Ale Recipe Critique

[HollywoodTK]

Hi All,

This is my first post here. I'm pretty new to brewing (5 brews over the last six or so months) and I've been reading a ton of info on this site. Recently I had a sudden urge to brew a relatively easy and relatively quick beer, and to create my own recipe for this. I'm posting it here with some of my thoughts for your critique. I've already brewed it and I'm actually pretty happy with it, especially as it helped me figure out which of my assumptions were accurate and which weren't. Here's the recipe:

Batch size: 2.5 Gal

Fermentables:
3 lb Dry Malt Extract - Extra Light

1 lb German - Vienna
0.25 lb American - Caramel / Crystal 10L
0.125 lb Belgian - Biscuit

I've used Vienna in a pale ale before and I wanted to use some ingredients I've used before to see if I could detect them in the new one. The Crystal I added for some mouthfeel (at least that's what I'd read it would do) and if I got a little caramel flavor out of it all the better. The Biscuit was kind of a wildcard. I'd never used it before, but I was very curious.

Hops:
0.5 oz Cascade 60 min
0.25 oz Cascade 30 min
0.125 oz Cascade 15 min
0.125 oz Cascade 5 min

I also added some Irish moss at 15 mins.

I've used cascade before and I like it enough. I didn't want a strong hop presence in this one (I recently made a DFH 90 Minute IPA clone, so I'm all set in the IBU department).

I usually get an efficiency of above 40% according to most calculations, so I use that as my base.
Expected OG: 1.058

I used Wyeast 1056 as I've used it before and, again, wanted to see what similarities I could pick out.

Expected FG: 1.015

I did a "steep", but I followed some all grain steps. I brought 1.5 gallons up to 128 F and added the muslin bag of mixed grains. I let it drop down to 122 F. I then slowly brought the temperature of the water up to 155 F, covered, and let sit at 155 F for 45 minutes, adding heat when required to maintain temp.
I brought 2 quarts of water up to 170 F and poured over the bag to bring the volume to around 2 gallons minus the volume absorbed by the grains. I then brought it to a boil, added the DME, and followed the usual steps and chilling process.

At 70F I added the yeast (no starter on this one).

Actual OG reading was 1.063, so from my calculations I got ~65% efficiency.
I let it ferment for a little over two weeks and the FG was 1.013, so roughly 6.66% alcohol (Depending on the calculator), so I named it El Diablo Pale Ale.

I can definitely taste a slight saltine-ness from the biscuit malt. Though, for some reason, after two weeks in the bottle, the beer almost tastes like a shock top or blue moon. There's really no caramel flavor to it. The mouthfeel is really nice, though it's not fully carb'd yet. I don't know if the mouthfeel is due to the Crystal or the 1.013 FG which is a range I prefer to the really dry types.

What are your thoughts on the recipe and the process? I'd really appreciate any and all comments that will help me understand the process of recipe creation better. Thanks

 

[kh54s10]

It sounds like a nice Very Pale Ale. If you want a more malty flavor use a darker crystal maybe C-40

As far as your procedure. I think the varying temperatures is unnecessary. Just steep somewhere around 150 degrees for 20-30 minutes. I add the grains when the water is "hot" and turn off the heat if I get to 170 degrees before 20 minutes.

Are you using a recipe software? I like to adjust the ingredients based on color and IBU's etc.

 

[HollywoodTK]

It sounds like a nice Very Pale Ale. If you want a more malty flavor use a darker crystal maybe C-40

I was thinking this, as the girlfriend enjoys the maltier flavored beers, but I really wanted to keep it light in color. I guess 40 isn't very much darker that 10.
I should try that on my next iteration of this.

I used a mix of things for the recipe, but a big help was Brewer's Friend.

I wasn't sure whether or not to do the "protein rest". But I'd read good things about using protein rests on some of the lighter malts to help with chill haze and removing some of the bits that cause off flavors. The beer is the clearest I've made so far, but that could be the irish moss or the yeast too...