Please, any input on this pale ale recipe

[jimmywit]

I am just about to start my second brew and have put this recipe together with the help of you all and a recipe book. Please give me any input you have good or bad.

Steep 1lbs lovibond crystal 20
2 teasppons gypsum

5lb light dme
1oz centennial-60 min
1/2 oz cascade-30 min
1/2 oz cascade-10 min
1teaspoon irish moss-10 min

wlp001 or wlp051 or wyeast 1056

after 2 days fermentaion 1/2 lbs light brown sugar
dry hop 1/2 oz cascade

 

[jimmywit]

I am just about to start my second brew and have put this recipe together with the help of you all and a recipe book. Please give me any input you have good or bad.

Steep 1lbs lovibond crystal 20
2 teasppons gypsum

5lb light dme
1oz centennial-60 min
1/2 oz cascade-30 min
1/2 oz cascade-10 min
1teaspoon irish moss-10 min

wlp001 or wlp051 or wyeast 1056

after 2 days fermentaion 1/2 lbs light brown sugar
dry hop 1/2 oz cascade

 

[Yooper]

Well, I don't like the brown sugar addition. But maybe someone who likes it can better speak to why it would be in there. Fermented brown sugar doesn't taste very good, and in a pale ale I think it would be particularly bad.

I'd probably skip the gypsum, unless there was a water chemistry reason to add it.

 

[Want2Brew]

Looks ok to me but if you want a lot of hop flavor I would recommend more late hops. What are the AA's of your hops? I have never used brown sugar so Im not sure what effect that will have, I would guess it will dry the beer out a lot. Are you doing a full boil? Is that Normal Illinois? If so Im just a little south of ya.

 

[jimmywit]

Looks ok to me but if you want a lot of hop flavor I would recommend more late hops. What are the AA's of your hops? I have never used brown sugar so Im not sure what effect that will have, I would guess it will dry the beer out a lot. Are you doing a full boil? Is that Normal Illinois? If so Im just a little south of ya.

The brown sugar came from a recipe book I have. After comments I will most likley leave it out. It is Normal Il. Doing a 3 1/2 gallon boil.

 

[Want2Brew]

You could up your DME by a 1/2# if you are going to skip the brown sugar and you still want to hit your original gravity. Im not an extract brewer but I hear people reporting good results with late extract additions. If you need help calculating your IBU's let us know the Alfa Acids of your hops. Hope this helps and good luck

 

[jimmywit]

You could up your DME by a 1/2# if you are going to skip the brown sugar and you still want to hit your original gravity. Im not an extract brewer but I hear people reporting good results with late extract additions. If you need help calculating your IBU's let us know the Alfa Acids of your hops. Hope this helps and good luck

I am new to this but have done some research and the IBU's do confuse me a little. I do know % and the effects, but don't really know how to calculate it all. I do know the effect of a lower ibu vs a high ibu. But don't really understand it all. I am doing some research, but as I said I am knew and really only have one real brew under my belt. That was following the recipe by the book. I will post the Alfa acids of my hops when I decide on what I will use. Maybe that will help calculate what I really need to do. Does the rest look ok, minus the brown sugar?

 

[Want2Brew]

Well I won't even pretend like I calculate IBU's by hand....lol I use Beer Alchemy brew software. A lot of people here seem to like Beer Smith but it won't run on my mac so I have never tried it but I would highly recommend some form of brewing software, it will make your life a lot simpler. As for the recipe, it looks good to me. I think the crystal 20 is an unusual choice by it's self but I don't see why it won't work.

 

[DavidSteel]

I'd actually take the 1/2 oz @ 30 and 10, split them into 1/4ths (.25oz) and put em in @ 30, 15, 5, 0. Better hop flavor and aroma that way, most likely.

 

[ChshreCat]

Calculating IBU's is easy. You type in how much of what AA% hop and the software tells you the IBU's. I could do the math if I wanted but I'm lazy too.

 

[LexusChris]

All good advice!

I would also reduce the amount of Crystal malt to maybe 1/2#. It adds some sweetness, color & body, and more than 10% of total fermentables can be a bit much. 1/2# puts you at 9%.

The gypsum & brown sugar probably are not neccessary for this recipe...

Good luck & be sure to post your results!
--lexuschris

 

[jimmywit]

Thanks to everyone the advice was great! I think I have a good 2nd brew recipe to go on with. I will be sure to post how it turns out.