An extract Golden Ale with Spec Grains and Hops

[Nizmoose]

Okay so I am eager to get started on this after the batch I have fermenting is out of the fermenter and I think it should be a nice drinkable ale. My only unknowns are if the IBU is enough and if the EBC is too dark, and also not sure on what yeast to use. Was thinking maybe S-04? Other than that I think it seems like a decent recipe. IanH's spreadsheet gives me all greens for this combination but it should be noted the style for the spreadsheet is set to American Pale Ale.

Volume: 23L
Extract: 1 x Coopers Amber LME
1kg Light Dry Malt Extract
Grain: 250g Medium Crystal
Adjuncts: 500g Dextrose
Hops: 16g Armarillo @ 60 mins
16g Armarillo @ 20 mins
16g Armarillo @ 10mins
Yeast: ????

Predicted OG: 1.046
Predicted FG: 1.010
Predicted IBU: 30.7
Predicted EBC: 22.4
Predicted alc %: 5.1

 

[carniebrew]

That's a pretty solid recipe. Personally I'd probably add 5 or 10 IBU, but that's my personal preference, it depends how hoppy/bitter you like them. Maybe even give it another 20 grams of Amarillo at flameout if you're so inclined. I'd also drop the dextrose and up the dry malt extract. 500 grams of dex won't do the brew any favours, it adds alcohol without giving the beer any body/flavour.

As for yeast, I'd suggest good old US-05 for this, it'll compliment the Amarillo well. The Amber LME will make it quite dark, more like an amber ale (duh) than a pale ale, but if you're wanting that darker malt flavour then go for it.

 

[yum beer]

I agree with Carnie regards dropping the dex for more LDM or even consider 1 tin Amber, 1 tin Light.
Us-05 for sure and I'd be upping the hops to 20gm each addition, maybe pulling the last back 5 minutes each to 15 & 5 minutes.
Dry hop day 5 with another 20gm for a big aroma hit.

 

[Three Sheets]

It does look like the foundations for a nice brew ,I agree with CB and YB and would up the hops to 20 grams maybe even 25 grams on the last one. Also second the 20 dry hopping. (but of course tastes are in the tongue of the beer holder)

Perhaps 250 DEX 250 LDM? 05 yeast for me too.

 

[Nizmoose]

Thanks for the advice guys! I might look into 20g additions that sounds good! Also Yeah I am looking for a golden ale taste as opposed to pale and the ldme is a good tip! So do you guys think 1.25kg ldme and 250g dex is better? I think I swapped ldme for dex originally because the spreadsheet said the fg would be too high so I figured dex would keep the og happy and the fg lower but it's not about making an equation happy and for a heavier beer a bigger fg is fine and if it improves body I'm all for it so thanks for the suggestion! I'll make changes in red tomorrow to see where I stand

 

[yum beer]

That malt and dex mix will be fine. A little bit of dex isn't going to hurt.

 

[carniebrew]

Agreed, a little bit of dextrose can help, as extract brews can tend to finish high. Just keep it under ~5% and you should be ok.

 

[Droopy Brew]

I would use a light malt can rather than Amber. I would also steep 250g of carapils as well as med crystal for a bit of body and head retention and drop dex to 250g.

I would also be inclined to add some cascade hops in place of some amarillo just to give a bit more complexity to the flavours. Say 10 g of each at 60min,15 min and 5 min which will also hit the bitternes/flavour and aroma curves a little better.
S04 or US05 would both be good.

 

[Nizmoose]

I would use a light malt can rather than Amber. I would also steep 250g of carapils as well as med crystal for a bit of body and head retention and drop dex to 250g.

I would also be inclined to add some cascade hops in place of some amarillo just to give a bit more complexity to the flavours. Say 10 g of each at 60min,15 min and 5 min which will also hit the bitternes/flavour and aroma curves a little better.
S04 or US05 would both be good.

Hmm haven't thought about adding cascade, I do have some spare in the fridge maybe I'll throw it in. If I only have a bit left is a late addition more appropriate just to add to aroma? Also is the light malt over Amber malt so you can steep more grains and keep the colour right?

 

[Nizmoose]

Thank for the replies guys, half half now on whether my dex is good, I think I'll keep it like it is and maybe think about that cascade?

 

[Nizmoose]

Okay just had the realisation that my Crystal may actually be considered light, on the bag it says 118 to 148 IBUs is which from what I can tell makes it around the Crystal 60L mark? Does this mean I should be upping the crystal to like 500g? I jsut downloaded beersmith today and wow, confused as. Have it all under control except trying to work out how to make it okay with a 4-5L boil and steep. When I drop my boil volume down from 20L to 4L it kills my IBU's. I didnt think that should happen? Why is less water going to bring out less IBU's? I thought it'd just make a more concentrated solution?

EDIT: Well crap, just had a read and the whole smaller boil higher gravity less utilisation thing makes sense. Does this mean that in IanH's spreadsheet I should have the Hop Utilisation Factor ON and not off? Looks like I'm going to need to buy more hops than I had hoped for :/

 

[Nizmoose]

Okay I have made a decent change to the recipe and was interested in what people are thinking. I deleted all the dex and replaced it with LME and a Coopers Pale Ale can. The main motivation for this is that I'm restricted to a 6L boil and therefore need to get the most out of my hops. I figured adding the tin would take care of my bittering addition and allow me to do a 20 minute boil without many side effects. So heres the original recipe with changes.

Volume: 23L
Extract: 1 x Coopers Amber LME 1 Can of Coopers Pale Ale (hopped)
1.5kg Coopers Amber LME
Grain: 250g 500g Light Crystal
Adjuncts: 500g Dextrose
Hops: 16g Armarillo @ 60 mins
16g 20g Armarillo @ 20 mins
5g Cascade @ 20 minutes
16g 20g Armarillo @ 10mins
Yeast: US-05

Predicted OG: 1.046 1.047
Predicted FG: 1.010 1.012
Predicted IBU: 30.7 32.9
Predicted EBC: 22.4 22.7
Predicted alc %: 5.1 4.8

 

[SixStar]

I'm keen to find out how this comes out.

 

[garyhead.design]

I agree totally with the US05 choice, but interestingly I'm pretty sure JS Golden Ale uses the Tooheys Old yeast.

So it might be worth giving 04 a go.

 

[Nizmoose]

I'll be starting it in a couple of weeks and let you know how it goes also just discovered my strike throughs and red text don't show up properly in the ahb app or tapatalk so go to Web view to see the changes in ingredients properly

 

[B1n0ry]

That should make a really nice drop.
But light crystal doesn't mean you need to use more, it just adds different amount of colour and some different flavour. I would keep the amount at 250g.
With the hops, that tiny bit of Cascade will just get lost. If that's all you have left over in the freezer, that's fine, but it would do better upped to 20g as well.
I also think you should listen to the posts above and consider a dry hop to really push that Amarillo aroma.
So my suggestion:
Grain: 250 Light Crystal
Hops:20g Armarillo @ 15 mins
20g Cascade @ 5 mins
20g Armarillo @ dry hop
It will be hoppy. But it will settle with aging in the bottle. Try it young, after just a couple of weeks, and see if it is to your taste. If not store it for a month or 2.

 

[Nizmoose]

That should make a really nice drop.
But light crystal doesn't mean you need to use more, it just adds different amount of colour and some different flavour. I would keep the amount at 250g.
With the hops, that tiny bit of Cascade will just get lost. If that's all you have left over in the freezer, that's fine, but it would do better upped to 20g as well.
I also think you should listen to the posts above and consider a dry hop to really push that Amarillo aroma.
So my suggestion:
Grain: 250 Light Crystal
Hops:20g Armarillo @ 15 mins
20g Cascade @ 5 mins
20g Armarillo @ dry hop
It will be hoppy. But it will settle with aging in the bottle. Try it young, after just a couple of weeks, and see if it is to your taste. If not store it for a month or 2.

Thanks for this post really helpful I think I will drop the crystal down to 250 and yeah the cascade is just some leftover I need to get rid of before it goes tasteless, also I will try a dry hop, nothing to lose, as you said aroma dies down after a while so if anything I'll just delay my drinking of it