Well, it's not a "problem" in that there's any issue with something that's already brewed... It's a "problem" in that I already have a pre-milled sack of grain for a 3.5 gallon batch, and I've since decided that I want it to be a five gallon batch. I can add any grains in any amounts that I want from the LHBS, but I can't subtract from this... 5 lbs 2-row 1 lb vienna 6 oz caraamber I want to make a pale ale that will be pretty low on bitterness, appealing to busch drinkers, and satisfying for myself all at once. Mainly this HAS to be at least somewhat appealing to busch drinkers! hops wise I have willamette, belma, hallertau, columbus, chinook, NB, bravo, cascade, cluster, fuggles. I have nottingham or US-05, or (if necessary) could get any yeast, but c'mon, do I really need any other yeast... I was thinking a touch of NB for bittering and some NB/cascade for flavor and aroma hops. Perhaps 0.5 oz NB at 60, 1 oz NB at 10, 1 oz cascade at 5. Dry hop maybe an ounce of whatever hops happens to float to the top of the freezer at the time! IBUs 31 Grains wise I was thinking of adding about 3 more lbs of 2-row and maybe a touch of something else?? Or just leave it with the extra 2-row??? Also... mash 152F Help!
I'd just add the extra 2-row. The rest of the grains look ok to me. For hops I'd use something milder to achieve the goal you set. Bitter with whatever you like NB would work fine then add some Willamette at flame out say an ounce. It's mild and has a lighter citrus kick than cascade which is quite abrasive. More in the blonde ale range IMO. For yeast either will do.
I think I am likely to go with just the extra 2-row. I am aiming for simplicity here. I was just thinking that cascade might be something I would like more so than what a busch drinker would like, so yeah, let's ditch the cascade. Willamette or perhaps hallertau? If I changed the style to "blonde ale" I could get away with less bitterness...
i think blonde ale would be an approachable style for aal drinkers. beef up the base malt, either 2 row, or pilsner malt could make for an easy drinker. all willamette could be nice or maybe something like cascade/hallertauer. i'd go us-05 and keep it clean.
I could go hallertau at 10 and willamette at FO, maybe an ounce each, with 0.5 NB for bittering at 60. that would give me IBU 20 pilsner or 2-row would be easily available and cheep, I've just kinda defaulted to 2-row
You can just add some rice and corn to give it more of a busch appeal, and save some cash! But for real...2 row will be fine. At that point, I say whatever hops make you feel good after 5 minutes will do, since like you said, you deserve to enjoy it yourself! The floral hops don't scare away my buddies as much as the bittering ones! Oh ya, but I tend to brew for my own tastes because I am selfish!
Yeah I'm selfish too, but I gotta get my brother on board with this whole brewing thing. He'll need to be broken in slowly. No IIPAs and imperial stouts right off the bat! I think he'll like the willamette/hallertau combo. He does like some brews like Sam Adams and such, and they're a far cry more hopped and heavier than his usual busch.
Maybe 2 # 2row and 1 more # vienna, or 1# 2 row and 2 more # vienna. I might consider using 100% Hallertau. Busch drinkers might not like the C-hops as much. I'd probably shoot for 25-30 ibus, which shouldn't be too off putting for the Buschies, but I'd do a little late hopping just to give me something to think about, maybe spread 1-2 ounces out as 15 min and flamout additions.
BUSCH BEER FACTS Introduced Busch: 1955 Beer Category/Styles: American-style lager ABV: 4.6% Calories: 122 Carbs: 7.5 grams Protein: 0.7 grams Malts: 2-row, 6-row, Munich Malts Hops: U.S. grown Cascade, Glacier, Millennium and European Grown Tradition, Strisselspalt Taste: A refreshingly smooth taste, pleasant hop aroma, and slightly sweet finish. "Cold As A Mountain Stream, Smooth As Its Name" Ingredients/Brewing: Busch is brewed with a blend of premium American-grown and imported hops and a combination of malt and corn to provide a pleasant balanced flavor. from busch's website- can't say i've ever detected cascade but my last busch was from a keg party back in college...
As far as grain bill goes, I'd consider adding Maris Otter up to whatever gravity you want to go with. Two row can be a little lackluster in a pale, I think. Although maybe that's what Busch drinkers like? (I kid, I kid.) MO just gives the malt that extra dimension. As for hops, NB and cascade would probably be great, but of course many other combos from what you have would be at least equally fine.
For that matter, can you taste the Munich malt? I'm not surprised that cascade is in there because it is an easily acquired hop grown in large quantity. If you bitter with it to the extent that Busch is bittered, you won't pick up the cascade flavor. They just don't use enough of any hops to impart any hop flavor.
“ …a combination of malt and corn to provide a pleasant balanced flavor.” Hmmm, I thought that Anheuser-Busch used rice as an adjunct. Do they use rice in making Budweiser but corn to make Busch? Cheers!
The Busch line of beers use corn or corn syrups as I understand it. The Budweiser line uses rice. There used to be an AB plant in Lafayette Indiana that made corn syrup that was shipped to the breweries. It is owned by Tate and Lyle now.
Well I'm not doing a cereal mash or messing with any corn or rice. I have a moderately refined palate, and I can't detect much in the way of hops in busch, or malts for that matter. It's pretty adjuncty though (and I just had a can of it yesterday). I mean it is what it is. I can't duplicate it, and I have no intention of trying. A blonde ale should satisfy the busch drinkers just fine, and also satisfy me. My previous blonde ale was very good and all the adjunct lager drinkers loved it, I probably gave near half the batch away because people kept bugging me for it. I want to replicate that. I am still leaning towards NB for bittering, and hallertau for flavor/aroma, with maybe some willamette late. I might see how he likes this upcoming brew that has fuggles that we already brewed, depending on when the blonde brew day winds up taking place. We have a lot of work to do, so brewday may have to wait (and thus the amber ale may be near ready by the time we brew). But yeah, I am thinking hallertau and maybe willamette, as I stated in the above post. Malts wise I am still considering between 2-row and "other." I do think that bud uses rice and busch uses corn. If forced to choose, I would rather drink busch, FWIW.
Are you totally against using adjuncts, or just any that require a special technique? Cause flaked corn can be added to the mash the same as any other flaked grain, and rice syrup or rice syrup solids (more than likely available at your LHBS) can just be added to the boil.
I'm not against using adjuncts at all. But if they require a cereal mash, I'm not going to bother at this time. I need to continue to work on my regular ale brewing skills for a while before trying any cereal mash recipes. Besides, I haven't even started brewing lagers yet. I don't think this recipe really requires any flaked corn or rice solids/syrups. I think with the small amount caramel malt, it won't be in any need of thinning out. I know flaked corn is available at my LHBS and I suspect rice syrup/solids are too.
Well this one is in the fermenter. Complete recipe, procedure, and details of brewday here. I wound up adding a little carafoam and a little flaked corn to the recipe (6 oz each), just for the heck of it. I added a bit too much mash water so the mash ratio was closer to 1.5 quarts/lb rather than the 1.25 quarts/lb I was originally shooting for. I don't think it made a huge difference, TBH. The wort coming out of the mash tun (after draining the first runnings and pouring them back in) was amazingly clear. It was the clearest wort I've made yet. The color was very light (as was planned). I am hoping to get a quite clear beer out of this one. FG was only off by 3 points, 1.050. From tasting the wort, I am expecting a pretty good beer out of this batch. It won't be nearly as hoppy as I like, but hopefully my bro and his friends will love it. I wound up using NB for bittering and willamette late. I guess I used up all the hallertau that I thought I had already! I shall report back in a month or so when it's ready to drink!
Shit, just add more water and you'll get a 5 gal batch that Busch drinkers will love. After they leave dry hop the rest.
