New member, new recipe advice

[Blinky]

Hi, just joined and wanted some recipe advice.......Going to be doing an AG pale ale this weekend, I'm aiming to get around 15l into the fermenter so that I get 10 or 11 out after the dry hops have sooked it all up!
Does this look OK? Never used more than a single hop variety before so I'm hoping the combination of Magnum for bittering and centennial and cascade for flavor works with Willamette for aroma - or is that too many hop varieties in one brew?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I cannot give you any recipe advice but welcome to the forum :

 

[ManseMasher]

Give it a go! That's the beauty of this brewing malarkey - try it out. It will be beer, and if you like it, it's one for the book, if you don't, it's one for the back of the book! Don't forget Irish Moss/Whirlfloc 15 mins before the end though (couldn't see it in there). Welcome aboard by the way!

 

[Blinky]

Cheers folks, will give it a go, seems it not an outrages recipe so should produce something drinkable!

 

[clibit]

Yeah go for it, there's nothing wrong with that recipe, it's well balanced, and the hops should work together. And report back!

 

[rodabod]

Looks good.

 

[Blinky]

Was thinking of changing it a bit, remove the williamette as somebody suggested it's more of a uk hop?
I have the following if there is a better combination?
Magnum
Perle
Saaz
EKG
Cascade
Williamette
Centennial
Chinook
Challenger

 

[clibit]

Willamette was developed from UK Fuggle hops, but is different. It's more fruity and citrusy. But It's not as fruity and citrusy as the big American hops. You would get a lovely beer with that combination, Cascade and Wilamette is a classic combo used in American Pale Ales. If you want something more full on, Centennial is a brilliant hop, you only have them at 30 mins, you could have them at 0 mins and/or dry hop. I would either stick with Willamette, switch to Centennial, or do a combo of the two.

 

[Blinky]

Ok, you have persuaded me to stick to the original recipe! I did a brew before that was all centennial and loved it but want something a little different this time, hence the Willamette for aroma and cascade for flavour......

 

[clibit]

All centennial is brilliant. :thumb:

 

[Blinky]

All centennial is brilliant. :thumb:

Oh, it was, have a friend who is into all sorts of beers, especially big hoppy ones and he wanted to buy the batch from me!
Lets hope this can be just as nice, sticking to the same grain bill, going to mash at 68 to try and get a little sweetness but ant the hop flavours to come through

 

[Blinky]

Actually last time I used caramalt, but this time have it down as 60l Crystal - now the debate starts, should I go for crystal or stick with Cara?? Think I will stick with crystal, I want a touch of sweetness I think

 

[clibit]

Either will work. A pale crystal maybe. Or two different crystals. Or Caramalt and Crystal.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53516

This is my all Centennial recipe.

 

[Blinky]

Ok, final tweak, another few grams, 5? Of cascade at flameout for extra aroma. Will the centennial still be there, with only 1 30min addition?

 

[clibit]

I suspect it will be mainly IBUs. You could shift it to 15/10/5 minutes?

 

[Blinky]

15mins it is then - dont want it to overpower the cascade

 

[Blinky]

I've gone and done it - started again! This time with Cascade, Centennial and Chinook in the boil with the same and Willamette dry hopping...
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/297814/apa

How does that look? Is the grain bill OK? not too much Munich? Seems a lot of grain but I expect to loose quite a bit due to the massive amount of hops! And also my efficiency always seems to be 58% no matter what I do!

 

[clibit]

Yeah looks fine. The Munich will make it malty, personally I'd go down to 10% max probably, but I don't go for malt heavy beers, that's my taste.

 

[Blinky]

I'm trying to get a balance between malty and no malt at all just hops.... that was kind of why I added the munich and amber, but I have only done a single AG IPA/APA before so I'm open to your suggestions, I have dropped it down a bit - 9% munich 4.5% amber. That seem OK?

 

[clibit]

Yes I think that will work fine. 15% would too, but this is a pale ale rather than an IPA, the IBUs aren't that high, I wouldn't go as far as 15% myself.