Need Suggestions for a Lighter Bodied Recipe

[chapa]

So I'm trying to put together a recipe to make for my brew buddy. He is always helping me out on brew days, but doesn't really care for a big hoppy beer or a big malty beer, like I typically make.

He really enjoys lagers, pilsners, more authentic oktoberfests, etc. However he also enjoyed the Amarillo/Simcoe IPA that I made(he does dig the citrusy hops-just not a LOT of them). He really doesn't care for the piney or grapefruity hops. He also liked New Belgium's Hoptoberfest. Seems like he just likes the lighter bodied, crisp brews.

I'm definitely not looking to do a lager, but I want to make a lighter bodied brew to accommodate my brew bud.

I was thinking a lower gravity all Pale Malt, and just doing about 1oz Amarillo FWH and dry-hopping with .5oz Simcoe/1oz Amarillo. Like a light APA style. Seems like it would be a light bodied, low bitterness, but just enough fruitiness and bite to give it some flavor/aroma.

I know I'm being kind of selfish, as you can tell I'm trying to get away from making some kind of pilsner, but I really just want to make something that is somewhat of a compromise, that we can both enjoy. I really don't like pilsners or lagers at all.

Anybody got any ideas or suggestions?

I have plenty of Centennial, Cascade, and Amarillo Hops handy, as well as some EKG, but don't mind ordering some hops specifically for this brew.

 

[Yooper]

A cream ale seems like a good choice. I think I used saaz hops in mine, but I know that you could easily use many different hops. I use corn in mine, but you could use rice or corn, or corn syrup or rice syrup, etc. If you use a clean well attenuating ale yeast, and ferment it cool, you could make something very much like an American lager. My cream ale tasted very much like Genessee cream ale.

 

[chapa]

A cream ale seems like a good choice. I think I used saaz hops in mine, but I know that you could easily use many different hops. I use corn in mine, but you could use rice or corn, or corn syrup or rice syrup, etc. If you use a clean well attenuating ale yeast, and ferment it cool, you could make something very much like an American lager. My cream ale tasted very much like Genessee cream ale.

Interesting, ill have to look into that, I've never had a cream ale before. How cool should you ferment? I don't think I can get much under 68-70 in my basement without some help. Thanks for the suggestion Yoop!

 

[Yooper]

Interesting, ill have to look into that, I've never had a cream ale before. How cool should you ferment? I don't think I can get much under 68-70 in my basement without some help. Thanks for the suggestion Yoop!

68-70 is on the warm side for many ales, but if you do a cooler with a water bath and some frozen water bottles, you could easily keep it cooler than that. If not, a clean well attenuating ale yeast, like Wyeast 1056, could probably work.

I ferment most of my ales at 62-66 for the "cleanest" flavor.

 

[chapa]

What temp will a swamp cooler typically hold fermentation temps at?

 

[markg388]

Your friend and I have similar taste in beer, he should love this little APA as much as I do. Has an OG of roughly 1.050 and 24 IBU's, but still tastes bright and hoppy w/o being harsh or intense. The Vienna base malt also keeps it tasting nice and interesting. Designed for home brew stores that sell hops in 1oz packages.

9.5# Vienna
.5# Carapils
.75# Crystal 40L

.5oz Centennial 10% - 60 min
.25oz Centennial 10% - 15 min
.5oz Cascade 5.5% - 5 min

Ferment with your favorite Ale yeast (I use wyeast scottish ale)

Dry Hop: .5oz Cascade + .25oz Centennial

This is one I have on hand at all times, it's bomb .

 

[chapa]

Your friend and I have similar taste in beer, he should love this little APA as much as I do. Has an OG of roughly 1.050 and 24 IBU's, but still tastes bright and hoppy w/o being harsh or intense. The Vienna base malt also keeps it tasting nice and interesting. Designed for home brew stores that sell hops in 1oz packages.

9.5# Vienna
.5# Carapils
.75# Crystal 40L

.5oz Centennial 10% - 60 min
.25oz Centennial 10% - 15 min
.5oz Cascade 5.5% - 5 min

Ferment with your favorite Ale yeast (I use wyeast scottish ale)

Dry Hop: .5oz Cascade + .25oz Centennial

This is one I have on hand at all times, it's bomb .

That sounds great! I was actually considering an all-vienna brew for this one too! Looks like a solid compromise to me Thanks!!

 

[markg388]

This one needs to age a bit, I just tapped a 2.5-week old batch last night and thanks to the vienna and C-hops it tastes pretty fruity when it's green. It generallyafter a couple weeks to a month after being packaged.