Same grain bill hop experiment

[beercus]

I started doing some SMaSH's and was not a big fan of the just base malt, so to do some comparisons of hops i would like to use the same grain bill and then change the hops. I will cube all hops (no hops in boil, no chill).

In Beersmith I have added the hops in as a 20min boil to get an estimate of IBUs. I will add in enough hops to get to 30IBU.

I will also dry hop at a rate of 1g/L on day 7 of a 14 day ferment in primary.

I plan to do a 30L batch and split into two cubes with different hops in each cube. I will do one Cascade, centennial, Simcoe, and Nelson, (amarillo and citra already covered in another comparison)

Grain bill will look like this (I suppose its APAish):

73% Joe White Traditional Ale
10% Munich
10% Wheat Malt
5% Carapils
2% Acidulated Malt

I will keep the process simple:
60min mash @66oC,
Dunk Sparge at 75oC for 10min,
45min boil,
Irish Moss @10min
OG @ 1.050
US05
Gelatin in Keg

Thoughts? Crystal instead of Carapils? too much wheat? Other hops?
cheers
Beercus

 

[Judanero]

Looks fine, Pacifica is a hop I'd recommend to try as well.

Happy brewing!

 

[beercus]

Looks fine, Pacifica is a hop I'd recommend to try as well.

Happy brewing!

is that this:

Pacific Hallertau

NZ

4.9%
same/same?
Just looking on my LHBS web site.
Thanks

 

[Judanero]

Yep that's the one, I love it in my APA/IPAs.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Stick to a nice simple grain bill, keep it to 3 grain

Roughly
85% base
5% Xtal ( Darrk, MED Light doesnt really matter )
10% wheat

If you want to go darker just replace the wheat with dark malt like choc & RB

Will give you a good indication of how each different hop goes with slightly different grain bills

 

[TheWiggman]

My current APA has 13% carapils and pale malt, nothing else. Makes for mighty fine drinking using only Cascade hops, and did it for the same purposes you are and allows the hops to shine.

I'd recommend adding a neutral bittering hop at 60 mins to your boil to bring it up to 15 IBU or thereabouts and load up the late additions. This will make it a better beer to my tastes and you'll still know what's going on with the hops.

 

[beercus]

Roughly
85% base
5% Xtal ( Darrk, MED Light doesnt really matter )

Xtal is Carapils, and/or crystal?

My current APA has 13% carapils and pale malt, nothing else. Makes for mighty fine drinking using only Cascade hops, and did it for the same purposes you are and allows the hops to shine.

I'd recommend adding a neutral bittering hop at 60 mins to your boil to bring it up to 15 IBU or thereabouts and load up the late additions. This will make it a better beer to my tastes and you'll still know what's going on with the hops.

magnum? I've been thinking about getting some for the freezer for that purpose

thanks

 

[fletcher]

i agree with stu. simplify your grain bill. i'd even go 94-5ish% pale and 5-6ish% crystal and that's it

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

i agree with stu. simplify your grain bill. i'd even go 94-5ish% pale and 5-6ish% crystal and that's it

Yep.

My basic bill goes fantastic with POR@60mins & SAAZ@20mins


Xtal is any Crystal malt...well thats my use for it B)

Carapils is closer to Munich, so use that when you make light beers that you want a malt profile behind

 

[beercus]

Any thoughts on the Acidulated malt. I need to drop my pH somewhat.

Beercus

 

[TheWiggman]

I'd say use it if you know what your water pH is, what the water profile is, AND if you're not using any mineral additions.

If you don't know the above and haven't calculated the acidity of the wort based on your grain bill, don't bother just yet.

 

[Dan Pratt]

For advice on the hops to see the differences Id target the Flavour and Aroma of each Hop and keep the bittering charge from a neutral hop AKA Magnum @ 45m to 15ibu and the rest from remaining 15ibu from the hop pf choice from late kettel additions ( maybe even hop burst with 15, 10 , 5 and FO )

Magnum @ 45m - 15ibu

Hop X @ 15m - 5ibu
Hop X @ 10m - 5ibu
Hop X @ 5m - 5ibu
Hop X @ FO

Hop X Dry Hopped.

 

[beercus]

All right, I'm going for:

90% Traditional Ale (JW)
5% Crystal light (JW)
5% Wheat Malt (JW)

I will add in enough Magnum to get to 15 IBU @ 45min boil
15 IBU into the cube (calculated @ 20 min Boil), no chill
1.5g/L keg Hopped (if needed)
IrishMoss @ 10min

Will have a go at Simcoe, Pacifica, Centennial and Cascade

Thanks to all for the suggestions
Beercus

 

[beercus]

No Pacifica at LHBS so went for Nelson instead.

Also after discussion and pH test, i'm going for 1.7% Acidulated malt in the mash

beercus

 

[Yob]

Good move, I always use ~125g in a single batch grist for something pale

 

[beercus]

Good move, I always use ~125g in a single batch grist for something pale

Yob, do you also add salts or leave it at the acid malt?

 

[TheWiggman]

Should clarify my above comments - I'm not saying minerals and acidulated can't both be used at the same time. What I meant was if you aren't using mineral additions and you're only trying to address pH, acid malt is a good idea. If you are using minerals and still need to drop the pH, it's a great idea.

It depends on the profile you're going for and the pH you need.
I've used it in lagers in cobination with salts but I know my water and had it tested. I used Brunwater to calculate.

Also, your recipe looks the goods to me.

 

[Dan Pratt]

depending on your water profile already if you want the hops to be the show adding Gypsum to get a ratio of 6:1 will see that happen.

When I make my pale ales (20Lt) is add ~ 10g to the mash and 5g to the sparge water. ( these addition are made with other minerals based on known water makeup )

 

[beercus]

I'm using this to get my water profile, under the Yan Yean column.

Im inputting into ezywater and it suggests a few grams of each salt to get in the right ranges.

see files.

View attachment EZ_water_calculator_3.0.2_metric (1).xls

View attachment TYPICAL ANALYSIS 2014 YVW (1).pdf

 

[mosto]

I'm actually embarking on a similar experiment path. I also find just one malt to be a little lacking, so I'm using a grist of 90% BB Ale, 5% Light crystal and 5 % Carapils. For the hops, I'm trying to get a feel for what they bring fro bitterness, right through to aroma, so I do 10IBU @ 60mn, 20IBU cube hopped and 1g/L dry hopped. I've only done the one so far with Waimea, which is still in the fermenter.