Munich and Victory Pale Ale

[sparkeee277]

Hi All-

Working on a pale ale recipe..... Wanted a dry, clean, and light bodied beer with hints of caramel and nuts..... Was thinking along with American 2 row, adding 12 oz. each of Munich and Victory to achieve that. Has anybody used these malts together in this fashion?


"This is grain, which any fool can eat, but for which the Lord intended a more divine means of consumption.. Beer!"
-Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Friar Tuck

 

[Yooper]

Hi All-

Working on a pale ale recipe..... Wanted a dry, clean, and light bodied beer with hints of caramel and nuts..... Was thinking along with American 2 row, adding 12 oz. each of Munich and Victory to achieve that. Has anybody used these malts together in this fashion?

You won't get caramel from Munich or Victory, but it will get "warmer" tasting with a malt flavor. 12 ounces of Victory is probably enough in a 5 gallon batch to bring a hint of toastiness, but 12 ounces of Munich really isn't very much at all. It depends on the rest of the recipe to see how much of those flavors will come through. Caramel flavors come from caramel/crystal malts, and not victory (toasty) or Munich (warm, bready, malty).

 

[stpug]

Victory in a pale ale would work nicely, and is frequently used in such a fashion. 12 oz would be close to the upper limit for most folks. I've had times where 8 oz shined through in a beer and other times when it was barely noticable.

Munich might not accomplish what you want but I've seen folks use it in pale ales as well. If you're after a typical pale ale with a little extra biscuit/toastiness and caramel then I don't think munich is quite what you're after (malty, bready). While munich can successfully be used in pale ales, IPAs, etc, most times I find it "fights" with the hops for prominence which usually just leads to less characteristic from both ingredients. I would use some caramel 40L to get the caramel characteristic you're after.

Brewing is an exploratory process so feel free to do whatever you want. Hope this helps.

Edit:
DAMN YOU (FAST-FINGER) YOOPER!!!

 

[sparkeee277]

Thanks guys...... I will likely down the Victory to 8 ounces and add some crystal..... I'm trying to keep the recipe as simple as possible, but I still want a malty character that comes in slightly under the hop flavor. I was thinking the Munich would give me that......

 

[Yooper]

Thanks guys...... I will likely down the Victory to 8 ounces and add some crystal..... I'm trying to keep the recipe as simple as possible, but I still want a malty character that comes in slightly under the hop flavor. I was thinking the Munich would give me that......

Sure, it would. It's hard to guess at how much, though, as I don't know the rest of the recipe or the OG.

If you post the whole recipe, we can be more helpful I'm sure.

 

[sparkeee277]

So this is what I'm thinking:

8 lbs Pilsner (2 Row)
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.3 %
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min
1.0 pkg American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272)
2.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days

OG target is 1.050. Thanks for the help.

 

[stpug]

Looks good to me. I think I would normally use good old american 2row instead of pilsner in a pale ale, but pils should work fine. I **think** you'll get more malt backbone from ameican 2row than pilsner though (not a lot but some). You might want to up your caramel amount to get a little more caramel characteristic from it (12-16 oz), but this is purely personal.

Edit:
I've never used Citra as a bittering addition but I have heard some reports that it's not overly favorable. Some say it's a bit "catty" or "cat pee" like, but again, no experience here.

 

[sparkeee277]

Cool, thanks. This recipe originally started as a SMASH, but it evolved into a pale ale. I chose Citra because I just had a citra single hop IPA from Knee Deep Brewing Co. that blew me away. I was going after the same hop profile....... I may just bitter with a little Chinook instead, but now I'm not sure.......

 

[stpug]

Cool, thanks. This recipe originally started as a SMASH, but it evolved into a pale ale. I chose Citra because I just had a citra single hop IPA from Knee Deep Brewing Co. that blew me away. I was going after the same hop profile....... I may just bitter with a little Chinook instead, but now I'm not sure.......

I would suggest to just stick with your original plan then. Like I said, I have no personal experience with bittering with citra - just what I've read. What better way to find out if you like citra bittering then to actually try it out. You're not using a lot for bittering anyway (0.5 oz).

 

[beernut70]

I think if you want nutty I would change the pilsner to 2-row or even better Maris Otter. The best pale I have brewed so far is Yoopers House Pale Ale The grain bill is great and might work well with Citra.

 

[sparkeee277]

Okay, using everybody's advise this is what I'm going with:

8 lbs American 2 row
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min
1.0 pkg American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272)
2.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days

Though it seems simple, sometimes simple is the way to go. I'll let you guys know how it turns out and if I get a catty flavor from the citra. Thanks again.

 

[beernut70]

Looks good. 3 Floyds Zombie dust is all Citra and it is an excellent beer. I think there is a clone recipe here in the India Pale Ale section although I think 3 Floyds calls it a pale ale.

 

[ZombieBrew83]

Citra is a fantastic bittering hop. I've used it several times with excellent results. Late additions tend to be on the fruity side with stone fruit/mango dominating the flavor.

My favorite experience was using BeirMuncher's Sacred Summit recipe and straight subbing Citra for the Summit hops.

 

[sparkeee277]

Just circling back.... The Citra was awesome for bittering, flavor, and aroma. Best Pale I've ever had. (I guess I'm a little partial) Thanks everybody for your input. The keg got polished off on new years eve in one night, everybody loved it. I just brewed it again, but split the hop bill between Citra and Nelson Sauvin. I'll let ya'll knbow how it is.....