Pale Ale 2015 - To Be Named Later

[Kealia]

Just back from a week at the lake and thinking about my next beers. I'm on a Mosaic kick right now but rather than wait until I can brew to have something with Mosaic in it, I'm going to pick up a sixer of Karl Strauss Mosaic to hold me over. That will allow me to be patient with my next two brews.

The first will be a new pale ale - thanks to BlackDuck for letting me use a tried-and-true good grain bill that I can test this hop combo on.
I'm hoping to get to this in the next few weeks:

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size (fermenter): 3.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 6.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 85.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
5.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 1 -
3.00 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 2 -
4 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 62.5 %
1 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 4 18.4 %
1 lbs 2.4 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 5 16.9 %
2.4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.2 %
0.60 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 7 53.8 IBUs
1.00 Items Servomyces (Boil 10.0 mins) Other 8 -
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 mins) Fining 9 -
1.00 oz MANDARINA BAVARIA [7.00 %] - Steep/Whirl Hop 10 15.7 IBUs
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool Hop 11 9.5 IBUs
0.25 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpoo Hop 12 6.7 IBUs
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Galaxy [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz MANDARINA BAVARIA [7.00 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Hop 15 0.0 IBUs

You'll notice an absence of yeast here. No, I'm not letting it spontaneously ferment with wild yeast (sorry mashani!). If I get brewing next weekend I'll be using Pacman yeast when I brew up my Dead Guy Ale clone. If that works out, I'll harvest that and use it here. If not, I'll go with good 'ole WLP001.

I haven't brewed an AG recipe since I did my Levitation in May and I'm itching to get something going.

Now, if life doesn't get in the way....

[Inkleg]

Just back from a week at the lake and thinking about my next beers.

Now, if life doesn't get in the way....

Huh.......ya mean like going to the lake again......... and you couldn't think about your next beer while you were at the lake.

Ok, now that I have the BBing out of the way. Looking forward to follow ups on this one.

[BlackDuck]

Dude. That looks good!!! IBU's are in line of an IPA though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Beer-lord]

I love mixing in some Maris Otter with 2 row. In fact, I may get a sack of Gleneagle and use it close to 50/50 in a number of future recipes. It gives pales and IPA's an extra flavor punch and to me, a more balanced taste.

[Beer Warrior]

I try not to use more than 3 hops in a beer. Mosaic pairs well with Citra. I would save the Nelson for a single hopped beer.

[Kealia]

Dude. That looks good!!! IBU's are in line of an IPA though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They do BUT it's almost the same hop schedule as my IPL so I don't think it will be IPA-like. I think the heartier grain bill will offset the hops enough to keep it closwr to an APA but you are making me re-think the amounts I'll use. Maybe I will back them down a bit.

[Kealia]

I try not to use more than 3 hops in a beer. Mosaic pairs well with Citra. I would save the Nelson for a single hopped beer.

Funny you should say that. I just finished off a keg of a single-hopped wheat beer using NS. It's a house brew at this point that I make several times a year.
But I do like a small addition of it in many beers.

[Kealia]

I love mixing in some Maris Otter with 2 row. In fact, I may get a sack of Gleneagle and use it close to 50/50 in a number of future recipes. It gives pales and IPA's an extra flavor punch and to me, a more balanced taste.

Exactly what I am going for. I know the grain bill is solid so I'm hoping I nail the hops.

[Stinkfist]

Am I crazy or is that amount of gypsum just way too much? that is twice as much as I put in a 5 gallon batch...? Also seems like a ton of epsom salt as well..

and I agree with BW the nelson doesn't seem to fit...

[BigPapaG]

Am I crazy or is that amount of gypsum just way too much? that is twice as much as I put in a 5 gallon batch...? Also seems like a ton of epsom salt as well...

Well, we don't know the starting profile of the water...

Ron?

[Kealia]

Yeah, my water is basically neutral. It's essentially like RO water with no minerals to start with at all. I used bottled water from our local purifier and I got the water report from them about 2 years ago.

Thanks for questioning it, though. Lots of eyes, especially fresh ones can catch things that get overlooked.

[Beer Warrior]

I will say that Nelson Sauvin is a hop that people are really mixed on. As a broker I love the hop but is super difficult to source right night. I would hold off on the addition of Nelson Sauvin. I would personally leave out the Maris Otter as well, I think it gets in the way of the hops. Go 100% pale malt on the base malt with a small touch of C-40 & a pinch of wheat. On a beer where you are using some premium hops I would not over think the grain bill. If it was me, I would do the Citra, Amarillo, and Galaxy. Add some good hops around 180F and let them hang out for 20 minutes.

[Kealia]

Thanks for the input. Yes, I find that Nelson Sauvin can be polarizing as well. I'm a big fan of them myself.
You almost nailed the grain bill of my standard pale ale except I use a little C-20 instead of the C-40. I like the touch of wheat in my beers as well so I think our tastes are very similar. This time around, I'm using a grain bill that I've had before in somebody else's pale ale and I liked the complexity of it which is why I want to use it here.

But I agree with you in general - simple is a good way to go. And we're in good company. One of the last podcasts I heard with Mitch Steele of Stone said that he's simplified his IPAs to be 2-row, a touch of Munich (IIRC) and no crystal malts at all. He wants the hops to really shine. In this case, I'm actually looking for a more complex APA than my standard grain bill.

Understanding that everybody's tastes are different, I do appreciate everybody's thoughts and input here.

Oh, and you almost nailed the hopstand plan, too. 180 for 30 minutes is my 'standard' (I see that it doesn't really show in the recipe I posted as it is listed as steep/whirlpool).

[Beer Warrior]

You could just hop burst the heck out it.

[mashani]

I'm personally a fan of Nelson. I tend to single hop with them, but I like a little bit of them in anything.

I also like West Coast, and East Coast (and Michigan/North Coast) and English IPAs. A bit more malt doesn't bother me in many cases. For me it's a hop specific thing.

If I'm using lots of citrusy/fruity hops, I like them better with a very clean and simple malt bill. I actually would say that I like Nelson single hopped with pilsner *and nothing else* the best. To me the pilsner lets the Nelson really shine. But I like Nelson in anything, from a simple pilsner like beer, to a pale ale, to IPA, to Saison.

But if I'm using a bunch of piney/earthy/spicy/dank hops, I like to have a lot more malt behind them, and will use large amounts of Munich or Vienna. And I really like such hops. And I really do like the extra malt behind them. So I do tend to make a good number of more malty beers like that too.

Also, if I'm making a session strength IPA it might have 20-50% Munich. Because that lets me dump in the hops and not make it taste harsh. I've made 100% Munich and 100% Vienna SMaSH IPAs that were totally delicious. Just how much depends on what hops I'm using, but I will always use a good bit in such a beer.

Maris Otter is nothing compared to Munich. I'd brew with Maris Otter anytime. I'd never consider it "in the way" to my tastes.

I do tend to not use much crystal, except for English IPAs. I'd rather use Munich. But an English IPA with a good caramel vibe with some Fuggles or Styrians and a crap load of Goldings thrown in late is also very delicious. But then again you can go back to what I said about hop specific thing there. Those hops taste great with some malt.

Then again styrians and goldings also taste great with just pilsner in a yeast driven Belgian.

So it depends. That is all.

Oh and I short boil/hop burst and/or hop stand *everything* lately. Even all the Belgians/Saisons I've made this year. Because I can, and I really like the results. Even if doing so is inappropriate to style in theory. The thing is, if you use the right hops, it doesn't turn out inappropriate. Of course I just started doing it to save time and control my Brett, but it's not just that anymore. I simply love the results I'm getting.