Dry Hop Experimental WLP 029 Pale Ale?

[Epos7]

I took a shot at brewing a pale ale with WLP 029 last Monday, and it's happily fermenting away now. Here's what I came up with for a 10 gallon batch:

Sasquatch Pale Ale (brewed the weekend of Sasquatch Music Festival here in Washington)

5lb 2-Row
5lb White Wheat
3.5lb Belgian Pilsner
2lb Munich 10L
2lb Maris Otter
0.5lb CaraFoam
0.5lb CaraPils
0.5lb Crystal 20

0.5oz Chinook @ FWH
0.25oz Columbus @ 50 min
0.5oz Chinook @ 30 min
0.5oz Ekuanot @ 15 min
1oz Loral @ 10 min
1oz Amarillo @ 5 min
1.5oz Loral @ 0 min

OG came in at 1.054 for a 10 gallon batch. Brewer's Friend calls it 47 IBU.

The homebrew store was closed over Memorial weekend, so I made a recipe out of what I had. I also wanted to use some hops I haven't tried yet.

The smell coming from the fermenters is great. I'll likely do a dry hop, just not quite sure whether to pick one variety of hops to use, or some combination of what I put in the boil. I think WLP 029 can accentuate hops quite a bit, so I don't want to overdo it and end up with a beer that's all hops and no malt.

 

[aeviaanah]

Nice, low amounts of many malts for complexity? How do you like Loral?

 

[Epos7]

Nice, low amounts of many malts for complexity? How do you like Loral?

Yeah, most of the recipes I have tried so far have been a relatively simple grain bill. This is my first attempt at an original recipe, and I tried to combine what I've learned from those into something that won't overpower the floral, melon, and citrusy characteristics of the hops while working within the constraints of the grain I had on hand. I also wanted it to be lighter in color for a refreshing appearance.

This is my first time brewing with both Loral and Ekuanot. I have two carboys, so I could dry hop each a little differently for added experimentation.

 

[Epos7]

I dry hopped the 10 gallons as follows:

0.5oz Chinook
1oz Ekuanot
1.5oz Loral
1.5oz Amarillo

I kept the Chinook and Ekuanot ratios constant, but in one carboy I did two parts Loral to one part Amarillo, and in the other, I did the opposite. It will be interesting to compare the two.

 

[Epos7]

I bottled this yesterday. Finished at 1.011. Hydrometer sample smelled and tasted great, and it has an awesome pale golden color with some orange hues. I'll report back in a month when I crack one open.

 

[Epos7]

Well crap, I forgot to keep the bottles from the two different dry hops separate. Now it's a guessing game.

 

[Epos7]

This turned out pretty well, though it is more bitter than I was expecting. Bitter enough that I'd place it solidly in the IPA category. Could be the Chinook that was used as a bittering addition; I've read it can have some bite to it.

I can't tell any difference between the two different dry hops. I think the Ekuanot and Chinook dry hops may be overpowering the more subtle Loral and Amarillo.

Anyway, good beer. Maybe not the best way to combine these hops, though. I don't know that I'm picking up much of the Loral or Amarillo.

edit - I take it back. This beer is very good; the overwhelming bitterness has faded considerably after a few more days in bottle, allowing the more subtle hoppy notes to shine.