Hey there! I'm looking for input/advice on a recipe I came up with for a light summer pale ale. This one is for a 5 gallon batch with an estimated 75% efficiency. In general I just figured a single infusion at 68 degrees C but perhaps I'll throw a protein rest in there... Here's the grain bill: 6.5 lb Pale ale malt 1.8 lb Munich light or Vienna 0.5 lb smoked malt The hop bill is as follows: Citra 0.3 oz @ 60 min. Chinook 0.2 oz @ 60 min. Cascade 0.6 oz @ 30 min. Crystal 0.6 oz @ 5 min. For this one I'd like to use Safale S-04 with 2 weeks in a primary (or if I can a transfer to a secondary at 5 - 7 days for another week) then two weeks in the bottle. Any comments? Much appreciated! Cheers
I've not used Crystal, so I can't comment on that. However, smoked malt doesn't mesh with light and summery to me.
I will disagree with smokey doesnt = summer, though Im not a fan of his hops/smoke malt combo A lighter smoked ale (kiss of smoke, med-light body, and pils backbone) is great for summer bbq's. A beer like that really meshes well with a crispy brat smothered in kraut, fresh trout, or better yet a jucy lucy!! to the OP, I would get rid of the citra for a bittering addition (use it as a late addition in another beer) as well as the other american c-hops. use the crystal as an aroma addition and bitter to the low 20's and play up the malt by having a good Cl:SO4 ratio
A lighter smoked ale (kiss of smoke, med-light body, and pils backbone) is great for summer bbq's. A beer like that really meshes well with a crispy brat smothered in kraut, fresh trout, or better yet a jucy lucy!! to the OP, I would get rid of the citra for a bittering addition (use it as a late addition in another beer) as well as the other american c-hops. use the crystal as an aroma addition and bitter to the low 20's and play up the malt by having a good Cl:SO4 ratio[/QUOTE] Thanks for the input These hop additions I may be stuck with and need to work something out with them as they are what I have... What would be your suggestion for a hop bill in regards to the hops listed above? What would you recommend for the bittering? For the Cl:SO4 ratio, do you mean by keeping them relatively balanced or maybe increasing the cloride a point to bring out the maltiness, sweetness a bit more like 2:1 ratio... Thanks again
Along the lines of what @ryane said, those hops and smoke won't play nice. The Crystal is the only one I would use of those near the end of the boil. Maybe the Cascade to bitter with? Leave the Chinook out (to harsh, and I love that hop), and keep Citra for another beer that will showcase it.
Most definitely . . . but I figure you can have smoke and a pleasant summer drink. But first, your 0.5 lb of smoked malt at <6% will be barely distinguishable. That is unless your supplier has some old-stock smoked malt, then it will be completely missing in action. If using a specialty smoked malt like oak or cherrywood you want to start at 10%, using classing rauch malt you want at least 20% for a noticeable presence. CAVEAT: peated malt is an entirely different animal . . . As stated by jbakajust1, chinook is a harsh (think Arrogant Bastard) bittering hop. Citra has low co-humulone and will bitter smoothly, but it is almost a shame to waste it at 60 minutes. Cascade at 30 will have some citrus (think grapefruit) competing with smoke . . . is that what you want? Crystal may work late as well as the Chinook. My last smoked beer was bittered with Simcoe (very low co-humulone) and finished with Simcoe/Willamette. If you stick with the smoke I would try and minimize floral/citrus notes and go for the piney/earthy/spicy hops. Even noble hops would work well for finishing. I would target an IBU level in the 25-35 range. Also, my experience is smoke aroma/taste develops with aging . . . drinking in four weeks is pushing it.
“However, smoked malt doesn't mesh with light and summery to me.” I bottled a batch of Grodziskie today that I purposefully brewed for summertime drinking. I used 100% Weyermann Oak Smoked Wheat Malt to brew this beer. Last summer a local brewery (Manayunk Brewing) made a Grodziskie during the late spring/beginning of summer. That beer was a wonderful warm/hot drinking beer. So, this is a long story to say that using 0.5 lb. of smoked malt is OK. In fact I would suggest that upping the amount is in order. Cheers!
Jack, man, I don't know why you don't just use the quote function on the site...but that's neither here nor there. I was simply voicing my opinion that I didn't think the recipe would make a light summer beer. Smoked beer, while enjoyable, seems heavy to me, YMMV.
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If you can source glacier hops for your bittering hops try those out. The low cohumulone oil in the hops makes for a bitterness that does not linger and is incredibly smooth @ around 35ibu which I assume you are shooting for since this will be a light summer ale. I have had great success using these to bitter. Not sure about the smoked grains...some carapils in its place for body and head retention maybe ?
