So I’ve got my 3 gallon IPA grainbill.
7 lbs 2-row
10 oz crystal 40.
Now I’ve got some Saaz to use too.
I’m thinking
0.5 ounce Magnum at 60
1.5 ounce Saaz at 10
Probably pitch a pack of US-05
Thoughts?
I think it will come out tasting closer to a Bohemian Pilsner than an IPA, though with a much more caramel character to it.
Just don’t try to dry hop with saaz; I made that mistake once. It just doesn’t work. Eventually the strange flavor from the dry hops faded enough for me to enjoy the beer, but it took a few months.
Oooh! Maybe ditch the caramel for some melanoidin? If so, how much? I’ve never used it before.
Unless the LHBS has it, I’m not sure I can get any with reasonable shipping.
I don’t think you need to change the grain bill; just commenting how I think that would take on the characteristics of a BoPils (which is due to the Saaz), but with a difference in the grain. It will probably be pretty nice, I don’t think you need to swap out anything.
In a sense, this reminds me of how SA Boston Lager is done: it’s a pale ale from the standpoint of grain bill and hopping schedule, but uses noble hops instead of C hops, and lager yeast instead of American ale yeast. You would be doing something kind of similar, but starting from an IPA base.
Melanoidin is essentially just a ‘generic’ version of “Vienna” or “Munich” (particularly the light versions of them). You could probably go up to 10% in a beer like this. I too, would ditch the crystal.
Never knew that about DH’ing with Saaz. Good to know as one of my favorite ales i make is all saaz!
Yeah I successfully screwed up a CAP dry hopping with saaz once (never again). I did just however run a batch of German pils through a Hop Rocket which had an ounce of the stuff in it, it will be interesting to see how that works out.
We brewed the recipe pretty much as stated above. I like it. Not sure any judges would agree. As it happens we had some Breckenridge Avalanche in the fridge, and we tried the two side-by-side, and thought they were pretty similar in color and character. Of course neither of us has a very fine tuned pallete, and Avalanche gets some pretty mixed reviews on the Internet, so I’m not going to to say everyone should try this, but I made a beer I’m enjoying, so mission accomplished…
I actually made almost that exact same beer last fall and served it at a party it was well received. I kind of was going for a faux pils. I used 1 oz saaz at 20 and 1 oz at 10. I would brew it again.
I’d add some saaz at flame out; maybe some FWH.
