Easy Drinking Pale Recipe Advice

[andycostin]

Hey guys,

I'm a relative newby on here - been constantly reading for the past 4-5months, but haven't posted at all. That aside I've been brewing on and off for the past 10 years and now getting into it pretty seriously.

Anyway, the problem I've got is that while I really enjoy different beers, a few of my mates are after an "easy drinking beer"..... I don't want to create a "shit" CD or VB clone, but want something that's a stepping stone between that and a Pale Ale.

So I've created the following recipe using Beersmith and was hoping to get some feedback from you experts out there.....

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 20.00 L
Boil Size: 23.99 L
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 20.0 IBU
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.50 kg Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 50.8 %
0.25 kg Carared (20.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
0.20 kg Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.8 %
10.00 gm Galaxy [14.00%] (30 min) Hops 13.6 IBU
10.00 gm Galaxy [14.00%] (10 min) Hops 6.4 IBU
20.00 gm Summer Saaz [5.50%] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
1.00 kg Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 33.9 %
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [Starter 1Yeast-Ale

Look forward to hearing some feedback!

Thanks
--
Andy

 

[cdbrown]

Perhaps increase the ELDME to 2kg

I've not used Galaxy before but the description sounds nice. Looks to be a fairly inoffensive beer which I'm sure your mates would enjoy.

 

[manticle]

Hey guys,

I'm a relative newby on here - been constantly reading for the past 4-5months, but haven't posted at all. That aside I've been brewing on and off for the past 10 years and now getting into it pretty seriously.

Anyway, the problem I've got is that while I really enjoy different beers, a few of my mates are after an "easy drinking beer"..... I don't want to create a "shit" CD or VB clone, but want something that's a stepping stone between that and a Pale Ale.

So I've created the following recipe using Beersmith and was hoping to get some feedback from you experts out there.....

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 20.00 L
Boil Size: 23.99 L
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 20.0 IBU
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.50 kg Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 50.8 %
0.25 kg Carared (20.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
0.20 kg Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.8 %
10.00 gm Galaxy [14.00%] (30 min) Hops 13.6 IBU
10.00 gm Galaxy [14.00%] (10 min) Hops 6.4 IBU
20.00 gm Summer Saaz [5.50%] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
1.00 kg Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 33.9 %
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [Starter 1Yeast-Ale

Look forward to hearing some feedback!

Thanks
--
Andy

I had a couple of goes at making something like this for my brother.

My first recipe included 500g of crystal and came out as an amber ale. Nice recipe and I've brewed it again since but my guess is that said mates won't want anything darker than golden. I don't use many cara(tm) types but I've used cara-red and I'd guess it will come out on the amber side of things. In subsequent recipes I dropped the crystal back to 100g.

As for the hopping - they'll probably prefer a low bitterness so 20 -25 is probably good. 30 would be the top of the tree/ However, unless they're big fans of little creatures or fat yak, I'd steer clear of too much late or dry hopping.

I used all noble hops in mine and it came out lovely. I've only ever drunk beer made with galaxy (not brewed with it) and it's definitely a tasty hop but it's very 'hoppy' if that makes sense beyond the obvious.

I also used about 500g wheat malt in mine which gives it a lovely head and head retention so you could sub out some of the pale ME with some wheat ME.

These kinds of beers are always a challenge and could go either way. Brew something you would like that isn't over the top in your face hoppy malty bitter and you should have something they'll enjoy (and be surprised that they did). The number of people who've told me 'that was actually really nice........oh sorry I didn't mean to sound surprised' is amusing.

 

[andycostin]

Thanks CD

I kept the quantity of ELDME down to try to keep the FG low. And I wanted an alcohol level that was relatively similar to the CD and VB products....

If it was my choice, I'd have the ELDME at 2kg and a higher hopping - especially late in the boil for a little more taste.... Also not sure where to get ELDME - think from memory that grain and grape only have LDME

 

[manticle]

Most home brew shops and even the K-mart brewing section have dried malt extract.

 

[andycostin]

Thanks for the input manticle.

The Extract I'm after is some Extra Light stuff.... I don't know if it exists in Aus, but was on the Beersmith standard list - has an SRM of around 2.0 instead of 8.0....

But it may be the stuff of legends in Aus

 

[manticle]

Morgans changed their range recently so I'm not sure but they used to make 'extra pale' liquid malt extract.

My golden ale was made with all pilsner malt (AG brew) and 500g crystal was still way too much for colour.