Two hearted ale clone

[penguin69]

So I was given this recipe for two hearted ale. Wanted to get your opinions.

OG 1.073
FG 1.017
Alcohol 7.2%
IBU 70
Color 7

8 lbs golden light dry malt extract (60 min)

1lb Weyermann Vienna
8 oz Briess Caramel 20
8 oz Beiess Carapils

1 oz Centennial (60 min)
1 oz Centennial (15 min)
1 oz Centennial (10min)
3 oz Centennial ( dry hop)

Yeast 2 packs Wyeast 1056

I am going to try this on the weekend

 

[Juno_Malone]

Looks good to me. Bell's THA is definitely single-hop Centennial. NorthernBrewer's Dead Ringer IPA is very close to Bell's THA, if you wanted to compare your recipe with theirs:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/DeadRingerIPA.pdf

Theirs is a bit simpler, with 9.15lb of gold LME and 1lb of Caramel 40. Also, your OG is a little higher than Bell's, which is 7% ABV. Probably not enough to make a noticeable difference. Personally, I'd cut back on or leave out the Vienna altogether, and change the Caramel 20L to 40L. I'd keep the Carapils in there. Hop schedule looks good, maybe a little heavy on the dry hops but I am not one to complain about that. If you have the equipment to do a starter, you can save $7 on the second Wyeast pack. Good luck with the brew!

 

[penguin69]

Thanks Juno.

I like your advice. I might make those adjustments or maybe brew as is and use your notes to maybe adjust on another try.

Just one question. There really isn't any instructions on dry hopping so I was gonna do primary for a week an dry hop in secondary for a week. Do you think that would be sufficient?

 

[flars]

One week in the primary will not get you to FG. Go two weeks minimum in the primary before dry hopping. You can also dry hop in the primary. Dry hop after almost all of the CO2 produced has off gassed. CO2 coming out of solution can scrub the dry hop aromas from the beer.

 

[Juno_Malone]

I totally agree with Flars. Give it at least two weeks in primary (I tend to let my beers sit for 3-4 weeks because I'm in no hurry. For dry hopping in secondary, my method is:

1. Put hops in a santized mesh bag (1-2oz per bag max, otherwise they are tricky to get out of the carboy after racking beer out).
2. Put bag(s) of hops in bottom of sanitized carboy
3. Siphon beer from primary directly into secondary
4. Let sit in secondary for 7-10 days before racking to bottling bucket.

 

[Yooper]

One week in the primary will not get you to FG. Go two weeks minimum in the primary before dry hopping. You can also dry hop in the primary. Dry hop after almost all of the CO2 produced has off gassed. CO2 coming out of solution can scrub the dry hop aromas from the beer.

I don't agree that 'one week in the primary will not get you to FG'. It's the rare pale ale or IPA that isn't done for me in a week, and actually very few beers take more than a week to ferment out. Of course, that assumes that the proper amount of yeast is pitched and the fermentation kept at the proper temperature. It takes a few days to start to clear, unless it's a yeast strain like S05 that seems to never want to clear for me!


Still, I'd plan on at least 10 days in the primary, and don't dryhop until a week before packaging.

 

[kombat]

I agree with the suggestion to drop the Vienna. Vienna must be mashed, not steeped, whereas everything else in your recipe can either be steeped (the grains) or just added straight to the boil (the LME). Why make yourself go through a partial mash just for 1 measly pound of grain? If you're going to have to mash anyway, why not just do a full mash then? Seems like you're making for work for yourself than necessary for practically no gain.