Cascade/Extra Light DME SMaSH advice

[yermej]

I was lucky enough to recently get a pound of Cascade (4.6% AA) pellets and, as a home brew beginner, I want to use them in a SMaSH to get an idea of their flavor/aroma. I'd appreciate any comments/advice regarding this recipe, which is sort of shooting for a blonde ale (I think):

2 lb Extra Light Dry Extract
4 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (late addition)
1 oz Cascade 60 minutes
.75 oz Cascade 15 minutes
.75 oz Cascade 0 minutes
SafAle English Ale yeast (S-04)

estimates from Beer Smith:
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.014
ABV: 5.06%
IBU: 20.4
SRM: 3.6

ferment @ 60° F
keg with 14 PSI @ 38° F (2.8 volumes CO2)

So, will this suck? Worth making? Thanks for any advice you have.

 

[Revvy]

Personally I would kick up the IBUs to between 25 and 30 if you want an even balance between malt and hops...20.4 will make for a slightly maltier brew.Otherwise it's a good smash idea...it also proves that you don't have to be an allgrainer to try SMaSHing.

 

[GNBrews]

If your doing a full volume boil, but doing the late extract addition, your boiling wort gravity will be ~1.015, so you'll get better hop utilization than what Beer Smith is calculating. Using Tinseth's calculator from realbeer.com, I calculate ~30IBU.

http://www.realbeer.com/hops/bcalc_js.html

 

[yermej]

Sorry, forgot to mention that it'll be a two gallon boil. I think Beer Smith compensates for that and the late addition. I'll double check and probably bump the recipe up closer to 30 IBU. Thanks for your comments.

 

[Danek]

I'm with Revvy on upping the IBUs a little, though it looks like you may be there already. The only other thing I'd change, which is entirely a matter of personal preference, would be to use US-05 or Nottingham as the yeast, as they finish slightly drier than S-04. But S-04 works great too, so whatever yeast you go for I bet it'll be a great beer.