Pale Ale Hopping

[quadmx08]

Just got back from the LHBS with ingredients for Jamil's Pale Ale from Brewing Classic Styles. I did have to replace the horizon hops with magnum, as suggested by the shop owner. He seemed to like these hops. I have yet to purchase a scale for measuring hops. My question is should i try to estimate the .66oz 60 minute addition of magnum (as i have done with other recipies in the past even though its not ideal), or should I dial back the magnum addition to 20-25 minutes and add the full 1oz? Im looking for a beer with quite a bit of hop flavor anyways, though not quite as intense as an IPA, but more like a hoppy pale ale. Will the spicyness of the magnum overpower the citrusy/foral notes of the cascade/centenial blend that is more to style?


Recipie (as in Brewing Classic Styles)
11.3 lbs American two-row
.75 lbs Munich
.5 lbs wheat

Mash 152 deg

Hops
Horizon 13% AA 60 min. .66 oz 34.2 IBU
Cascade 6% AA 10 min. .5 oz 2.4 IBU
Centennial 9% AA 10 min. .5 oz 3.6 IBU
Cascade 6% AA 0 min. .5 oz 0 IBU
Centennial 9% AA 0 min. .5 oz 0 IBU

Fermentation
Wyeast 1056 (going to start the starter today)

 

[tre9er]

I would suggest using most but not all of the magnum and doing first wort hopping (FWH) which is to add the hops before the boil get's going to smooth out the bitterness. I do this with most of my even remotely bitter beers now with good results.

 

[brewit2it]

I have this scale.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HZWB3W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It's remarkably accurate, uses regular AAA batteries, has grams, Oz, lbs, tares with a single push, turns off automatically. I'm still on the first set of batteries and I've had it for over a year. The only down side is it is small so your plate or bowl or whatever you are weighing in can cover the digital display, and it only weighs up to 10 lbs (but I would never weigh more than about 5 lbs at a time on it for fear of breaking it). I also paid about double this from focal point before they started carrying it on Amazon. Another down side is it takes a long time to ship from china, and I suppose if you get a faulty one you might be SOL but at $6.33 including shipping it will be the best bang for the buck of any of your brewing equipment.

Magnum is hops on 'roids. I'd probably just go .5 oz x 60 minutes but you can definitely estimate 2/3 rd oz pretty accurately if you want to. Just pour them out on a plate in a single layer circle, cut in half and slide that half to the side, then take a third of the other half and add it to your half and there you go, 2/3 oz.

 

[tre9er]

I have a scale from ebay that has a 55lb. capacity. It has grams, ounces, pounds down to 5/100th's of an ounce. It weighs a bit light when the weight get's up high though. I usually weigh my grains one at a time then dump into mill hopper, so 10lbs. at a time is about all I put on it.

I tare my 2g bucket and then fill it up to desired grain weight, dump into hopper, next grain. For hops I use a shot-glass or small stainless bowl for larger quantities.

here it is:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/55-LB-x-0-0...=US_Pocket_Digital_Scales&hash=item3373497d6b

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

I have a scale from ebay that has a 55lb. capacity. It has grams, ounces, pounds down to 5/100th's of an ounce. It weighs a bit light when the weight get's up high though. I usually weigh my grains one at a time then dump into mill hopper, so 10lbs. at a time is about all I put on it.

I tare my 2g bucket and then fill it up to desired grain weight, dump into hopper, next grain. For hops I use a shot-glass or small stainless bowl for larger quantities.

here it is:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/55-LB-x-0-0...=US_Pocket_Digital_Scales&hash=item3373497d6b

If you put a US nickel (5 cent piece) on it, and nothing else, what does it tell you? Should be 5.0 grams.

 

[tre9er]

If you put a US nickel (5 cent piece) on it, and nothing else, what does it tell you? Should be 5.0 grams.

I will try when I get home. Need to see if there is a calibration feature on it, though I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't. I'll probably end up figuring out a correction factor and living with it. I wonder if my efficiency isn't quite as bad as I think due to the scale weighing light (or is it heavy, it says I have more than I actually have).

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

I will try when I get home. Need to see if there is a calibration feature on it, though I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't. I'll probably end up figuring out a correction factor and living with it. I wonder if my efficiency isn't quite as bad as I think due to the scale weighing light (or is it heavy, it says I have more than I actually have).

There is generally a calibration feature, but it will require that you have a calibration weight.

Some people use stacks of nickels for their calibration weight, but you have to be able to put it down in a hurry, and i didn't figure i could put 100 nickels on my gram scale in a hurry, so i bought a 500g calibration weight.

Weighing a single nickel, and watching for several seconds to see if the scale is sure of itself, is a rough way of getting an idea if it can measure small amounts accurately. Most scales with a large capacity can't weigh small items well.

 

[tre9er]

I'll def. give that a try. I'll try one, two, three nickels, etc. and see how well it does.

I actually think it's more accurate in the lower ranges. I weighed 20lbs. of grain and my buddies scale said 19lbs. 7oz. or something like that.