Calibration Brew

[Barley Water]

In a week or so, I will be the proud owner of a new Barley Crusher (the guys in our club went together and purchased several at a good price). I have been for years just crushing my grains at the local homebrew supply store and frankly, my extraction rate sucks, but at least I am consistent. With this new toy, rumor has it that my extraction rate will rather dramatically rise. In light of that, I figure I need to do a calibration brew just to see how this new gizmo affects my brewing. My initial thought was to put together a formulation for an American Pale Ale (since I have a bunch of "C" hops at home I rarely use) and if it turns out that I get really good extraction, I'll just up the hopping rate and make an American IPA (I will know what the O.G. will be within a couple gravity points at the start of the boil with my trusty refractometer).

My question to you guys is, can you think of any other style I might consider which has a decent chance of making a good beer when the initial gravity is somehwhat of an unknown? A buddy of mine that got one of these things went from a 1.050 beer to something like 1.065 so you can see why I think a calibration session is in order. I am not buying this thing because I am trying to maximize efficiency. I am thinking that my beer might get better if I grind the goods just before I brew from a freshness standpoint. Also, I may be able to save a little money buying grain in bulk. Anyway, let me know what you think, I'm not necessarily stuck on making an APA/AIPA.

[boingy]

You could aim for a shorter brew length (e.g. 4 gallons), work out the efficiency as it hits the boiler then dilute to lower the Sg if necessary.