Feedback on Ale recipe

[Phil_Ozzy_Fer]

Hello, This is my first post on here, and I'm still quite a novice at brewing.
I'm brewing a simple ale recipe and am going for aroma over bitterness.

Here's what I brewed:

10 lbs 2-row pale ale malt
1 lb Crystal
.5 lb flaked wheat

Mashed at 147 (no acid rest)
Lautered

1/2 oz. Hallertau at 20 min
1/2 oz. Hallertau at 10 min
1 oz. of Fuggles at flameout

East Coast Ale Yeast (WLP008)

OG 1.068

(This was at 4 1/4 gallons[16L]. True to form as a newb, I miscalculated my water loss by a considerable amount.)

1 week in the primary

2 weeks in the secondary

Fermentation is at ambient temperure which has been variable over the last few weeks.
(At time of posting it is currently in the secondary.)

So, any thoughts, comments? - Please, be gentle.

 

[forstmeister]

Hello, This is my first post on here, and I'm still quite a novice at brewing.
I'm brewing a simple ale recipe and am going for aroma over bitterness.

Here's what I brewed:

10 lbs 2-row pale ale malt
1 lb Crystal
.5 lb flaked wheat

Mashed at 147 (no acid rest)
Lautered

1/2 oz. Hallertau at 20 min
1/2 oz. Hallertau at 10 min
1 oz. of Fuggles at flameout

East Coast Ale Yeast (WLP008)

OG 1.068

(This was at 4 1/4 gallons[16L]. True to form as a newb, I miscalculated my water loss by a considerable amount.)

1 week in the primary

2 weeks in the secondary

Fermentation is at ambient temperure which has been variable over the last few weeks.
(At time of posting it is currently in the secondary.)

So, any thoughts, comments? - Please, be gentle.

First, it's a good idea to leave it in primary for a couple weeks or more. Even after the main fermentation is complete the yeast will still clean up a bit. I have gotten into the habit of leaving it in primary for 2-3 weeks and then go right to keg. The only reason I use a secondary now is if I dry hop.

Second, try to have about 7 gallons preboil volume to account for trub. Transfer 5.5 to primary and then you should get 5 gallons for packaging.

Even if you don't want a bitter beer you could still add .25-.5 oz of a clean bittering hop at 60 for a little balance in your beer.

What's your ambient temp? Many ale yeasts perform great in the mid-60's but start to produce off flavors in the 70's. fermentation also causes the wort temp to be several degrees warmer than ambient temp. You can help to control temps by using a tub of water to sit your fermenter in and keep rotating frozen ice packs to keep the tub in a better temp range.

 

[Phil_Ozzy_Fer]

Thank you for the advice. I may try out the tub. Space is an issue for me so I may have to get creative, but maybe I can come up with something.

As for the temps, since I pitched the yeast the air temp has fluctuated between 61F-91F. Although, the week of primary fermentation it was probably around a median of 75F, so the high side of normal. It didn't really increase until the third week, and so the majority of fermentation had completed.

I had contemplated a longer boil for the Hallertau, but I wanted to experiment with different approaches to hopping my beers. I'll see how it works out and try adding the .25 you suggested if I don't like the result from this batch.

Thanks again for the advice.