Northern Brewer Festivus Miracle kit

[Brewsbury]

Hey everybody!

I've been lurking on the site for over a year now, but finally had a question that hadn't been answered a million times before.

I just got NB's Festivus Miracle kit as I was looking to do something with spices for the winter. I definitely prefer maltier beers to hoppier ones and this one has a big malt bill... but it is a hop I haven't used before - Columbus - which I understand is a more potent variety.

It is only an oz (half at 60 and half at 30), but as I said, I haven't used Columbus before and I'm concerned I'll end up with something more bitter than I would find ideal. I understand that following that 1 oz of columbus in this beer will not make it a hop explosion.... but...

Would it be unheard of to only use .75 oz instead of the whole oz?

How many IBU's would it be with this type recipe?

Specialty grain:
6 oz Belgian Special B
3 oz Dehusked Carafa II
Extracts etc.:
6 lbs Gold malt syrup
3 lbs Golden light DME (15 min late addition)
1 lb Brun leger soft candi sugar (15 min late addition)
Hops/spices:
0.5 oz Columbus (60 min)
0.5 oz Columbus (30 min)
0.5 oz Sweet orange peel (5 min)
0.25 oz Mulling spices (0 min)

And I'll be using Safale S-04.

Thanks for any help, suggestions, or guidance!

 

[chisena]

Would have to plug it all into BeerSmith but it's not going to mean the difference between malty and hop bomb.

 

[Rootski]

Based on my calculations your recipe gives about 26 IBUs if you only boil 3 gallons and top off in the fermenter. If you do a full boil you'll get better hop utilization and get about 40 IBUs which is probably not true to NB's recipe. If it were me, I'd consider moving out the 30 minute hop addition closer to 20 or 15 and backing off the hops as you suggest, or use a different hop all together. This beer is going to have a lot of different flavors going on, so it's your call.

 

[Brewsbury]

I hadn't taken into account the difference between full and partial boil. I can only do the partial boil with my equipment. I was thinking the recipe would be closer to 40. But I think 26 IBU with this recipe would still be pretty malty as opposed to 26 in a pale ale.