First all grain- citra pale ale

Hey everyone- I am making the transition over to all grain in the next week and decided to start with a pretty straightforward American pale ale recipe. I am doing BIAB, so please keep in mind when critiquing the recipe. Let me know what you think- I am going for something light in bitterness but with plenty of hop aroma and flavor. I have access to tons of different hops (pretty much all pellet) so feel free to lead me in a different direction if you think it will work better. Here is the recipe.


American Pale Ale
Type: All Grain
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage

Ingredients

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 83.3 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.3 %
1 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 4 8.3 %
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 16.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 6.4 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 mins) Fining 7 -
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 7.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 9 1.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml] Yeast 10 -

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.061 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.1 %
Bitterness: 31.9 IBUs
Est Color: 5.8 SRM

Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs
Sparge Water: 4.61 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.20

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 18.00 qt of water at 164.0 F 154.0 F 45 min
Sparge Step: Fly sparge with 4.61 gal water at 168.0 F

Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Bottle Volumes of CO2: 2.5
Pressure/Weight: 4.30 oz Carbonation Used: Bottle with 4.30 oz Corn Sugar
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 70.0 F Age for: 30.00 days

Ferment at 62-65 degrees F


I am wondering more about the grain bill than anything, although since I don't have much experience making my own recipes, any help overall would be great. On a side note, does anyone think I need to make a starter for this, or should I skip that?

 

Your grain bill is fine. Don't change that at all. You'll get a nice, pale color, with plenty of fermentables with that. Mash temp of 154 is, IMO, perfect.

I'd like to see you double your bittering hops. I think you won't get the hop profile you are looking for with just a half ounce of Centennial. You've got plenty for aroma, though you might consider dry hopping with some Cascade to accentuate that, or move that 1 minute addition to a dry hop.

On the whole, though, this looks like a very tasty recipe, without any changes.

As for a starter, yes, you should do one. As a rule of thumb, when using liquid yeasts, you are always better off with a starter: (1) you don't know how the yeast was handled before you got it; (2) it increases the amount of yeast you pitch, therefore reducing lag times and giving you a more complete fermentation.

 

Awesome, I won't touch the grain bill at all. I was planning on making a starter, just wanted some other opinions. I will fool around with the hops a little bit more as well, I still just don't know enough about recipe design to know what I will like in it. Thanks for the help and advice!

 

I would use something other than Centennial for bittering. Wouldn't want to waste all those citrusy aromatics of Centennial. Warrior works great. Move the Centennial to the end of the boil, or flameout. Other than that, it looks good.

Cheers!

 

With the higher AA, Centennial (from my experience) is a good dual purpose hop. I may add a half oz or so to a dry hop, but I like it as a bittering addition for sure.