I'm calling this one Tiger Glen Ale, let me know what you think. The acidulated malt is a last minute change. Will be brewing either this weekend or in two weeks. Grains 4lb Wheat malt 4lb Pilsner malt 2lb Rye malt 0.75lb acidulated malt 0.5lb Carapils Hops 6.4AAU Calypso 60 mins 3.2AAU Calypso 15 mins 3.2AAU Calypso 5 mins Yeast: White Labs Abbey Ale Yeast WLP530 Mash: Beta Glucan rest - 20 min @ 113F Saccharification - 60 min @ 149F Mashout - 10 min @ 170F Boil time: 90 minutes Batch volume: 5.5 gallons I'd really appreciate your feedback.
I think I get where you’re going with this one, and I like it. But, if it were my beer I’d make a few changes: -I would move the 15min hops up to k/o. IMO the Belgian yeast will bring plenty of mid-sip interest without needing to muddle up more spicy-sticky hop flavors… -I might leave out the Rye in favor of more Pils, but I am a big fan of simplistic grain bills. -I think WLP550 is “more fun” in pale hoppy beers. The Westmale yeast is nice (and my favorite in dubbels), but lacks a certain zing I like in blondes and goldens. I just made a beer with mucho centennial and some calypso hops in the D/H charge that has the most amazing hop character. SUPER perfumey floral, literally like rose water or jasmine tea in the aroma, and a sweet candied lemon peel flavor. Crazy hops, I don’t know why they don’t get more hype. Good luck!
I'm relying on the "tart pear and apple" qualities of Calypso to have some staying power. If I move the 15 min to KO, I'm worried I'd risk losing those qualities after a period of conditioning. Did the flavor and aroma stick around for you?
Well, I just used 'em in the final DH charge, and at this point (4 weeks in the bottles, 9 weeks post brew day) they are quite strong. As far as the apple and pear thing goes... it was a brett pale ale so it is hard to say. Quite a strong apple and pear skin thing going on, but I’m not sure where the brett starts and the hops begin with those flavors.
Well that's good to know! Keep me posted if anything changes flavor-wise. I actually wanted to make this less bitter without cutting back on the bittering addition, but I also didn't want to lose out on flavor and aroma.
Digging this post up again to solicit some more advice. Can anyone advise on water ratios for a mash like this one? 40% wheat, 20% rye – seems like I should go all the way up to 2qts/lb even with rice hulls, but I'd prefer to stick to somewhere around 1.5 if it's not necessary.
