Summer Ale Hop Advice

[chrisluki]

Hey guys

I am laying this brew down this weekend. Last time i used the same recipe, minus the Cara-PIls and only used Galaxy hops. It looked and smelled great but I must have gotten something wrong as it was way too bitter...I was aiming for 25 and i reckon it was 50+ IBU's...not exactly sure what i did?

Anyway, I am trying again with a few tweaks as I have some other hops on hand this time...just wondered if any of you more experienced brewers could comment on my suggested hop usage.

My hop stocks include: PAcifica, Northern Brewer, Galaxy, Golden Cluster, Nelson Sauv, Amarillo, Simcoe, Ella, Summer, Topaz, Pride, O35 and Enigma.

Keeping those in mind, this is the recipe i am suggesting but I am happy to take your advice.

Cheers

Chris


Summer Ale
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 20.00 l
Boil Size: 27.22 l
Boil Time: 60 min
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage
Date: 04 Mar 2014
Brewer: Chris
Equipment: New Green Shed Brewing
Efficiency: 68.00 %



Ingredients

Amt

Name

Type

#

%/IBU

3.60 kg

Pale Malt, Traditional Ale (Joe White) (5.9 EBC)

Grain

1

78.3 %

0.60 kg

Wheat Malt, Malt Craft (Joe White) (3.5 EBC)

Grain

2

13.0 %

0.40 kg

Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC)

Grain

3

8.7 %

10.00 g

Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 45.0 min

Hop

4

16.1 IBUs

10.00 g

Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min

Hop

5

9.8 IBUs

1.22 Items

Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins)

Fining

6

-

20.00 g

Galaxy [14.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 0.0 min

Hop

7

0.0 IBUs

1.0 pkg

Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml]

Yeast

8

-

40.00 g

Galaxy [14.50 %] - Dry Hop 4.0 Days

Hop

9

0.0 IBUs



Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color
Est Original Gravity: 1.049 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 25.8 IBUs
Est Color: 8.9 EBC

 

[micblair]

I would lose the dextrin malt for starters, and trim the extract back to 1.044. Mash low and hope it ferments down to 1.008 (4.7% ABV).
The beer should be first and foremost sessionable, complimented with the fruitiness of Australian hops. BU looks good, but you haven't told us if chill or no chill. I would aim for 10 BU's with Northern brewer (no risk of harsh bitterness) at the start of the boil, and 1:1 Galaxy/Ella at the end of boil no more than 2.5 g/L with a 15-20 minute whirlpool rest. Take it easy on the salt addition also. Try to keep total Ca2+ at approx. 100 ppm. Ps. The dry hop quantity looks fine also. You could go quite easily go up to 2.5 g/L for this too. I don't leave the beer on the hops for more than 72 h btw.

 

[MitchD]

Try bumping your hop additions back to the last 20 mins and forget about the actual ibu's what you really want is perceived ibu's. Have a look at the mountain goat steam ale and the s&w pacific ale. Both are "summer ales".

 

[chrisluki]

I would lose the dextrin malt for starters, and trim the extract back to 1.044. Mash low and hope it ferments down to 1.008 (4.7% ABV).
The beer should be first and foremost sessionable, complimented with the fruitiness of Australian hops. BU looks good, but you haven't told us if chill or no chill. I would aim for 10 BU's with Northern brewer (no risk of harsh bitterness) at the start of the boil, and 1:1 Galaxy/Ella at the end of boil no more than 2.5 g/L with a 15-20 minute whirlpool rest. Take it easy on the salt addition also. Try to keep total Ca2+ at approx. 100 ppm. Ps. The dry hop quantity looks fine also. You could go quite easily go up to 2.5 g/L for this too. I don't leave the beer on the hops for more than 72 h btw.

Nice advice, i will adjust. I do a full chill brew, BTW.

I have heard Galaxy can really change a beer if dry hopped for too long...72 hours sounds fine to me.

 

[chrisluki]

Try bumping your hop additions back to the last 20 mins and forget about the actual ibu's what you really want is perceived ibu's. Have a look at the mountain goat steam ale and the s&w pacific ale. Both are "summer ales".

Sorry to sound dumb, but can you explain the diff please?

 

[MitchD]

Perceived bitterness is when a beer has low ibu's but tastes like there are more. Its the late additions that make the bulk of flavour which trick you into thinking the beer is higher in ibu's. S&w is only 14, mg is ~22 but s&w is only a small addition at 60 then dry hop, mg is 20 &10. Both taste bigger.

 

[chrisluki]

Perceived bitterness is when a beer has low ibu's but tastes like there are more. Its the late additions that make the bulk of flavour which trick you into thinking the beer is higher in ibu's. S&w is only 14, mg is ~22 but s&w is only a small addition at 60 then dry hop, mg is 20 &10. Both taste bigger.

Thanks for that! Good stuff.

 

[GalBrew]

If you want a good 'summer ale' do 75% base malt, 25% wheat malt, a small bittering charge at 60mins and all of your flavour/aroma additions at whirlpool (this works fine with Galaxy). Just adjust to desired IBUs, around 20-25. If you are chilling, there really isn't a need for a dry hop for this style IMHO.

 

[micblair]

I usually associate a higher perceived bitterness with a drier beer, compared to one which has a lot of residual sugar to help round off that bitter edge.

 

[super_simian]

I usually associate a higher perceived bitterness with a drier beer, compared to one which has a lot of residual sugar to help round off that bitter edge.

Absolutely. This is a pretty good (albeit web 1.0 style) resource for "Balance value", which is a way of expressing IBUs against attenuation. It's a field in Brewmate too.

 

[Dan Pratt]

When I do a summer ale it goes like this....

1040 start gravity mashed at 64c for 30mins, final gravity 1008ish, usually a 4-4.5%abv. Always adding calcium sulphate to get 250ppm of sulphate.

Malts are 60% pils and 40% wheat.

Boil for 60mins adding hop combo at 10mins left only to 18-20ibu.

Clean yeast like us05 or bry97 and dry hopped for 5days with 2g/L.

Carbonate to 3.0 volumes

 

[chrisluki]

When I do a summer ale it goes like this....

1040 start gravity mashed at 64c for 30mins, final gravity 1008ish, usually a 4-4.5%abv. Always adding calcium sulphate to get 250ppm of sulphate.

Malts are 60% pils and 40% wheat.

Boil for 60mins adding hop combo at 10mins left only to 18-20ibu.

Clean yeast like us05 or bry97 and dry hopped for 5days with 2g/L.

Carbonate to 3.0 volumes

You only do a 30 minute mash? Why is that?