Simple Pale Ale hop sampler brew

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bagbrewer

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I'm looking to start designing my own recipes and I'm going to start with a pale ale. I'll be using a 3 gallon kettle and induction cooktop and lutra to crank them out fast. The first three batches will be 97% pale malt, 3% Caramel/Crystal 20L. Each batch will get either Amarillo, Citra, or Mosaic as the single hop variety at 60 minutes and flameout. I think I'll reserve a couple bottles to blend as well. What do you guys think.
 
I think your plan is fine. If you wanted to get the true single hop experience, you might want to use Magnum or Warrior at 60, a small focus hop addition at 10 or 5, a whirlpool addition at a temp of 170 or less and a small (or not so small) dry hop. Then you'll get some true hop character, and I'll be over when they are ready :). You can't go wrong with those three hops. But your plan will work, too. Cheers!
 
@RCope I had considered Magnum for the bittering as I have enough on hand and I'm familiar with it but decided to keep it to a single variety for now. Do you think there will be a noticeable difference between a flameout addition and the late hop schedule you listed? I might have to do a second round of testing to see how a dry hop addition changes things though. I might have to have some help drinking all this after all.

Edit: spelling!
 
Flameout will give more bitterness with less hops. You can get a lot more flavor from the hops at lower temperatures during the whirlpool. I usually WP for 20 minutes@ 185-165 depending on how many ibu's I want from that addition. But, yes, I think you will miss out on a lot of the hop character if you only do hot side additions, especially at those temperatures. I'm not alone...
 
@RCope interesting, I was given to understand that there wasn't much to be gained between 5-10 minute additions and flameout additions. I appreciate the feedback and I'll adjust my recipe accordingly. I'd really like to understand the hop contributions so I can adjust the final recipe to it's best possible version.
 
@bagbrewer , to be clear, I was talking about WP and dry hop additions to add more hop character. 5,10 and flameout won't be that different since they are all hot side additions at 212 degrees, more or less. I like to add 5 or 10 minute additions, I feel it adds some depth. Some hops (not the ones you listed) benefit from boiling. But I think you're on the right track, do your own experimentation and make your own conclusions :) .
 
All ingredients ordered and estimated to be here by Friday. It'll be my 1st time using Viking Malt so that'll be interesting. Planning on a double brew day Saturday and the 3rd and final next Sunday if all goes well so they can all be sampled as close together and as fresh as possible.
 
The great thing about doing your own recipes is you can experiment. But I agree with the other Comments hear. I do like a 5 or 10 minute addition for character. I’ve tried the 60 minute plus flameout and they seem to be missing some depth. Also the 3 hops you are trying are the most amazing hops ever imho, but none of them are good bittering hops. I prefer warrior, others prefer magnum. But don’t let me sway you, experiment!
 
And when you are done with the single trials, make a brew with all 3. It never disappoints.
 
@Spivey24 I definitely will combine all three. I actually like Magnums clean bittering ability and will most likely use it for that purpose when I combine everything in the final brew. My main reason for not doing so in the solo trials is to see what flavors they develop on there own. While I'm thinking about it, any recommendations for blending the beers together in the glass? And how would I equate the ratio of one beer into hop amounts for the final brew? I realize that last part is probably more art than science but just curious how everyone approaches it.
 
How big of batches are you making? I have done a number of 3/4 gallon single hop samplers based on the general method described by Basic Brewing Radio. These are basically a lb of DME, 3/4 gal water, no boil, ~1 oz of hops steeped for 10 minutes, and fermented with a few grams of a yeast like US-05.

When doing other batches to evaluate hops, I think I like using a generic bittering hop at 60 minutes. The most obvious choices are 1) a the same amount of a generic bittering hop to give a consistent IBUs, 2) a fixed amount of your "single" hop that will give a variety of IBUs or 3) a varied amount of your "single" hop to hit a consistent IBU target across batches. There are plus and minuses for each. I guess since I won't be adding a hop like Galaxy as my 60 minute addition in any normal batch, it does not add much value for me to use that for my bittering addition.
 
@CascadesBrewer I skipped over their hop sampler episodes since I was brewing kits at the time but I'll have to revisit those. I'm targeting 1.5 gallons into the fermenter since that's about the limits of my stove top setup. I have adjusted the IBUs in my software to keep it as consistent as possible.

Side note: I'm test driving Brewfather and the auto calculation for water profile is amazing. Can't tell you how long I've spent playing with numbers in Bru'n water.
 
@CascadesBrewer I skipped over their hop sampler episodes since I was brewing kits at the time but I'll have to revisit those. I'm targeting 1.5 gallons into the fermenter since that's about the limits of my stove top setup. I have adjusted the IBUs in my software to keep it as consistent as possible.
You might want to look at something like this to help you get more water up to temp.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VLJ5ZN...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
 
@RM-MN The limitation in my test batch setup is due to the kettle capacity. It holds just shy of 3 gallons at 2.8g measured by weight. Depending on the grain bill i can do full volume mashing yielding anywhere from 1 - 1.5g into the fermenter. The boil is actually pretty vigorus on the stove or induction. That heat stick is pretty sweet though at that price. You have any experience with it?
 
No experience with the heat stick but several people have mentioned having a glass cooktop and not being able to bring a batch bigger than yours to a boil. The heat stick is a solution by adding more wattage and you can get them up to 1500 watts if you need the extra heat.
 
My 5.5g kettle certainly requires insulation and the lid partially on to get a decent boiloff so a heat stick could be helpful there.
 
I'm looking to start designing my own recipes and I'm going to start with a pale ale. I'll be using a 3 gallon kettle and induction cooktop and lutra to crank them out fast. The first three batches will be 97% pale malt, 3% Caramel/Crystal 20L. Each batch will get either Amarillo, Citra, or Mosaic as the single hop variety at 60 minutes and flameout. I think I'll reserve a couple bottles to blend as well. What do you guys think.
I think you should do exactly the same thing twice, but the second attempt, remove the flame out hop charge and instead use the same amount as dry hop.

In my experience, the late additions are not as nice as dry hops and can be skipped entirely.

But it is nice to find out for yourself. Alternatively, only use two hops this time and brew one beer twice, one with dry hopping and one with flame out instead.
 
Consider making some SMaSH batches too. That way both the malt and hop used get to really shine. My English IPA is a SMaSH recipe and it's a huge hit. I also have a bitter that's Maris Otter and victory malts with just first gold for the hop (thinking of trying a different hop on the next brewing).
 
Are you willing to share the recipe?
Maris Otter and EKG. Done. :p I use either WY 1335 or 1318 for the yeast. Target middle of the range for IBUs (no higher) as well. Current batch that's resting, after getting carbonated in conical, also got 2oz added for dry hopping. I plan to keg and can it tomorrow after dinner.
 
I understand the difference between an 'ingredient list' and a 'recipe'. ;)

But, it never hurts to ask (once). I'll move along. :mug:
Only grain is Maris Otter, so you use what you need by your system [efficiency] and the ABV% you want. I typically target 5.5% ABV. Mash for medium body (152F).
Only hop is EKG, so (again) use what you need by the AA% to get the IBU level (no more than 50IBUs for me).
Once fermentation is done, and I've dropped the yeast from the conical, I use a CO2 purged hop dropper to dry hop (2oz for the current batch).

A SMaSH recipe is short and sweet on purpose. Use the English IPA for ABV and IBU levels. Ignore the SRM since you'll be lower than the style usually is.

That's as close to a "recipe" as I'm going to provide. :p
 
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@tracer bullet thanks for that link. A simple grist is also what I'm using. Although different from what was mentioned there, it still lets the hops shine while still providing a malt backbone. I'm also thinking of using it to compare the differences in flavor compounds developed between yeast strains.
 
Checking in. First batch is about halfway through the mash and almost to preboil gravity. Calculated is 1.038 right now measuring at 1.036. So far so good.

Edit: 1st batch boiling now, ended with 1.040 preboil gravity after 60 minutes.
 
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