First Batch Pale Ale

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brewmeister13

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Looking to brew my first all grain batch and my first batch on my system. I figured I would christen it with an original recipe (really the reason why I got into brewing in the first place).

I'm looking to make a bastard (neither distinctly american or english) pale ale. I think the grains are where I want them (I think), but I'm at a bit of a loss with the hops. The recipe as stands is:

9lbs Maris otter (87.8%)
8oz Munich (4.9%)
8oz Vienna (4.9%)
4oz English Crystal 60L (2.4%)

.5oz Nelson Sauvin (60 min)
.5oz Nelson Sauvin (20 min)
1oz Argentinian Cascade (5min)
1oz Argentinian Cascade (0 min)
.5oz Nelson Sauvin (0 min)

OG 1.049
est FG 1.011 (this will be largely dependent on what yeast I choose)
38.5 IBU
6.6 SRM
ABV 5%

I'm looking to make something a bit out of the box and complex (at least for the style) in flavor. I am also shooting for a good balance of hop and malt, which is why the low IBU/SG ratio. Hop wise i am looking to make it citrus/fruity, but not to the point of making it taste like diluted juice. My goal is to make a pale to share with friends that may not appreciate all that hops have to offer.

With all that said, I am kicking around blending the hops and adding both at all additions, changing up the hopping schedule and possibly dry hopping. If anyone has any suggestions (especially people who might have worked with these, not so common, hops before) I would love to hear them.
 
Looks good to me! :)

Grain bill looks good. I like your hop schedule too. I've used Cascades a bunch, but never Nelson Sauvin. From what I've read, I think it could be a good combo.

I would mash low'ish .. 148-151-F and use a clean yeast like WLP001. You have a good amount of late kettle hops (2.5 oz worth), which should make an aromatic pale... dry-hoping optional, but not really needed.

Let us know how it turns out!
:mug:
--LexusChris
 
Nelson Sauvin a very good hop. Used in OZ in a beer called Fat Yak. Sounds good!
 
Looks good to me! :)

Grain bill looks good. I like your hop schedule too. I've used Cascades a bunch, but never Nelson Sauvin. From what I've read, I think it could be a good combo.

I would mash low'ish .. 148-151-F and use a clean yeast like WLP001. You have a good amount of late kettle hops (2.5 oz worth), which should make an aromatic pale... dry-hoping optional, but not really needed.

Let us know how it turns out!
:mug:
--LexusChris

Thanks for the good advice. I was thinking of dry hopping, but think I will brew it once without and see where to go from there. I am also thinking about using the WLP060 to help increase the complexity a bit.
 
Here is the final verdict, unless someone notices a problem or makes a suggestion before I go to my LHBS tomorrow to gather supplies.

9lb 8oz Maris otter (86.4%)
10oz Munich (5.7%)
10oz Vienna (5.7%)
4oz English Crystal 60L (2.3%)

.61oz Nelson Sauvin (60min, 26.5 IBU)
.5oz Nelson Sauvin (15min, 10.7 IBU)
1oz Argentinian Cascade (5min, 2.9 IBU)
1oz Argentinian Cascade (0min, 0 IBU)
.5oz Nelson Sauvin (0min, 0 IBU)

WLP060 American Ale Yeast Blend

Mash at 152F for 60 min
Mash out at 168 for 10 min
Fly Sparge

OG 1.053
FG 1.011
ABV 5.5
SRM 6.9
IBU/SG ratio .759

When I decided on the WLP060 my FG dropped to 1.009 so I added a bit more grain and upped the mash a couple of degrees. It is still a bit lower than I would like, but not much. I also upped the IBU a touch to keep the IBU/SG ratio the same. Any other last second thoughts?
 
Well I went to my LHBS today and got my supplies. I did, however, scrap the Argentinian Cascade after reading a lot of reviews about how harsh they are. In their place I got some Glacier, Simcoe and Perle. Gonna look for opinions of the mix in a post of its own.
 
That's going to be a weird mix. Interested to see the final recipe. I'm all for weird. Not sure about nelson as a bittering. It may work but, I always get a bit of a harsh character from it. Love it for late additions. Would be good to see results as an early add.
 
Yeah I scrapped the NS as the bittering. Thanks for the heads up about the harshness when bittering with it (exactly what I am trying to avoid). I was thinking of bittering with Perle instead. I started a new thread to get input on just the hops so the thread about the recipe doesn't get to convoluted. I'll pull it all together in this tread and post here when I finally get to brew this batch.
 
Well, I've completely changed the hop schedule. I'm going with all late additions, and a 2:1 ratio of citra to Nelson Sauvin, with a couple added hops for aroma at the end.

.5oz citra (15min)
.25oz NS (15min)
.5oz citra (10min)
.25oz NS (10min)
.5oz citra (5min)
.25oz NS (5min)
.5oz citra (0min)
.25oz NS (0min)
.5oz glacier (0min)
.5oz simcoe (0min)
1oz citra (DH)
.5oz NS (DH)
.5oz glacier (DH)
.5oz simcoe (DH)

this lends the beer just shy of 35 IBU's. I'll probably change it more before the brew date in a few weeks, but if anyone has input I would appreciate it.
 
Well, I've completely changed the hop schedule. I'm going with all late additions, and a 2:1 ratio of citra to Nelson Sauvin, with a couple added hops for aroma at the end.

.5oz citra (15min)
.25oz NS (15min)
.5oz citra (10min)
.25oz NS (10min)
.5oz citra (5min)
.25oz NS (5min)
.5oz citra (0min)
.25oz NS (0min)
.5oz glacier (0min)
.5oz simcoe (0min)
1oz citra (DH)
.5oz NS (DH)
.5oz glacier (DH)
.5oz simcoe (DH)

this lends the beer just shy of 35 IBU's. I'll probably change it more before the brew date in a few weeks, but if anyone has input I would appreciate it.

Looks like your pale ale turned into an IPA :mug:
 
I would take the glacier out of it completely. Don't need the simcoe either but, its hard to tell someone to take simcoe out. You don't need that many 0 min and DH additions. You could also combine the 15 min and 10 min additions. Wort can't tell time. 5 minutes are not a huge factor.

35 ibu is still a pale ale. It can be 45 ibu in its category. I really wouldn't worry about categories. If it feels good brew it.

I had a pale at 43 ibu and the judges told me it needed to be more bitter. :p
 
Finally brewed it. Had to order a final part for my rig so I wound up picking up the Motueka that I really wanted to use with the Nelson. Here is my final recipe.

9lbs Maris Otter
10oz Munich
10oz Vienna
4oz English Crystal 60
1oz Acid Malt (to help his mash PH)

.33oz Perle (45 min)
.42oz Nelson Sauvin (15 min)
.25oz Motueka (15 min)
.42oz Nelson Sauvin (10 min)
.25oz Motueka (10 min)
.42oz Nelson Sauvin (5 min)
.25oz Motueka (5 min)
.42oz Nelson Sauvin (0 min)
.25oz Motueka (0 min)

.82L starter of WLP060

1 oz Nelson (DH)
1 oz Motueka (DH)

Thanks for everyone's help and comments. I hope this one comes out.
 
This actually turned out really well. My wife, who hates hops and anything bitter, really liked it. A member on the board here really enjoyed it. As did most of the people in my brew club who tried it.

I did tweak the DH schedule a bit. I did a double charge dry hop, .75 oz both nelson and motueka plus .22 oz chinook for 8 days. I added an identical charge 4 days into the dry hop. Most of the people who tasted it said it had a very complex fruity taste that they enjoyed. If anyone is interested I added the recipe to the site. Thanks all.
 
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