Need advice on a 2 - 2.5gal. formula

[Krusty_Duck_Brewing_Co]

Hey Brewer's,

I'm working on my first recipe and was curious if it would work!

My current Pale Ale Recipe:

3.3lbs. Light/gold LME (unhopped)
1/2lb. of crystal or light malt (maybe Caramel 20)
1/8tsp. salt
1/2oz. Bittering hops
1/2oz. Aromatic hops
Water to 2 - 2.5gal
7g Ale yeast

-and priming sugar-

Now my question is: The LME says it has a Fermentability of 80%, is this alone enough to make a good volume of alcohol? If not wat should be added?

I'd also love any suggestions or input that you might want to add!

Thanks a million!

 

[BobC]

why the salt?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

i think it looks good. i'm guessing the salt is to add minerals to the water? check your local water profile, but you might not need the added salt. if you do, i'd suggest brewing salts like gypsum or burton salts (gypsum and chalk). you'll have a pretty solid session beer wit that recipe, not high abv, but in the 5% range. depending on the hops you chose, that'll be a really nice beer. my $.02 on the hops, i'd go with willamette or cascade if your using american ale yeast, or EKG and fuggle if you're using english ale yeast.
BTW, welcome to the forums, and this awesome hobby.

 

[Krusty_Duck_Brewing_Co]

Salt was just in a few recipes I'd used as a base...my water is fine, so maybe i'll avoid any salts...abv isn't an issue so round 5% is fine. As for the hops....I'm thinking of bittering with German northern brewer, and aromatics Chinook. possibly even dry hopping as well...I've been using coopers ale yeast, will that work in this formula?

Yes yes and thanks for the warm welcome, I'm very excited to be a part of this forum!

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

i personally don't like the cooper's yeast, it's a bit woody for my tastes. the chinook is classic for american pale ale, yum. if i were making a hoppy american pale, i'd use safale s-05, it's a great, aggressive, clean yeast. it'll dry the beer out like an APA should be, and the fermentation profile is great for american styles of beer. as for the salts, i only use them if i'm using distilled or R/O water, then i add the salts needed to match a certain region's water. (i.e. matching yorkshire water for english pale ale) most of the time, tap water is good for most beers, especially american styles, for those our american water is almost always good to use.

 

[Krusty_Duck_Brewing_Co]

I see the safale-05 comes in 11.5 gram packs is that to much yeast for this recipe?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

probably not, check with MrMalty.com. it'll base your pitch rate on batch size and OG. if you need less yeast, just pitch the amount you need, use the rest as nutrient in your next batch (just add it with ten mins left in the boil to use it as nutrient). safale used to also come in 5g packs, but i always get the 11.5 g packs, so i don't know if the 5 g's are still around.

 

[elvestinkle]

Now my question is: The LME says it has a Fermentability of 80%, is this alone enough to make a good volume of alcohol? If not wat should be added?

I'd also love any suggestions or input that you might want to add!

Thanks a million!

That's a solid amount of LME and hops for a 2.5 gallon batch--I use those proportions all the time. You might consider an adjunct like molasses (used very conservatively--maybe 4oz, 8oz at the most) if you want a boost to the ABV and character a bit, but you're in happy land already.

Don't forget to add most (66-75%) of your LME near the end of the boil! I finally started doing this, and wow, what a difference.

 

[Krusty_Duck_Brewing_Co]

so looks like 11.5 be fine, whats worst case.....higher abv?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

so looks like 11.5 be fine, whats worst case.....higher abv?

nah, worst case would be a faster, cleaner ferment. s-05 will attenuate around 77-80% pretty reliably.

 

[elvestinkle]

so looks like 11.5 be fine, whats worst case.....higher abv?

Mostly fewer esters--the yeast will reproduce less because there's more yeast to chew through the sugars at the start, so they'll be done and dormant more quickly. 11.5g is what I pitch into my 2.5g batches, too, with no problems either attenuation or flavor-wise.

 

[Krusty_Duck_Brewing_Co]

Well thanks to everyone for their input.....it's helped tons. I'm very excited to learn more via HBT!