Spare Ingredients - help us build a beer!

Creativity isn't necessarily my strong suit. I usually prefer to not fight my ingredients, and yours are screaming a nice straight forward American Pale Ale to me.

I really don't see how to make an ESB out of this. None of the base ingredients are typical.

Personally, looking at your ingredients, and if didn't want a Simcoe pale ale, I would scrap the yeast, buy WY2575 and an ounce of a noble hop, and combine that with the Simcoe to make a SN Kolsch clone. I miss that beer.

 

If you're not against going out and getting a bit more supplies, then how about*:

6lbs Pilsen LME
3lbs Wheat DME
5oz Amber Candy Syrup (can just make your own)

1.0oz Simcoe @ 60 min
1.0oz Simcoe @ 10 min
0.5oz Orange Peel @ 5 min
0.1oz Ground Coriander Seed, 5 min
0.5oz Simcoe @ flameout
0.5oz Simcoe @ Dryhop

That will get you 5.5Gal of ~6% ~50IBU "not really but kinda" White IPA







* Just threw it together, so feel free to modify / fiddle.

 

Lots of homebrewers like S-04, so I don't want to be a buzzkill to someone who likes it. But it's not for me. If I'm using it I want an English yeast character and I just don't get it from S-04.

I do think that most of the "Homebrew" character new brewers pick up on is usually due to the yeast, however. Either wrong yeast selection or bad fermentation practices.

If you go with the pale ale or IPA route, the ingredients you have will work fine. The difference to me is the gravity and IBUs. More and you have an IPA and less a Pale Ale. I wouldn't worry about adding Centennial. I like Centennial but Simcoe alone will make a nice beer and give you a feel for that hop profile.

Don't fear the low gravity styles like Kolsch. There is a lot of flavor, and nuance, to pick up from those styles. Sometimes the project calls for the claw hammer, and not the sledge, imo.

 

Personally, I don't see a difference necessarily between an IPA grain bill and Pale Ale. It's just the gravity. You can make a great IPA with only Pilsner malt. You can make a great IPA with other malts, it just depends on what you want. Myself, I like my IPAs dry and hop forward, so I would be comfortable with no additional steeping grains.

 

Toss the Bry 97 yeast in the trash. Personally the worst yeast I ever used.

Replace with Nottingham or s 05.
Steep .5 lb of L10
1lb cane sugar in the boil.
1 oz cascade 60
1 oz chinook 15
1 oz simco 5
2 oz simco DH 3-5 days

Yahoo

 

No problem.

You could up the gravity in several ways. Steep a crystal malt as @GormBrewhouse mentions. You could buy more pilsner malt extract. If you want some more malt character but want to keep it dry my preference would be to buy some Munich malt extract to get me to the gravity I want. I just ran a quick calculation and 4 pounds of liquid Munich malt extract should get you to an OG around 1.070, assuming a 5 gallon batch.

 

What is the alpha acid % of the Simcoe? I can work up a hop schedule for you.

 

Steeping a crystal in an extract brew is as easy as making a long cup of tea with a bag.

 

S 04 and Nottingham are my preferred yeast strains for a pale or IPA because they work quickly and reach the FG I am looking for routinely. I also like what taste they impart to the brew. In my experience it is close to neutral. I want to taste the hops and malts. Not other yeast esters and other items.

Remember it's all personal preference. I use dry yeast ,others swear by liquid, both make great beers.

Steeping grains is not a pain and can add different characteristics to your beer. Extract is quicker but it lessens your options. I want all the options possible.

 

It's hard to bump the gravity up without adding some more LME. It would take a lot of crystal malt to get you there.

Here's what I worked up...
9lb Pilsner LME
1lb Crystal 10L (steeped prior to boil at 155 degrees)
.5 oz Simcoe at 60 minutes
.5 oz Simcoe at 20 minutes
1 oz Simcoe at 10 minutes
1 oz Simcoe at flameout
.5 oz Simcoe dry hop

This should end up giving you an ABV somewhere around 6.8%

Try the Nottingham yeast. It's great for IPAs. Just keep it cool, between 60 and 65.

 

O yeah I forgot to use your extract in my recipe My bad!

 

If you use the crystal you will get a little extra body, color, and a slight taste difference. You could also skip it and go with 10 lbs Pilsner LME instead.

I forget how long to steep crystal malts, lol. It's been way too long since I've done an extract brew. It's not long, they don't need to be converted. Someone else can chime in or consult howtobrew.com.

If you have the extra .5 oz of Simcoe just throw it into the dry hop. This recipe should give you a good feel for the flavor and aroma of Simcoe. I think the bitterness level is spot on for an IPA, imo.

if you have to ferment warmer, I would go with US-05 over S-04. See my recent thread, lol.

 

http://brulosophy.com/2015/06/01/safale-us-05-vs-danstar-bry-97-exbeeriment-results/ for your reading pleasure

 

Just doing Pilsen DME is a little bland - think playing a note vs. a chord. Crystal gives it color, body and residual sweetness/flavor (dependent on the variety).

 

I agree with the concept of adding complexity, but I don't think crystal malts have a place in an IPA. I also prefer my pale ales without any crystal, but I think you have a little more leeway there, since pales should be "balanced," whereas IPAs really shouldn't be. I second @scottakelly on the Munich suggestion. It will get you color and flavor without too much sweetness.

Of course, some people like IPAs with lots of crystal. Different strokes...

 

Crystal malts are kilned to a point that they contain very little in terms of fermentables. That means they don't get eaten by the yeast, leaving you with a sweeter, fuller-bodied beer. That means a higher FG. Of course, that's in addition to whatever flavors and colors they contribute.

Munich, on the other hand, is a base malt, so it ferments out, for the most part. That leaves you with a dryer beer than you would have had, had you used crystal. It's kilned darker than pilsner, so has a more "malty" taste and imparts a darker color. It will leave you with about the same FG you would have had had you used an equal amount of pilsner malt in its place.

 

Personally a bit of c60 is fine in an ipa.

Just remember any significant bit of Munich (the grain) should be mashed instead of steeped. Crystal can be steeped because it has few fermentation. Since you've been doing extracts, you might want to start with steeping. They are very similar but mashing is more precise in technique.

Dryness is greatly affected by yeast selection. US-05 can be a monster

 

I won't lie, here. I'm pretty uneducated on extracts. I had assumed OP would be able to buy a Munich extract syrup. If that's not the case, and he would have to use actual grains, maybe doing a mini-mash would be a good intro to all-grain, if he ever wishes to go that direction.

Also, as I've said in other threads, I'm not a big fan of US-05 if I'm bottle conditioning because of the poor flocculation and compaction. I've never used BRY-97, but have heard bad things. I had a really good experience with Mangrove Jack m44. Of course, I'm in the minority here, as most people seem to love 05. My 2¢.

 

Read this: http://byo.com/hops/item/1414-steeping-vs-partial-mashing

I assume you've steeped grains before. This time, just do the "partial mash," then add your extract, and proceed as usual. This link details it in a pretty foolproof way: http://www.northernbrewer.com/learn/partial-mash-walkthrough/

 

The BYO is a good overview of steeping vs mashing. Of course if OP just buys LME it doesn't matter.

OP - if you never have steeped before, now is a good time to start. Little effort, no risk, good reward.

 

Color, flavor, body

 

No, crystal malts would be a steeping grain. Steeping grains do bring a small amount of fermentables to the wort. Mashing would bring a bit more sugar out of steeping grains, but generally there isn't much to be had. The advantage of Mashing/Mini-Mashing/BIAB etc is that you can mash any grain. Only certain ones can be steeped.

If you want Munich you'll have to mash or use extract. I don't like LME because it burns and it can go bad in storage.

As to why extract plus grain is better than just extract, I'll quote Palmer

"Just about every beer style may be made by using Pale malt extract and steeping the specialty grains listed below. Brown Ales, Bitters, India Pale Ales, Stouts, Bocks, Oktoberfests; all can be made using this method. And the resulting beer flavor will be superior than what can be made using extracts alone. Award winning beers can be made solely from extract, but freshness of the extract is often an issue and using grain can make up the difference between a good beer and an outstanding one."

 

I wanted to like, but alas, it threw diacetyl at me. I had to use US-05 to clean it up. I'm pretty sure this and Mangrove Jack Liberty Bell are derived from the same strain. Recently had a similar experience with MJLB, although it did clean itself up after an extended time. I have not had this experience with the purported liquid versions.

Therefore, @Hop-Droppen-Roll , I would consider US-05. Simcoe wants to be a pale ale/ipa. I might steep a small amount of a light colored crystal malt, like 4-8 oz of caravienne, for a little touch of sweetness. Maybe you could talk me in to 12 oz, but higher would be criminal (I'd be forced to make a citizen's arrest, confiscate your gear, and turn you over to the Crystal Police). Add some other hop later. Mosaic, citra, or centennial (depending on new school vs old school). And maybe some table sugar if you want it higher gravity.