hello, i don’t post to often. but i am looking for a little advice. i am looking for a brew to share with the family this Christmas. i cant find a “kit” that is sparking my interest right now. we have a lot of different beer drinkers in my family it seems to be a pretty good split between good beer and light yellow colored water :mrgreen: so let me give you a run down for a quick easy pale ale i was thinking of making. and i ask if this would work out to be a good brew. i have never put together a recipe before, and i am just going with thoughts from different recipes i have read and brewed.
6LB Pilsen lme
cascade 1oz 60min
cascade 1oz 15min (not sure on this ones timing?)
cascade 1oz 1min
cascade 1oz dry hop
safale us-05
thinking
2 weeks primary
2 week secondary
2 week in the bottle (or till when ever the party is)
looking for something light and hoppy. and i was thinking the cascade for the fruity/citrusy notes
That would work out just fine. May not be super interesting or complex but it would be good enough so long as you like cascade. The fifteen minute addition is a good flavor addition, anything 10-0 is more aroma so it looks like you have a good mix there. Not so sure about this beer for the yellow fizzy water crowd. Might have a bit too much hop action going on but you never know.
If you are trying to appeal to a ‘wide’ audience, I would suggest something more in the ‘amber’ universe.
Don’t get me wrong: I think you are totally barking up the right tree in keeping the recipe simple. However, it seems to me that ONLY using Pilsen LME, you might appeal to those who want yellow fizzy water (because it LOOKS approachable, but then they’ll taste a citrusy beer with no malt backbone and be surprised), but not to those who like good beer because its too one dimensional.
Also, on the BMC crowd in your family, I find that people new to the craft beer category like to try something a bit out of THEIR ‘ordinary’ if they are going to try it. Then, once it hits the lips, like Frank the Tank, they are hooked.
I would suggest steeping a small amount, say 2-4 oz of PALE chocolate malt for a toasty note, along with maybe 0.5lb crystal 40, 0.5lb Victory, then do your boil and add your LME choice. I would normally say Munich instead of the crystal/victory mix, but that needs a full mash to convert, which it doesn’t sound like you want to do. Plus crystal/victory will impart some sweetness/maltiness, which appeals to a wider audience.
Personally, I like to do SMaSH’s with more nuanced malts, like vienna or munich, so if you insist on single malt, maybe use our host’s Amber or Munich malt syrup.
Your hop schedule looks great and others have given good advice on single vessel fermentation. maybe add some gelatin to make it clear and approachable to the BMC crowd. Just keep it cool!
[quote=“XJREWSTER”]when you guys dry hop. do you let them swim freely or throw them in a sack? i was thinking of letting them swim freely[/quote]I like to let my sack swim freely but with dryhops I always throw them in loose in the fermenter and let time and a cold-crash move them to the bottom before racking.
