Suggest me a hoppy, pale ale with the following please

[yashicamat]

OK, well I'm tiptoeing about with my 3rd AG and am a little uncertain, so rather continue to loiter without any idea of what I'm doing, I'll throw down the gauntley and let somebody suggest me an AG recipe (please!). That way I know how much of it is impatience / lack of skill etc. as opposed to trying to judge a benchmark off an unproven recipe.

My favourite ales tend to be things like Bishop's Farewell, Darkstar Hophead, Copper Dragon Golden Pippin, Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted . . . beers of that type. My first two AG's, while still young, seem to be lacking hop flavour and bitterness (even though they were theoretically brewed to an IBU of 30 to 35 in 3.8% to 4.0% beers). Any strength up to about 4.6% abv, but I ideally want a session beer rather than a heavier one.

I have in stock:

shedloads of crushed pale malt
several kilos of crystal malt
2 kilos of wheat malt
about 50g of EKG 6% ish AA
100g of Cascades 7.3% AA
about 50g of Amarillo 9.3% AA
100g of Northdown 6.7% AA
about 60g of Target 11.3% AA
about 25g of Fuggles (a little old now so probably not massively flavoursome) 5.5% AA

Danstar Nottingham yeast.

The intention is to conduct this brew in my new H&G boiler, so hopefully I should realise full potential.

Cheers.

[Whorst]

I find recipes worthless, unless the ingredients you're using are identical to that of the recipe. I would just create a simple recipe.
I don't know what your mash efficiency is, so you'll have to take care of that. For the recipe, how about enough Marris Otter to
get you to 1.040, and hop with Amarillo and Cascades. Safale-05 would be my choice over Nottingham.

[SiHoltye]

Good shout Whorst Good suggestion of all pale malt and the hops you went with, but what do you think of S-04 for it's sedimentation/clear beer properties. I've never tried US-05 but have read about the length of time it takes to clear down, and faced with a brewer who wants prompt results without perhaps involving finings or colder conditioning it maybe a more instantly rewarding place to start.

[Whorst]

S-04 is a great yeast for English styles. If you want all the juicy, fruitiness that comes with Amarillo and Cascades, go with the 05. You're right, it will take a while to drop bright. I have a solution, which is the use of gelatin finings. Gelatin will knock it on it's arse, and you'll have bright, clear beer in 3-4 days. I fine everything, as I like brilliantly clear beer like you get in a pub. Don't be afraid to use finings. I add 'em right into the corny at racking time.

[yashicamat]

Thanks for the replies. What sort of quantities of hops would I be looking at to get a hoppy beer? My current efforts with about 1.5oz aroma hops and 1oz for bittering are coming out distinctly "weak" hop-wise, so I'm looking at what sorts of quantities to aim for.

My mash efficiency when just sparging to a total of 16 litres (in my old stockpot) was just under 76% so I'm expecting something a bit closer to 78% maybe a notch or two higher when sparging a full volume.

[adm]

I've made a few of these pale, hoppy US style beers now - and my general rule of thumb so far has been to use around 100g total hops for a 5 gal batch - assuming US Cascade, Amarillo type hops... all of mine have been a bit stronger though - around the 1050 OG mark.

I'd use a good whack of Cascade (maybe 50g at 90 min) for bittering, then late additions of Cascade and Amarillo for flavour and aroma (25g of each, shared evenly at 15 minutes and 1 minute) - that should get you around 50 IBU, so I'd maybe use 4.5Kg of pale, plus 0.5Kg of wheat malt, which should yield around 1044 OG.

I'm just finishing off a corny full of a similar recipe - but with the addition of 0.5Kg of crystal and a different hop schedule. I think it would be fine without the crystal. And i would use the Amarillo as the finishing hop as I love it's taste)

It's a top pint - sad to see the back of it! (Original Brewday Post is here

[MartialAnt]

Lob every last bit in n call it 'yashicamats IPA'. Let us know how it tastes when its ready to drink in 2011.

[spearmint-wino]

LOL @ Martial Ant

I'd echo what others have said... to get something along the lines of HopHead go for:

4.5Kg pale malt
250g wheat malt

40g Cascade at 60 mins
20g Cascade at 10 mins
30g Cascade once you switch the heat off and leave to steep for 20 mins, then cool
10g Cascade dry hopped in the primary fermenter, once the yeast head has died down

It'll probably come out higher gravity than hophead but will be good to go in about 3 weeks' time and fantastic by christmas

[Scooby]

Sounds like Townes IPA might suit.

OG 1.045
96.2% Pale Malt
3.8% Wheat malt

Cascade hops to 40 IBU at your preferred times.

I used US-05 for a more clean taste, cleared ok and was a real hit


Edit, Just seen you question about hop quantities, have a look at the calculator

[yashicamat]

Sounds like Townes IPA might suit.

OG 1.045
96.2% Pale Malt
3.8% Wheat malt

Cascade hops to 40 IBU at your preferred times.

I used US-05 for a more clean taste, cleared ok and was a real hit


Edit, Just seen you question about hop quantities, have a look at the calculator

Thanks. I am familiar with IBU calculations, I am more curious about how much in the way of hops is required for the aroma aspect? Or is the way to change that to use less bittering hops and throw more aroma in (to allow them to make the smaller additions to the overall IBUs but due to the shorter boil length less extraction so more hops can be added for more flavour?)?

Thanks.

[Scooby]

Sounds like Townes IPA might suit.

OG 1.045
96.2% Pale Malt
3.8% Wheat malt

Cascade hops to 40 IBU at your preferred times.

I used US-05 for a more clean taste, cleared ok and was a real hit


Edit, Just seen you question about hop quantities, have a look at the calculator

Thanks. I am familiar with IBU calculations, I am more curious about how much in the way of hops is required for the aroma aspect? Or is the way to change that to use less bittering hops and throw more aroma in (to allow them to make the smaller additions to the overall IBUs but due to the shorter boil length less extraction so more hops can be added for more flavour?)?

Thanks.

Ah, I misunderstood what you meant by 'hoppy beer'.

Late additions of hops contribute little or no bitterness, 50 gm of hops that would give
30 IBU if boiled for 90 min would equal about 2 IBU if boiled for 15 min.

I calculate to the desired IBU on the full boil only. It seems to be popular to add large quantities
of late hops now, 20-25% of the amount of bittering hops is about normal in most recipes but as adm
said 100% will give bags of hop presence

Thanks for the replies. My current efforts with about 1.5oz aroma hops and 1oz for bittering are coming out distinctly "weak" hop-wise,

If your using 150% you should have loads of hop aroma and flavour

[EportJake]

I made the Brakspear Special for my second AG brew. Whilst its not a pale ale, it was hoptastic and about 60 IBU's (according to beersmith). Sounds too bitter, but it was infact fantastic (seconded by several tasters). 60g of Challenger @ 90 minutes did the trick.