Looking for help/advice for easy drinking Palr Ale

[Calder]

Sour beers are the only beers I've made that are South of 1.060 for the psst few years. I'm planning on brewing a 'Sessional' easy drinking Pale Ale this coming Sunday, and would really like to have advice on what might be wrong with it, what should be changed, and what might improve it.

Here is what I am curently planning (final volume 7 gallons):

Partial Mash.

4.0 lbs Maris Otter
0.75 lbs Victory
1.0 lbs Caristan (crystal 35L)
0.25 lbs Carapils

Mash at 150 F.

2.5 lbs Briess Pilsner LME
1.0 lbs Cane Sugar

0.5 ozs Amarillo + 0.5 ozs Citra FWH
0.5 ozs Galena @ 60 (or what is required to get to 40 IBUs)
0.5 ozs Amarillo + 0.5 ozs Citra @ 15
0.5 ozs Amarillo + 0.5 ozs Citra @ 10
0.5 ozs Amarillo + 0.5 ozs Citra @ 5
0.5 ozs Amarillo + 0.5 ozs Citra @ 0 (add at 175 F, and steep for 30 minutes)
0.5 ozs Amarillo + 0.5 ozs Citra Dry Hop

Yeast: WLP022 (Essex) .... because that is what I have going right now. Ferment low 60s.

OG: 1.045
FG: 1.010 (4.5% abv)
40 IBUs

Do I have too many hops?

Any advice/suggestions welcome. I really want this one to turn out well.

 

[chickypad]

I wouldn't use over 10% sugar in a lower gravity ale as I think it will thin it out too much, so I'd replace that with base malt. Otherwise I think the grainbill looks good. That's going to be pretty big hop character with citrus and tropical fruit - kind of getting toward an AIPA schedule. Not sure how that will blend with the English yeast, but if you're looking for fruity I think you'll get it.

 

[Calder]

Yes, I'm looking for 'Fruity'. Will be fermented low, so not expecting too much flavor out of the yeast.

Agree, 1 lb of sugar is too much. That's what i tend to automaticallyt use in my IPAs to offset the sweetness of the extract. I'll be using a lot less extract here. Will cut it down to 0.5 lbs.

I'm a little concerned that I might have too much Crystal. 1 lb in a 7 gallon batch, is about 0.7 lbs in a 5 gallon batch.

I'm still wondering if I have too many hops? This amount is equivalent to 2 ozs Amarillo, 2 ozs Citra, and the bittering charge in a 5 gallon batch.

 

[treehousebrewing]

What about consolidating your hop additions, instead of removing them? I've had good luck doing an ounce of each at 10 and flameout. I don't personally think it's too many hops but I agree with you about the carastan. Maybe even a half pound? You'll be getting plenty of mouthfeel and head retention from the carapils in the extract.


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[chickypad]

I usually don't use any crystal in IPA's, or if I do it's less than 5%, but I don't think you have too much for a lower gravity beer. Though if you want to cut it I think that's fine too, especially since you have the carapils as treehouse points out. It's not too many hops for me, but I like those session IPA's that everyone seems to be putting out now (although the name is an oxymoron to me).

 

[Calder]

OK, this is where I'm at right now:

Partial Mash.

5.25 lbs Maris Otter
0.7 lbs Victory
0.7 lbs Caristan (crystal 35L)
0.35 lbs Carapils

Mash at 150 F.

2.0 lbs Briess Pilsner LME (add at end of boil)
0.7 lbs Cane Sugar

1.0 ozs Amarillo/Citra mix FWH
0.5 ozs Galena @ 40
1.25 ozs Amarillo/Citra mix @ 15
1.25 ozs Amarillo/Citra mix @ 7
1.25 ozs Amarillo/Citra mix @ 0 (add at 175 F, and steep for 30 minutes)
1.25 ozs Amarillo/Citra mix Dry Hop

Yeast: WLP022 (Essex) .... because that is what I have going right now. Ferment low 60s.

OG: 1.044
FG: 1.010 (4.4% abv)
40 IBUs

 

[JordanKnudson]

I think this looks very nice. As for the hops, you're sitting around the same quantity that I use for my house pale ale with a similar schedule (except I don't include a traditional bittering addition, just the FWH), and I think it's perfect.