Reducing starting gravity, what about the hops?

[tgarry]

I have a recipe that is bigger than I want at 7% ABV, but I am intrigued by the big toasted flavor.

My plan is to drop the amount of corn sugar and base malt so I get down to about a 5.3% ABV.

Now, should I also scale back the hops to keep the bitterness ratio constant? I believe this make sense in order to keep the beer in balance.

What about specialty grains? Keep the same or change? I left the same.
I also changed DME to grain.

Original:
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.37 gal
Estimated OG: 1.079 SG
Estimated Color: 12.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 32.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
6 lbs Pilsen Light DME (Briess) (2.0 SRM) Dry Extract 57.14 %
1.5 lbs Victory Malt (28.0 SRM) Grain 14.29 %
1 lbs Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 9.52 %
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
8.0 oz Carapils (1.5 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
0.50 oz Magnum [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 27.4 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [7.00 %] (15 min) Hops 3.9 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [3.20 %] (5 min) Hops 1.1 IBU
1 lbs Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 9.52 %
1 Pkgs American Lager (WLP840) Yeast-Lager


Modified:
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.37 gal
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 12.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
6 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (1.7 SRM) Grain 60.00 %
1.5 lbs Victory Malt (28.0 SRM) Grain 15.00 %
1 lbs Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 10.00 %
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
8.0 oz Carapils (1.5 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
0.30 oz Magnum [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 17.5 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [7.00 %] (15 min) Hops 4.2 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [3.20 %] (5 min) Hops 1.2 IBU
8.0 oz Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 5.00 %
1 Pkgs American Lager (WLP840) Yeast-Lager

Appreciate another perspective on scaling this recipe.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[dzlater]

Yea you want to scale back the hops to keep the bu/gu ratio the same.
I don't have a ton of experience scaling recipes but I would say as far as the specialty malts I think you look pretty good.
If you look at the %'s they are less then 1% difference between the two recipes, I don't think that will be noticeable.

 

[cactusgarrett]

One thing i recommend to people when they create recipes is balance, so you're a step ahead of the game there. Here's a useful tool:

 

[KyleWolf]

Also, for style guidelines, I check this page every now and then to get an idea.

http://beercolor.netfirms.com/balance.html

Otherwise I agree with dzlater, use the % of the recipe as a guide to see if you maintained your malt balance.