Review my Pale Ale recipe

[millsware]

Okay, this is my first time crafting a recipe from scratch. I'm going for something of an 'every-day' beer that is somewhere between a pale ale and an IPA. I really like hops taste and aroma, but not the bitterness as much. Plus I want to experiment with the different hops. Also, cheap = good.

Tell me what you think.

Mills Haus Ale - American Pale Ale
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Batch Size: 5.500 gal
Boil Size: 5.750 gal
Boil Time: 1.000 hr
Efficiency: 70%
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.013
ABV: 5.0%
Bitterness: 43.4 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 6 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
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Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Pale Malt (2 Row) US Grain 8.000 lb Yes No 79% 2 L
Munich Malt Grain 2.000 lb Yes No 80% 9 L
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L Grain 1.000 lb No No 75% 10 L
Total grain: 11.000 lb

Hops
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Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Challenger 7.0% 1.000 oz Boil 1.000 hr Pellet 22.0
Golding 5.0% 0.500 oz Boil 30.000 min Pellet 6.0
Perle 7.0% 0.500 oz Boil 10.000 min Pellet 4.0
Golding 5.0% 0.500 oz Boil 10.000 min Pellet 2.9
Perle 7.0% 0.500 oz Boil 30.000 min Pellet 8.5

Yeast
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Name Type Form Amount Stage
Safale S-05 Ale Dry 2.232 tsp Primary

Mash
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Name Type Amount Target Time
Infusion Infusion 3.125 gal 154.000 F 1.000 hr
Final Batch Sparge Infusion 3.925 gal 165.200 F 15.000 min

(Sorry that it's not the prettiest.)

 

[EricCSU]

BU:GU ratio is good, seems like that is the bitterness you want.

I would shoot for 1/2 of your IBUs from 60 and 30 minute additions and the other half from 10, 5, and 1 minute additions. You will get a much richer flavor and aroma without an overwhelming bitterness.

I would dry hop as well. I usually dry hop with centennial or amarillo for a pale ale, but that is just my own personal taste. I use 2oz dry hop for beers under 1060 and 3oz or more for beers over 1060.

Mas at 152-154F, I think that is dead on.

That is an interesting grain bill. I am not saying it won't work, but if it were me, I would go with 8oz carapils and 8oz crystal 10.

Your boiloff rate seems awfully low. Only a quarter gallon for an hour? My boiloff rate is very high relatively speaking, but I have verified it over a lot of batches. Getting the right boiloff rate helps you nail your volumes, therefore your gravity numbers.

For comparison, I have listed my own House Pale Ale and Rye Pale Ale below.

House Pale Ale:

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.01 gal
Estimated OG: 1.045 SG
Estimated Color: 5.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 83.14 %
13.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 8.45 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.20 %
5.0 oz Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.22 %
9.00 gm Cascade [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 7.1 IBU
9.00 gm Centennial [9.70 %] (60 min) Hops 12.5 IBU
56.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
9.00 gm Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min) Hops 3.6 IBU
18.00 gm Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 3.8 IBU
18.00 gm Cascade [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 2.8 IBU
14.00 gm Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
7.00 gm Centennial [9.70 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.10 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.10 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [StartYeast-Ale
Mash at 154F

Rye Pale Ale (one of my personal favorites)

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.99 gal
Estimated OG: 1.042 SG
Estimated Color: 9.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 53.30 %
2 lbs Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 21.32 %
1 lbs Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 10.66 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.33 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 75l (75.0 SRM) Grain 5.33 %
6.1 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.05 %
10.00 gm Centennial [8.70 %] (60 min) Hops 12.5 IBU
56.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
7.00 gm Cascade [5.10 %] (30 min) Hops 2.6 IBU
17.00 gm Cascade [5.10 %] (15 min) Hops 3.3 IBU
17.00 gm Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 2.2 IBU
17.00 gm Centennial [8.70 %] (5 min) Hops 3.5 IBU
17.00 gm Cascade [5.10 %] (1 min) Hops 2.1 IBU
17.00 gm Centennial [8.70 %] (1 min) Hops 3.5 IBU
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [StartYeast-Ale
Mash at 154

 

[milholen]

my boiloff rate is about 1.4 gallons. You might want to verify your boil off rate. I like your recipe it sounds delicious however one thing I noticed is the lack of aroma hops. Throw in an ounce of something at flameout to give it a nice aroma. I like Amarillo or Mt.Hood.

 

[millsware]

My last two batches I've boiled off about half a gallon, and ended up with more wort than I intended by about a gallon. I boil on the stove and have just barely a rolling boil.

Thanks for the responses, maybe I'll try some amarillo as a flameout or dry hop.

 

[EricCSU]

My last two batches I've boiled off about half a gallon, and ended up with more wort than I intended by about a gallon. I boil on the stove and have just barely a rolling boil.

Thanks for the responses, maybe I'll try some amarillo as a flameout or dry hop.

If you can get Green Flash Hop Head Red, that uses Amarillo as a dry hop. And is a very tasty beer!

Eric