Willamette Pale Ale Recipe Advice

[tko17]

Howdy folks,

So I'm not a huge hop head and I try to stay away from the huge IPAs, but of late I've been really enjoying the easy drinking and refreshing hop characteristics of several local American Pale Ales.

So naturally I decided to brew one. But since I don't have a whole lot of experience relying on hops for my dominant flavors (mostly been brewing belgians and stouts), I'm not sure how large I should make my flavor and aroma additions to get what I want.

And what I want is a pleasent and refreshing hop flavor with moderate and not in your face aroma.

here is what I was thinking of for the recipe. It's an "almost" SMaSH; I've been using piloncillo in a few recipes and I wanted to see if I could isolate it's flavor in this beer. I could be convinced to add some crystal if people think it is needed, but I wanted to keep this recipe as simple as possible. Let me know what you think!

Method:All Grain
Style:American Pale Ale
Boil Time:60 min
Batch Size: 2.5 gallons
Boil Size: 3.25 gallons
Efficiency: 70%

Fermentables

4 lb Pale 2-Row 84.2%
0.5 lb Pale 2-Row - Toasted 10.5%
4 oz Piloncillo 5.3%


Hops

1 oz Willamette 4.5% AA First Wort
0.5 oz Willamette 4.5% AA Boil 15 minutes
1.5 oz Willamette 4.5% AA Boil 2 minutes


Mashing at 151 for 90 minutes.
Pitching Wyeast 1056 American Ale 1 liter starter.

Thoughts??

Thanks!

 

[MrOH]

I'd mash at 153-4 for an all basemalt plus sugar beer. Other than that, I love willamette for its roundness, if you catch my drift. Kinda fruity, kinda herbal, kind earthy, but not really standing out in any real sense. I like to use it for blending or in darker beers, but this will be a good way to find out for yourself.