Belgian Pale Ale Recipe Critique

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by hoptualBrew, Jul 29, 2015.

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  1. hoptualBrew

    hoptualBrew Initiate (0) May 29, 2011 Florida

    1.056
    1.010
    6% abv
    40 IBU
    8 SRM

    75 min boil

    75.34% Pilsner
    6.85% Munich 10L
    6.85% Biscuit
    6.85% Caramel 40
    4.11% Flaked Wheat

    Magnum @ 60 min for 38 IBU
    Saaz, 8 oz in 37 gallons @ 1 min for 1 IBU
    Hallertauer, 8 oz in 37 gallons@ 1 min for 1 IBU
    Saaz, 8 oz dry hop 5 days
    Hallertauer, 8 oz dry hop 5 days

    Antwerp Ale yeast WLP515

    Na 75
    Cl 116
    Ca 50
    SO4 120

    Thoughts?
     
  2. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    Needs more Chinook. :wink:

    Looks pretty good to me, maybe a little more SO4? Maybe in the range of 1:1.5 Cl:SO4.
     
  3. hoptualBrew

    hoptualBrew Initiate (0) May 29, 2011 Florida

    Perfect, I could use Epsom Salt for Mg contribution, MgSO4, would give 10 ppm Mg & 39.6 ppm SO4 at 15.39 grams in 40 gallons wort. If I add to boil kettle then that will bring me up to 160 ish ppm SO4.
     
  4. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    The recipe looks good to me.

    I prefer to use Belgian crystal malts for these types of beers; for example Dingemans Cara 45 Malt.

    Cheers!
     
  5. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    I was actually thinking along those lines as well, like Caramunich 40.
     
  6. PortLargo

    PortLargo Pooh-Bah (1,831) Oct 19, 2012 Florida
    Pooh-Bah

    . . . or CaraVienne. Nothing wrong with Munich, but consider something like Special B or Aromatic (or both) if you're looking for something distinctive . . . also, maybe a touch less bittering . . .
     
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  7. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    Aromatic in place of the Biscuit and Cara 40 actually sounds like a good idea, just not 13.7%.
     
  8. hoptualBrew

    hoptualBrew Initiate (0) May 29, 2011 Florida

    Thanks guys, this has been helpful. I'll report back how it turns out!
     
  9. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    Your recipe looks very yummy to me, it is not totally accurate to the style though(maybe you don´t mind that). If you want to keep fitting the style i think dry-hopping and IBUs 40 are not suitable for the ´correct ´Belgian Pale Ale style. Instead of adding more sulfate i would add more chlorure, you need to get this beer malty, I would raise biscuit malt a bit , my 2 cents.
     
  10. hoptualBrew

    hoptualBrew Initiate (0) May 29, 2011 Florida

    Yeah, my vision is a hybrid beer I guess. I am hoping to have the malt layer complexity in a subtle manner while emphasizing the euro hop combo. Biscuity, breads, toasty, floral, spicy, hop forward beer with a medium-light body, medium carbonation, and dense foam head that retains is what I'm looking to make.
     
  11. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    And then adding Brett to 5 gallons... Right? Otherwise what's the point of doing just enough for 2 1/2 barrels and a 1/6 barrel?
     
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  12. hoptualBrew

    hoptualBrew Initiate (0) May 29, 2011 Florida

    jbakajust1 and Tebuken like this.
  13. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    First thing I thought when I saw your original recipe. Just stepped up dregs from a fresh bottle last night myself.
     
  14. DmanGTR

    DmanGTR Initiate (0) Feb 19, 2008 New York
    Trader

    I didn't read through all the replies but the recipe looks pretty good. Sounds tasty for sure.
     
  15. satxbrew

    satxbrew Aspirant (228) Jun 13, 2011 Texas

    I have made a similar recipe for several years with various tweaks. Here is what I recommend:
    Use cara-Vienne instead of crystal 40. The crystal 40 is too sweet and covers up the delicate hop character associated with fresh DeKonnick/Palm. Cara-Vienne will give you enough caramel character and emphasize the malt character. I think I use 10%. Aromatic malt would be ok, but Special B will be way too dark for this style. I would stick with the biscuit malt. I recommend no more than 30 IBUs, and 25 would be better. Skip the dry hop. I would do a small 10 minute addition and a small 1 minute addition. 8 Oz seems a bit strong. I make 10 -12 gallon batches, and I usually finish with 1 Oz. flavor and aroma for this recipe. Of course, I am trying to recreate the wonderful malty, toasty, character fresh DeKonnick. I love the light Saaz note that makes it more complex though. If you want to make some IPA variant, that may be good too. Adding Brett will make something totally different, but should also be good. You still may want to lower the IBUs. Bitter and funky often don't work well together. I usually try to make a 1.048 gravity beer. It is very drinkable. The Winter Konnick is in the 6% range though, and it is excellent.
     
    #15 satxbrew, Aug 11, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2015
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