How Can I Decrease Maltiness Without Lowering Gravity?

[zgardener]

A few weeks ago I brewed a great APA, here's the recipe

6lbs Light LME
5.5lbs Pale Ale Malt
.25lb Carapils
1.5lb Crystal Malt 20L
.5lbs Rye
.25 Oz Brewers Gold 60 min
.25 Oz Brewers Gold 45 min
.25 Oz Brewers Gold 30 min
.25 Oz Glacier 30 min
.25 Oz Glacier 15 min
.25 Oz Glacier Flame Out
WLP051 California Ale V Yeast

OG:1.062 FG:1.015 ABV: 6.157%

(Wish I could do AG, but I'm still in college and live in an efficiency)

This was my first brew that I've tasted that I made from scratch, my very own recipe, and it's a great starting point, but there are a few changes I'd make (i.e. Changing up the hop varieties, going with the normal, dryer, Cali Ale Yeast).
The main problem that I noticed is that it is just a tad malty. I want to know if there is something that I could do to make it a little less malty but not affect the gravity very much, I considered using less CaraPils or eliminating it all together, would that do the trick?

Please share your wisdom on what I could do (tips that work for mini mash and AG would be appreciated)

 

[ChshreCat]

That's quite a dose of Crystal 20 you have in it. That might be the culprit alone. Others might be able to chime in and tell me if I'm full of crap or not. Perhaps cutting back on the crystal a bit would give you what you're looking for.

 

[Pappers_]

Carapils doesn't really impact or affect flavor, is for mouthfeel and head retention. So I don't think reducing/eliminating it will have the result you're looking for.

Maybe experiment with replacing some the Light Extract with Extra Light Extract. Also , try replacing half of the Pale Ale malt with Pilsner malt.

You could also just lessen the amount of malt (both extract or grains) to have a lower original gravity (which won't necessarily impact your final gravity).

 

[ajf]

What size batch were you brewing?
I ran the recipe through ProMash with a 5g batch. To get an OG of 1.062, you would have to get 30% efficiency with those fermentables (60% efficiency - which is a reasonable figure for an beginning attempt at a partial mash would give you an OG of about 1.078), and you would only get to 22 IBU's (which is very low).
If you were making a bigger batch than 5g, then your OG could be more reasonable, but your IBU's would be even lower.
Or perhaps there is a typo in the recipe.
Perhaps you don't want to reduce the maltiness, but need to increase the hopping rate to counteract the perceived maltiness.

-a.

 

[Yooper]

What size batch were you brewing?
I ran the recipe through ProMash with a 5g batch. To get an OG of 1.062, you would have to get 30% efficiency with those fermentables (60% efficiency - which is a reasonable figure for an beginning attempt at a partial mash would give you an OG of about 1.078), and you would only get to 22 IBU's (which is very low).
If you were making a bigger batch than 5g, then your OG could be more reasonable, but your IBU's would be even lower.
Or perhaps there is a typo in the recipe.
Perhaps you don't want to reduce the maltiness, but need to increase the hopping rate to counteract the perceived maltiness.

-a.

Yes, I agree. But I also think that almost two pounds of crystal malt is too much. I don't use carapils, and I'd use no more than a pound of crystal total. So, either cut the carapils and 1/2 pound of the crystal, or cut the crystal malt to .75 if you want to keep the carapils.

It's underhopped, with too much crystal. It should taste sweet, though, not necessarily "malty". Malty isn't sweet.

 

[ajf]

Yes, I agree. But I also think that almost two pounds of crystal malt is too much. I don't use carapils, and I'd use no more than a pound of crystal total. So, either cut the carapils and 1/2 pound of the crystal, or cut the crystal malt to .75 if you want to keep the carapils.

It's underhopped, with too much crystal. It should taste sweet, though, not necessarily "malty". Malty isn't sweet.

I agree that 1.75 lbs crystal in a 5g batch is too much, but if the batch size is > 5g, or there is a typo in the recipe, then things could change.

-a.

 

[zgardener]

Thanks for the reply. I think that the Crystal may be my problem, as y'all suggested.
According to TastyBrew, the IBUs were acutally relatively high, and it comes thru in the flavor, most of the people I've given it to compared the hop level to Sierra Nevada's Pale, so I'm not too concerned with the hops, maybe there was a typo... It was indeed a 5 gallon batch, I used pellet hops btw.

I'll play around with it. I'm about to move up to an AG system as soon as I graduate, so hopefully I can make my tweaks here and there.

It is a little sweet, but not very, its subtle. I would maybe describe the over all flavor a little 'muddled' for which I think my hop variety choices are the main culprit.