American Pale Ale Recipe Critique

[Rob2010SS]

Looking for some feedback on a pale ale recipe I'm putting together for the weekend. The last pale ale I made, I was very underwhelmed with the hops and the bitterness. IBU's on that one came out at 37 and my hop schedule was the following:

.50oz columbus @ 60, .50oz centennial @ 15, .50oz cascade @ 5, 1.0oz cascade @ flame out, 2oz cascade whole cones and 1oz centennial pellets for dry hop.

That was just very underwhelming and definitely was lacking in aroma. Bitterness wasn't bad actually so I tried not to bring it up too much in this one.

What are your thoughts on the hop schedule below? Am I going crazy with the amount of hops? I don't think that's crazy but you never know...

Any feedback is welcome.

SPECIFICATIONS:
OG 1.050
FG 1.011
IBU's 47.23
SRM 7.15
ABV 5.09%

GRAIN BILL:
9.46 lbs 2 Row (87.5%)
.40 lbs Crystal 20L (3.5%)
.47 lbs Crystal 60L (4.0%)
.57 lbs Munich 10L (5.0%)

60 minute mash @ 152*F

HOPS/BOIL ADDITIONS:
60 Min. = .35 oz Warrior
10 Min. = .50 oz Citra
10 Min. = .50 oz Azacca
5 min. = .50 oz Citra
5 min. = .50 oz Azacca
Flame Out = 1.0 oz Citra
Flame Out = 1.0 oz Azacca

PRIMARY FERMENTATION
Yeast - WLP001 California Ale.
68*F for the first 4-5 days then start ramp up

DRY HOP
1.0 oz Citra (5 days)
1.0 oz Azacca (5 days)

EDIT: Changed bittering addition to Warrior instead of Citra.

 

[brew703]

I would use Columbus as your bittering charge and move everything else to a whirlpool.
From a homebrew scale, I find hops are lacking and no where compares to the commercial breweries. With that, I find I have to determine my target IBU's then add 10-15 to that total to get what i am looking for.
As for hops, I have been adding a bittering charge then all other hops go in a WP for 20 min @ 170. Then dry hop. I've been adding about 8+ oz hops for a 5 gal batch.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I kind of disagree with you on that, respectfully of course. I think we're able to get some pretty strong hop aroma and flavors in homebrews that are similar to that of the big guys. I think my problem with the first pale was the hop combo and the use of whole hop cones. I have no idea if the whole hop cones are worth using or not...

Any other feedback?

 

[brew703]

For me that's how it is. Everyone's different.

 

[sborz22]

IMO, I think that’s a bit much on the Crystal Malts for a pale ale.

 

[Rob2010SS]

IMO, I think that’s a bit much on the Crystal Malts for a pale ale.

What do you think of the hop schedule?

 

[corax]

One school of thought is to split all hop additions between pre-boil (ie, FWH), and post-boil (flame-out/whirlpool and dry hops).

FWH provides most of the bitterness and (allegedly) some flavor, post-boil provides most of the aroma and flavor.

If you went this way, you might want to include some Citra and Azacca in the FWH addition.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Interesting. That's kind of what @brew703 was saying. Other than NEIPAs, I haven't taken that approach on pales or IPA's...

So then that would look something like this....

FWH = .40 oz Citra
FWH = .50 oz Azacca
Flame Out = 1.0 oz Citra
Flame Out = 1.0 oz Azacca
Whirlpool = 1.0 oz Citra
Whirlpool = 1.0 oz Azacca
Dry Hop = 1.0 oz Citra
Dry Hop = 1.0 oz Azacca

This keeps bitterness right around 45 IBU's. I may increase WP or DH additions, not sure. Is this a better schedule?

 

[Manufacturedevolution]

For my hoppy pale ales I'll add a 60 min addition to get ~30-40 IBUs then add everything else at knockout for a whirlpool. I usually add between 4-7 oz in the whirlpool. This gives me big hop flavor.

 

[Rob2010SS]

For my hoppy pale ales I'll add a 60 min addition to get ~30-40 IBUs then add everything else at knockout for a whirlpool. I usually add between 4-7 oz in the whirlpool. This gives me big hop flavor.

That's what my FWH is doing essentially. It's giving me the 45 IBU's and then everything else in the NEW schedule is flavor and aroma.

 

[sborz22]

What do you think of the hop schedule?

I’ve done SMASH’s of both of those hops and personally I don’t know if I like just those two in combination.

Is there a certain flavor/aroma you are looking for?

 

[Rob2010SS]

I’ve done SMASH’s of both of those hops and personally I don’t know if I like just those two in combination.

Is there a certain flavor/aroma you are looking for?

Not really. Just trying out some new hops i got in the mail. Thought I'd give this combo a try. I like them both by themselves so thought i would like them together

 

[sborz22]

Not really. Just trying out some new hops i got in the mail. Thought I'd give this combo a try. I like them both by themselves so thought i would like them together

I think that's a pretty good basis to start the experiment on!