Belgian Pale Ale recipe critique

Looks good, but I would cut the biscuit and aromatic each in half, personally. Maybe add a touch more tettnang if you want them to shine.

 

I like 3522 better for this type of beer than 1214

I agree with chopping the specialties in half (or completely)

You might up the late hops if you want a noticeable flavor/aroma, as nobles are much more subtle than your typical american hops

 

IMO in a belgian pale all you need is a good basemalt, yeast and hops. The specialties in your case will just obscure the flavor of the yeast and the hops (however unmalted wheat is a great adjunct)

Things like aromatic will just add a sweetness that would distract from the yeast derived flavors, while biscuit will obscure the great grainy sweetness of belgian pils.

Unmalted wheat doesnt do either of these, instead it can help add a great amount of body and creaminess to this type of beer and wont add any unnecessary sweetness

my favorite belgian in this theme is

~80% Pils
~20% unmalted wheat, rye, farro, einkorn, spelt, amaranth, etc, etc

1.0oz ekg/fuggle @ 10min
1.0oz ekg/fuggle @ KO
bittering hop @60 to ~26IBU total

WY3522

this may not 100% conform to BJCP labels for a Belgian Pale, but, who cares?

 

Throw some Brett on that bitch!

 

For me that is alot of biscuit. The aromatic is fine. I put too much Biscuit in an IPA once and was not happy with the results. My friends thought it was good. ( They tend to like free beer! )

 

I'd say just pick one of the specialty malts, and only use 1/4-1/2#. Replace the balance with more belgian pale, or maybe some munich if you're feelin' frisky.

 

A pound of each is just an awful lot of specialty malt for this beer. Aromatic is a pretty powerful malt, and biscuit is pretty distinct as well. If I was brewing the beer, I would probably use 1/4 pound of each and really let the Belgian Pale malt shine.

 

^^^ This. It's very easy to overuse Aromatic. A little goes a long way.

 

agree with what has been stated, so maybe 9.5# bel pale ale, 1# munich, 4oz aromatic, 4 oz biscuit...personally think that maybe closer to what you're looking for. If you want more toasted, up the munich in place of the bel pale ale, but 1# seems about right.

 

I need to learn to read when not yet fully caffeinated. My bad.

start @ 69F and ramp up to mid 70s works well for 1214.

 

My BPA that is currently finishing is very similar to your last iteration (except I had no aromatic). I split the batch and pitched 3522, 3994, and DuPont yeast. So far (4+ weeks) the gravity tastings have the most distinct flavor from 3944 (peachy), second place is 3522 (lemony) and the normal stellar DuPont is lagging poorly. Also flavored a one gallon batch with "essence of habanero" (for grins) which is surprisingly decent tasting (i.e. not horrible).

My experience: your 3522 is flexible on the ferm temps. I've started at 71 and taken it up to 75 with good results. My last couple of batches have started at 68 and finished around 72 . . . this seems like a sweeter range. My experience is it finishes in the 1.005 range and I mash around 153. Good luck with your brew.

 

I use 5,6,7oz of Belgian Caramunich, Biscuit, and Aromatic. I forget which is which exact amount.

I like the OP's revised recipe. 3522 will be great here.

good luck--
--Michael