ale and absolutely loved it. I want a very drinkable American Pale Ale with strong floral and grapefruit tones. Here's what I threw together:

Recipe: Grapefruit Pale Ale
Brewer: Jeff Dillaman
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: Extract
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 3.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 10.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 45.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: - %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 41.10 %
3.30 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 45.21 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.85 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 6.85 %
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 34.7 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min) Hops 5.6 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 5.3 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Safale US-05 (Fermentis) Yeast-Ale


I had read somewhere that Southern Tier uses just Simcoe and Cascade in their Pale Ale, but I'm not sure of the authenticity of that source. People seem to really like Amarillo around here so I thought it could be good to throw that in there for aroma too.
 
If you want flavor, do the flameout hop additions. For aroma, dry hopping is crucial. I'd add the amarillo as a dry hop.
 
Southern Tier said:
Pale
“3 types of hops & 3 types of malts”
Our Pale is an aggressively hopped, with immense overtones of grapefruit and tangerine wrapped in a delicately refined body of pale barley and wheat.
6.2% abv • Pale Ale

I would personnaly go with wheat extract, pale extract, and Crystal 60L
Build that to an OG of 1.062 and FG of 1.014 which would be ~6.2%
Maybe:
72% pale malt
20% Wheat malt - note wheat DME and LME are usually only 55% wheat/ 45% Barley
8% Crystal 60L

For hops I would go with
Simcoe @ 60
Cascade @ 15
Cascade @ 8
Cascade @ 2
Amarillo @ Dry Hop

Look for about 45 IBUs
 
Out of curiosity, why do you say you would go with wheat extract? I didn't really taste any in their beer, but I'm not sure how much flavor it would add in quantities that small.
 
If you want flavor, do the flameout hop additions. For aroma, dry hopping is crucial. I'd add the amarillo as a dry hop.

I thought that adding hops at flameout just adds aroma, and flavor additions are more around 10-15 minutes left in the boil. Maybe I'm mistaken?
 
I'm only speaking from my experience. When I add at flameout, I get mediocre aroma at best. When I dry hop, I get wonderful hop aroma.
 
The Internet says that Simcoe hops taste like grapefruit.

You want to brew a Pale Ale that tastes like grapefruit.
 
I have some cascade hops, that will make a really nice pale ale.

I have cascade hops for 1/3 the price.
 
I've found that Magnum hops have a very citrusy, grapefruit like bitterness to them. Almost like biting a grapefruit, rind and all. I think it might be a good substitute for Simcoe.
 
Out of curiosity, why do you say you would go with wheat extract? I didn't really taste any in their beer, but I'm not sure how much flavor it would add in quantities that small.

Edit: OK, didn't see that their description said they added wheat. My bad.
 
Try hop bursting. Make all your additions at 30 min or less and increase the amounts used to achieve the same IBUs. Flavor and aroma will be greatly enhanced.

You could also look into doing some mash hopping a la Pliny the Elder.
 
There's a "Must See Homebrew Video" in the drunken ramblings section that deals with Grapefruit Pale Ale, I believe it's on page 1.
 
The Internet says that Simcoe hops taste like grapefruit.

You want to brew a Pale Ale that tastes like grapefruit.

Where did you get that? Simcoe has a very piney taste/smell. Amarillo is very grapefruit. The mixture of the two is awesome...

(Edit- I guess there's a number of folks that think it is grapefruity... but I get far more of the pinetree flavor from it... www.brew365.com has a pretty useful set of hop reviews...)

Best beer I've ever made:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/simarillo-ipa-176753/#post2108248
 
I think a piney taste could be a good addition...maybe add some simcoe to the flameout? Perhaps Southern Tier uses all three hops as aroma hops to give it the taste? (I can't remember if it had any pine taste to it or not, I was already multiple beers in at this point)
 
I've used Centennial to get some nice grapefruit flavour. YMMV but this is the recipe that I use:

Grapefruit Bitter O.G. - 1.050
8lb pale malt extract
12 oz carastan malt
4 oz wheat malt
9 AAU Centennial bittering hops (60 minutes)
1.5 oz Centennial finishing hops
ale yeast (Notty works well)

Credit for the recipe goes to my LHBS, Dan's Homebrewing in Vancouver BC. I make it as all grain now but that is the only difference from the above...
 
OK guys...revised the recipe. Let me know how it looks now:

Recipe: Grapefruit Pale Ale
Brewer: Jeff Dillaman
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: Extract
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 3.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.065 SG
Estimated Color: 10.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 47.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: - %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.00 lb Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 22.60 %
6.60 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 74.58 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2.82 %
1.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 42.8 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 3.0 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.2 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (0 min) Hops - (I just did this because I had the 1/2 oz left over...)
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Safale US-05 (Fermentis) Yeast-Ale

I reduced the amount of Crystal malt to try to match the color of the beer:

e9southerntierpalealej


http://yfrog.com/e9southerntierpalealej
 
Had a little boilover mishap. Never happened before...luckily I caught it before it created TOO much of a mess. I hit an OG of 1.059. Sticking it in the primary fermenter and waiting!
 
Hello all! Just remembered to report back.

This beer tastes GREAT! It's a relatively light session beer at a bit less than 5% ABV. It's a nice dark orange color. When you first taste it your mouth bursts with a clean citrus tang that leaves a nice grapefruit aftertaste.

My only problem is that the beer doesn't taste quite is clean as I wanted it to...I'm not sure if that is from my slightly high fermentation temperature (72 degrees roughly) or my choice of yeast. I'm sure a different choice could help!
 
Your high fermentation temp would lead to increased esters and possibly a very low amount of fusels. Also yeast choice could make a big difference in the beers cleanliness and finish.

A lower fermentation temp and neutral yeast will give you a cleaner profile.

Personnaly I would have used WLP001 / WY1056 / US-05 and fermented around 62F-64F.
 
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