Celebration Session Ale recipe help (mostly about malts)

[shamouza]

Hey y'all! I just finished brewing an imperial black ipa (obviously got some help from folks here), and I just finished writing an american pale ale recipe that will be brewed in a couple days.

Today I wanted to ask some recipe formulation questions regarding my brew on deck: a celebration session ale. I thought I had a great recipe written out, but now I am a little unclear about the grain bill.

GRAIN TYPE: partial mash
YEAST: Safale US-05
BATCH: 4.5 gallons
GRAVITY: 1.053 og / 1.020 fg / ~ 4.3%
BOIL: 60 minutes
IBU / SRM: 30 / 3.9
FERMENTATION: Primary, 14 days at 68*

MALTS
3 lbs Pilsen Light DME
2 lbs 2 Row
10 oz Vienna
6 oz Crystal 10

HOPS
Centennial: .50 oz @ 60 min, .50 oz @ 20 min
Cascade: .25 oz at 15, .25 oz at 10, .50 oz at flameout


So this is what I'm confused about. This beer is being planned for a grad party outside in the humid Louisiana summer heat. Most drinkers will be a step up from a casual BMC drinker, but I want to keep the beer light and refreshing.

Originally I had the 3 lbs Pilsen DME as plain old light DME. I was pretty happy with light dme. Now I'm at crossroads as to turn this into a pilsner full on and replace the two-row with pilsner base malt, go back to the original with light dme, or brew the recipe typed above with pilsen light dme.

I am confident with my hopping schedule, but unsure about this malt composition now. What do y'all think?

 

[chickypad]

If I understand correctly all 3 versions keep the vienna, crystal, and everything else (hops/yeast) the same? I honestly don't think there will be all that much difference between the three. They are all going to be APA's. Replacing the small amount of 2-row with pilsner malt may make it a tad lighter and change the flavor a bit, but IMO it's going to be subtle given the rest of the recipe (and doing that won't make the beer a pilsner). I think it looks fine as is.

 

[shamouza]

Understood correct. Vienna, C10, and hops stay the same.
Thanks for the confirmation , I will keep the recipe as is.
Lastly, I heard people doing 90 minute boils to avoid DMS of flavoring from Pilsen malt. Does this recipe call for a 90 minute boil?

 

[stpug]

Understood correct. Vienna, C10, and hops stay the same.
Thanks for the confirmation , I will keep the recipe as is.
Lastly, I heard people doing 90 minute boils to avoid DMS of flavoring from Pilsen malt. Does this recipe call for a 90 minute boil?

No, DMS (and its precursors) should have been largely dealt with by the maltster of the extract - a 60 minute boil is perfectly fine.

 

[shamouza]

Thanks!

 

[Jayhem]

There is no way that US-05 will finish that grain bill at only 1.020. It will more like 1.011 which will be more like 5.5% abv which is too much alcohol for a light session beer in the summer heat, in my opinion. I think shooting for a beer around 1.045 OG and closer to 4.5-4.7% abv is what you are shooting for. US-05 is a beast. I've never had it finish above 1.014 and that was in a brown ale with a lot of cara and chocolate malts.

 

[shamouza]

Good catch. I wasn't so sure about my estimated fg. If I drop one lb dme, I'll drop about 10 grav points, bringing og down to around 1.043. With an fg of 1.012, the abv should be just over 4%. Considering the drop in og, I will decrease the long boil bittering hops a little bit and use the difference for aroma hops.

 

[Jayhem]

Good catch. I wasn't so sure about my estimated fg. If I drop one lb dme, I'll drop about 10 grav points, bringing og down to around 1.043. With an fg of 1.012, the abv should be just over 4%. Considering the drop in og, I will decrease the long boil bittering hops a little bit and use the difference for aroma hops.

If you want a good summer pale that isn't bitter harsh at 1.043 OG I'd look at around 25 total IBU. It will be a nice smooth drinking ale! I have one similar called "Baby Pale" that is OG 1.040 and 21 IBU that is a perfect session beer for warm weather. You can late hop stand or even dry hop if you want more aroma without the high bitterness.

 

[shamouza]

thanks for the input, friend!
I have two more open fermenters (one 4.5 and on 5.5). I originally planned on brewing an american pale ale in the 5.5 g, but I'm more excited about this brew now!!

UPDATED 5.5 Gallon RECIPE

GRAIN TYPE: partial mash
YEAST: WLP001
BATCH: 5.5 gallons
GRAVITY: 1.0435 og / 1.012 fg / ~ 4.13%
BOIL: 60 minutes
IBU / SRM: 26.15 / 4.46
FERMENTATION: Primary, 14 days at 68*

MALTS
3 lbs Pilsen Light DME
2 lbs 2 Row
10 oz Vienna
6 oz Crystal 10

HOPS
Centennial: .50 oz @ 60 min, .50 oz @ 20 min
Cascade: .25 oz at 15, .25 oz at 5, .50 oz at flameout


I found this handy-dandy chart to help balance OG/IBU
GRAIN TYPE: partial mash
YEAST: Safale US-05
BATCH: 4.5 gallons
GRAVITY: 1.053 og / 1.020 fg / ~ 4.3%
BOIL: 60 minutes
IBU / SRM: 30 / 3.9
FERMENTATION: Primary, 14 days at 68*

MALTS
3 lbs Pilsen Light DME
2 lbs 2 Row
10 oz Vienna
6 oz Crystal 10

HOPS
Centennial: .50 oz @ 60 min, .50 oz @ 20 min
Cascade: .25 oz at 15, .25 oz at 10, .50 oz at flameout

I found this handy-dandy chart to help balance OG/IBU

 

[Jayhem]

Yea, that's a good chart I've used before.