My First Pale Ale Recipe, Peoples Thoughts Please.

[Froggit]

Im doing my first Pale Ale and initially it was gonna be a Whychwood Scarecrow clone for my brother (things have got so bad since my recent move to the dark side that im now offering to make brews for people if they buy the raw materials) but i cant find a recipe and they use some fancy Grain so ive just made something up, comments would be appreciated.

23ltr
4.75 Marris Otter
Carapils 100g
Crystal 90 150g
20g Target 90mins
50g Target 30mins
30g Target Flameout.
Kolsch Yeast

OG 1.048
ABV 4.72
IBU 57


Im particularly interested in peoples thoughts on my hop use, dont want something too bitter but with good floral, did i ought to be forgetting the hops at flameout and dry hop and im guessing im not using enough (its just 1 type and 100gr bags, yea im tight)?
Also thoughts on the kolsch yeast should i stick to an ale yeast and if so what would be my best bet?

Again thanks in advance.

[Manx Guy]

Hi!

Looks like a sound recipe, infact the grist is identical to my 'Pale Ale grist'

Hop schedule looks fine too, should get you a nice aroma flavour.
HOWEVER I've not used Target and not sure what there aroma qualities are...
No doubt someone else can contribute on that point

Kolsch yeast is a good one give a very clean ale, and presents the hops nicely, however it can be a bugger to floculate (unless chilled), and if you plan to bottle it doesnt stick to botels like Notts... So you may be better sticking to Notts or something similar (WLP05?) if you plan to bottle

Guy

[Froggit]

Thanks for the input manxguy.
I will be bottling!

[orlando]

did i ought to be forgetting the hops at flameout and dry hop and im guessing im not using enough (its just 1 type and 100gr bags, yea im tight)?

According to a hop grower I saw on a Beersmith video, yes. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qD17ZeT ... digest_sun) He was advocating waiting till the beer cooled to below 50c before adding late copper hops because it destroys the oils associated with aroma above these temps. Conclusion seemed to me to be dry hop toward the end of fermentation and for not much more than a couple of days.

I will certainly be adopting his ideas on hop usage from now on. Excellent stuff.

[kebabman]

An IBU of 57 for an OG og 1048 for my equipment and taste buds would be way too high.
Anything much above 1:1 for the IBU:OG (BU:GU) ratio would be too much for me as my limit is 1:1 to 1.10:1.0 depending whether the hops are this season or not and the likely finishing gravity.
If you were happy with the bitterness of your previous brews I would work out the BU:GU ratio for them and compare that figure with the ratio in the grist that you have posted above.

[oz11]

You may want to do a bit of research into Target as a late hop. It's a fine bittering hop and works as a dry hop, but as a late hop it can be too harsh for some.

[Froggit]

Its funny you should say that oz as after orlando and kebabmans input i did some research this afternoon and decided to alter my hops to
20g at 60
50g at 30
30g Dry hopped.
And that gives me a BU:GU Ratio of 1.09

Would you still think the 50g at 30 mins is still too late, i dont want anything too harsh, just a nice summer drinking beer!

[oz11]

I can't speak from experience as I've only used Target as bittering and dry hop. Hope someone else with an idea might chip in here to help you out.

You may have seen something like this as a description, but then I also came across this!

Whatever you decide I hope it turns out well

[Dennis King]

Personally I find Target a bit harsh in large amount, might be a bit to bitter for me.

[orlando]

Its funny you should say that oz as after orlando and kebabmans input i did some research this afternoon and decided to alter my hops to
20g at 60
50g at 30
30g Dry hopped.
And that gives me a BU:GU Ratio of 1.09

Would you still think the 50g at 30 mins is still too late, i dont want anything too harsh, just a nice summer drinking beer!

The last part is the key for me. It's a lot of hops and as you have acknowledged th BU:GU ratio is already over 1:1 so I would be tempted to get this down by altering that addition. One other factor is that any harshness is lost to an extent with extended conditioning/storage. I was drinking 3 summer beers the other night (Golden Jackal -Wolf Brewery,Lighthouse - Adnams & Old Golden Hen - Morlands). The characteristics of all 3 was low bitterness with the emphasis on aroma.