New Pale Ale

[rnrchemnerd]

Alright, so I've never put one of my new recipes up here for critique before, but I guess it can't hurt. I'm heading to the LHBS after work, so if anyone has any comments, they would be appreciated.

6.5gal batch

11lbs 2-Row
1lb munich
1lb biscuit
10oz Crystal 90
6oz wheat

0.5oz Summit (16.5%) FWH
0.5oz Crystal (4.4%) FWH
1.5oz Crystal (4.4%) 15min
0.5oz Summit (16.5%) 0min
1oz Crystal (4.4%) 0min

I plan to do a 2 step infusion mash with 40min rests at 140°F and 160°F. My sytem gives me ~75% so I'm looking at an OG :1.058 and 37 IBU's. I've currently got a starter of Dry English Ale yeast going which should make this bad boy finsh up around 1.012 which is right at 6%abv.

Any thoughts?

 

[RoaringBrewer]

Normally when I open a recipe I always have some critique to give, but with yours, honestly it looks pretty darn good to begin with...

But in the spirit of critique, maybe the 90L crystal is a little dark for a pale ale? I honestly don't know without going into my brewing software and seeing what it does for color, but I personally would just use 40 or 60...

 

[Kayos]

Why do a double infusion with this recipe?

 

[Brewsmith]

The crystal will be a little dark. You'll end up with an amber, instead of a pale ale, but the recipe does look solid. If you do want it lighter in color, go with crystal 40, or even a split between 20 and 40. Even doing a pound of 60 will make it slightly darker than the style. If you don't care about the color, just brew it the way it is.

 

[rnrchemnerd]

My thought with the Crystal 90 is that I want to do something a little different with this batch. My initial thought was to use Crystal 40, but I always use Crystal 40. I was hoping to be able to tell the difference between sweet and bittersweet.

I don't think the amount should change the color that much. Promash shows 10SRMs, which is "within guidlines."

Does anyone have any experience with Crystal 90 in Pale ales or ESB's?

Oh, btw, thanks for the quick reply RoaringBrewer!

 

[rnrchemnerd]

Why not?

I've noticed that I get better yields with multistep infusions, but that's just my setup I guess.

 

[Brewsmith]

Crystal 90 is going to give you a more dark caramel flavor with maybe some hints at dark fruit - raisin, fig, prune. Lower color ratings give more plain sweetness. 60 gives more classic caramel. The darker ones, 120-150 start tasting like burnt caramel and the fruit is more pronounced. Special B is a crystal type malt and is even higher and gives a strong raisiny character.

 

[SRFeldman79]

unless it has to be a pale ale for whatever reason, i say brew it with the 90, cause it sounds like it should be a really tasty beer.

 

[RoaringBrewer]

Why not?

I've noticed that I get better yields with multistep infusions, but that's just my setup I guess.

It's your set-up so do what you are most comfortable doing and have experience with. However, a single-infusion, batch-sparge at 153F or so would probably do just as well and save you some time and hassle...

 

[DeathBrewer]

yeah, i'm not a fan of the higher Crystals and that's the only thing i would critique with this recipe. (of course, i ALWAYS use Crystal 40L myself )

If you're looking for something different...throw a small amount of Special B or even maybe some chocolate malt in there...say 4-6 ounces. it'll add an interesting character without overpowering the beer and won't give any burnt taste to it.

 

[rnrchemnerd]

yeah, i'm not a fan of the higher Crystals and that's the only thing i would critique with this recipe. (of course, i ALWAYS use Crystal 40L myself )

If you're looking for something different...throw a small amount of Special B or even maybe some chocolate malt in there...say 4-6 ounces. it'll add an interesting character without overpowering the beer and won't give any burnt taste to it.

So what do you think about, let's say 6-8oz Crystal 40 and 2-4oz Special B?

 

[Brewsmith]

Go 10-12 oz of 40 and 4-6 oz of Special B

 

[DeathBrewer]

Go 10-12 oz of 40 and 4-6 oz of Special B

agreed...that sounds tasty.

 

[rnrchemnerd]

Ok, so here's an updated grain bill

11lbs 2-row
1lb munich
1lb bisuit
10oz Crystal 40
6oz Special B
60z wheat


Are we all in agreement?

 

[bgrubb7]

It'll definitely be more amber than Pale, but should be tasty nonetheless.

Seeing that Special B and wheat added to the bill, makes me think that Raisin Bran Ale would be a good name

 

[bgrubb7]

Just ran the recipe through BeerAlchemy, and I come up with:

6.5 gal
1.060 Final Gravity
6.1 ABV (75% attenuation)
Color - 11.5 SRM
IBU - 36

I like that all the hops are either FW or late additions. Should be a very smooth, yet complex and interesting brew. Make sure you post your followup/review once this has been consumed :cross:

 

[BierMuncher]

I like it.

I'm all about First WortHopping and late additions.

Reserve some hops for a good 2-week dry hop....

 

[rnrchemnerd]

Ok, so I'm making another revision. I think we're really overthinking on this thing. I'm going to go with my original idea of Crystal 90, but I'm only going to use a small amount and balance it out with Crystal 40. I normally don't use more than one type of crystalized malt, but I guess I can make an exception here. I also don't think I'm ready to put any raisin character in a pale ale (yet). If it turns out good, then I might decide to tweak it or someone else might want to do the honors. Deathbrewer?

6.5gal

11lb 2-row
1lb munich
1lb biscuit
6oz crystal 40
4oz crystal 90
6oz wheat

0.5oz Summit (16.5%) FWH
0.5oz Crystal (4.4%) FWH
1.5oz Crystal (4.4%) 15min
1oz Crystal (4.4%) 0min
0.5oz Summit (16.5%) 0min

Unless anybody has any major objections, I'll post the results to this one in a few weeks!

 

[DeathBrewer]

hey, man, it'll probably still be a great brew. i think that dropping the quantity on the 90L will be just fine. i just love me some special B

let us know how it turns out

 

[rnrchemnerd]

So I wanted to give an update on this beer, because I'm a little dissapointed. I ended up using White labs Dry English Ale yeast (007 I think) with a big starter and let it ferment for a week. I ended up letting the batch sit in the secondary for well over a month and closer to two. When it came time to bottle this bad boy, the raw beer had a slightly off aftertaste. The best way to describe it is a lingering chemical and flat taste. I tasted a couple last night, and granted they weren't fully carbonated (only a week and a half after bottling) they still had that funky aftertaste. What gives? I don't think I've ever had an infection, but this batch is making me start to wonder...I wouldn't go so far as to say that this is a bandaid flavor, but it's close. My first inclination is that the summit/crystal hops combo just doesn't work. The beer has a great complex malt backbone, and just enough bitterness to balance it out. There's just that aftertaste. Does anyone have any experience with this particular hops combination, or does this sound like an infection?

 

[DeathBrewer]

i wouldn't worry about infection at this point. let 'em sit a couple more weeks and then give us an update.