Your ipinion on this recipe I made?

[tr08]

I just want a simple pale ale recipe to brew but can't find one. So I just made it myself. I pick a few grain types from the shop without any knowledge of them. Can you guys give me your opinion about this recipe I'm gonna brew?

The recipe

og: don't know
fg: don't know
IBU: 18-20
5gallons

Grain:
Pale ale malt Weyerman 5lbs
Munich malt Weyerman 4lbs
Carahell 0.5lbs

Yeast:
Nottingham 1pkg

Hop:
Northern brewer 7-11% 0.5oz boil 60mins

Mash(single infusion) 150f

Ferment at 68f 2 weeks then prime with 4.5oz. corn sugar

My goal is that I want malty beer without too much influence from the hops.

So, any change you'd like to make. I haven't brewed it yet til this Friday. You opinion?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

You're not far off a simple Altbier with that recipe, and Nottingham yeast fermented cool would be a reasonable dry yeast alternative to a true alt yeast. If you want to go down the Altbier road, replace the Northern Brewer hops with Spalt (NB would still give a good beer though), add a dash of something very dark (only for colour - about 1%; aim for about 12 to 14SRM) and increase the bitterness to 30IBU's. Aim for an OG in the mid to high 1.040's.

 

[tr08]

You're not far off a simple Altbier with that recipe, and Nottingham yeast fermented cool would be a reasonable dry yeast alternative to a true alt yeast. If you want to go down the Altbier road, replace the Northern Brewer hops with Spalt (NB would still give a good beer though), add a dash of something very dark (only for colour - about 1%; aim for about 12 to 14SRM) and increase the bitterness to 30IBU's. Aim for an OG in the mid to high 1.040's.

thanks for your opinion. After some researching, i'd lower ferm temp to 50f range as you suggested.

 

[mongoose33]

If I had an i-phone, I'd give you an i-pinion.

I have used Northern Brewer a fair amount (one of my favorite hops), and it looks as if it might be overwhelmed by the malt. I'd probably add the other half-ounce at 10 minutes or so.

The newest hop lots are often lower in Alpha Acids than previous ones; if you're following a specific idea as to how much bittering you're expecting, make sure to account for that--esp with Northern Brewer.

I had last year's batch of NB hops; AA of 9.4%. This year's batch? 4.8%. Same with Styrian Celeia--last year 4.8%, this year 2.9%. Just recently brewed a batch where it called for an ounce of SC at 60 minutes. I put in 1.5 ounces to account for the plunge in AA from last year to this year, and upped the later additions by 50 percent as well.

 

[catdaddy66]

If you're going for low hop character then the recipe achieves that, for sure.

I agree with mongoose33 about another half ounce late in the boil. It would be a better balance imo.

Altbeir is a great style but usually has 30-40 ibu's.

 

[Weezy]

Looks tasty to me. Ferment in the low 60s if you can, but 68 isn't game breaking.

 

[meatcleaver]

sounds more like a malty blonde with such low ibu.
I use Brewersfriend to calculate my recipes...it will help you fill in your blanks (OG, FG, IBU etc)
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/

 

[tr08]

If I had an i-phone, I'd give you an i-pinion.

I have used Northern Brewer a fair amount (one of my favorite hops), and it looks as if it might be overwhelmed by the malt. I'd probably add the other half-ounce at 10 minutes or so.

The newest hop lots are often lower in Alpha Acids than previous ones; if you're following a specific idea as to how much bittering you're expecting, make sure to account for that--esp with Northern Brewer.

I had last year's batch of NB hops; AA of 9.4%. This year's batch? 4.8%. Same with Styrian Celeia--last year 4.8%, this year 2.9%. Just recently brewed a batch where it called for an ounce of SC at 60 minutes. I put in 1.5 ounces to account for the plunge in AA from last year to this year, and upped the later additions by 50 percent as well.

thanks you all for suggestions. So I decide to drop the fermentation temperature to 50-60 which suits the beer style. Add more hops to balance the maltiness.

Btw, I'm still open for new suggestions. What about the grain bill? is it good enough to achieve my goal?

 

[meatcleaver]

thanks for your opinion. After some researching, i'd lower ferm temp to 50f range as you suggested.

low 60's is plenty good for Notty.
& if you want malty but not bitter I wouldn't brew an altbier, or use Notty.
stick with the blonde, hit all the​ target numbers in the style guidelines (except maybe color, Munich gives a nice orange hue) & I think you'll be happy.

 

[mongoose33]

thanks you all for suggestions. So I decide to drop the fermentation temperature to 50-60 which suits the beer style. Add more hops to balance the maltiness.

Btw, I'm still open for new suggestions. What about the grain bill? is it good enough to achieve my goal?

It'll be malty, and there won't be a ton of bittering hops so the malt will be featured.

Will you like it? I don't know....what do you like? If it were me, I'd replace some of the Munich w/ the 2-row, probably put in a couple pounds of Munich and have the rest be 2-row. But that's me--your taste may differ. Probably does.

I brew a California Common (recipe from CatDaddy66) that has, IIRC, about 8# of 2-row, 1.5# of Munich, and 1# of 60L Crystal. It's not horribly far from what you're proposing.

So, I'd say go with what you have, maybe cut down the Munich a bit, but it'll work.

 

[jan_b19]

seems solid, right now an estimated OG of 1.053 and that should give you about 5.3 ABV. Just add more hops light beers tend to do better with a hoppy flavor instead of a malty flavor.

 

[kh54s10]

I see somewhere between a blond and a pale ale. I to0 would add more hops. Maybe .5 at 30 minutes to 15 minutes. I get about 1.047 OG and 1.010 FG. A little dark for a blonde, and a little low on hops for a Pale ale.

 

[carloslavin]

I like me a malty blonde, especially since it's malty because of the Munich without much crystal malt influence (Carahell is like what, C10?).

I'd go ahead with it as it is for a very easy drinker.

 

[tr08]

seems solid, right now an estimated OG of 1.053 and that should give you about 5.3 ABV. Just add more hops light beers tend to do better with a hoppy flavor instead of a malty flavor.

Brewed this today. Got the exact og as you said!

 

[KingsX]

Probably too late, but my motto is - you do you. You decide, don't let us cloud your vision, this is the best way to find what you like, by just experimenting and flying by the seat of your pants (which is what I do, EVERY TIME). I could suggest an additional grain, or to change your hops, or this or that, but then I'm making it a recipe that I might like...rather than you might like. Granted, you might like my idea better too, but just come up with something and giver!

I one time...messed up a brew because I wasn't paying attention, felt the gravity was too low (because I, let's just say glanced at the hydrometer)...so for schlitz and giggles, I added dextrose and honey, to ramp up the OG. Then took a reading...and I'm like WHOA, what happened, I'm staring at a 7 abv brewsky here (was gunning for around 5, 5.5).

What I ended up with, was what I (personally) would say was my favorite beer I've ever made.

But, you probably shouldn't listen to me, I'm the Rachel Ray of brewing...never the same recipe twice!

 

[mongoose33]

Probably too late, but my motto is - you do you. You decide, don't let us cloud your vision, this is the best way to find what you like, by just experimenting and flying by the seat of your pants (which is what I do, EVERY TIME). I could suggest an additional grain, or to change your hops, or this or that, but then I'm making it a recipe that I might like...rather than you might like. Granted, you might like my idea better too, but just come up with something and giver!

I one time...messed up a brew because I wasn't paying attention, felt the gravity was too low (because I, let's just say glanced at the hydrometer)...so for schlitz and giggles, I added dextrose and honey, to ramp up the OG. Then took a reading...and I'm like WHOA, what happened, I'm staring at a 7 abv brewsky here (was gunning for around 5, 5.5).

What I ended up with, was what I (personally) would say was my favorite beer I've ever made.

But, you probably shouldn't listen to me, I'm the Rachel Ray of brewing...never the same recipe twice!

Interesting how different people do this brewing thing. I have brewed the same recipe many times, trying to see if I can reproduce what was, IMO, a great beer. I figured I'd never know if I had gotten the process down until I could do it again and again.

I've branched out a little bit, but the stuff I'm brewing now is pretty good. I can't decide the next thing I might brew. Actually, I do have an idea, a beer that was pretty good, then I changed both hops and yeast and it became a beer that, while no off flavors are present, is a drink that does nothing particularly well.

So I'll go back to the old recipe and fiddle w/ the mash temp a bit, see if I can get it to finish drier.

 

[John Eberly]

Simple pale ale - pale malt, 1.5 pounds per gallon, 10% crystal 40, cascade hops for 30 IBU.
I recommend Ray Daniel's book for understanding what makes a beer come together.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0937381500/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20