First Brew Recipe - Help me with your opinnion

I've never done a two gallon batch, so I can't help with the scaling, but, a couple thoughts:

27 IBUs is too low if you're trying to get an SNPA-like beer. Most American pales these days are at least 40, and I'd probably shoot for more like 45-50.

Saison yeast is, IMO, not a good idea. For one thing, it will give you a flavor profile and mouthfeel that are not at all like SNPA. Might be a good beer, but it will have a lot of flavors not normally associated with an American pale. Especially fermenting at higher temps. Also, some saison yeasts are very balky: they will stall and start up again a couple times, which can hard to deal with. I would just use WLP001/WY1056/SF05 and try to keep the temp down: it shouldn't be too hard to cool 2 gallons.

 

I think @VikeMan hinted at it for you in a different thread, but you should download his BrewCipher to do all the loss calculations. It's helpful for that and just about everything else.

 

Hey, you're not "supposed to" do anything except make a beer that you will enjoy. A saison yeast will probably make a good beer, given the recipe you're working with. It just will taste different than an American pale. It's all in what your goals are.

I would think you could keep 2 gallons of beer at whatever temperature you wanted. Just set the carboy in a tub with some cool water, and add a little ice periodically to keep it in the mid-60sF.

 

I know Panama is a bit warmer than here in LA, but I have problems with heat as well often. If you have access I would recommend just getting a big tub that holds the vessel you are using to ferment. Then fill it to about half way up. Get 3-4 (maybe more if you are warmer) water/coke/whatever plastic bottles and fill them and throw them in your freezer. I was able to keep my last batch at exactly 68F this way when it was in the 90sF. In fact I only had to add the water bottles twice once it hit 70F and it quickly brought it back down.

I also agitated the water in the tub several times a day so that it was moving and staying cool without the help of the ice.

If you use the bottles you don't have to waste ice, just throw them back in the freezer and then put the next ones in and have a rotation.

 

One thing about swamp coolers is that they are not very effective in high humidity environments. A swamp cooler depends on evaporation to work, so if the humidity is high the cooling effect will be limited. Using frozen water bottles in a water bath might be more effective than a swamp cooler setup.

 

I haven't run calcs on your recipe, but 2 observations.

Saison yeast may taste good, but it will make a saison, not a pale ale. The taste will be way off.

The crystal addition also seems high to me. I would scale it back in half.

 

Just a thought here, since this is your first beer, I see you have efficiency set to 75%. IMHO, you should up the grains a little and shoot for 65-70% efficiency. I also agree on raising the IBU to the 40 to 50 range.

 

Don't want to ask the obvious if you have this figured out, but, what method are you using to crush and mill the grains? Is the shop going to do it for you, or do you have a setup for that? when you ferment hot you will get more yeast flavors, like cloves, bananas, pepper, spice, phenols, etc. Your efficiency is probably lower than 75% like Mark says, and I'd actually err more down to the 60% range for a first all grain batch.

 

Ditto this. I've done several all grain batches and I'm still trying to dial in a consistent efficiency of 75%. To do that you need good milling, ph, temp, etc, etc, etc. for your first all grain shoot for 60. Tops.

 

I usually have my LHBS mill mine as well, and they have it pretty dialed in. Let me know how it turns out. The most important thing to do is take notes on literally everything. Times, temps, gravity, mash schedule, water, etc. That way if it does great and turns out perfect you can recreate it. Or, if it is bad, you can maybe see what you did wrong. I wish I had done that when I started.