Amarillo/Simcoe Pale Ale .. please critique

hey guys , first time poster long time lurker ...

was about to brew my second partial mash brew and wanted some tips or ideas on my brewing procedure.
im looking for a pale ale thats high on the hoppy side and according to my beersmith, im good to go. i am a big fan of orange/grapefruit/citrus with a backbone of pine, i decided to stock up on amarillo, simcoe, citra, and a backbone of warrior.
my next batch will be AG , since i have the pots and burners and space to do it... but for now i am doing a partial mash.
as for the hop timetable... it seems the best way to really show off these hops is to put them in as late editions.


Recipe Type: PM
Yeast: 1 pack US-05
Batch Size (Gallons): 5gal
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.049
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.011
IBU: 42.2
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Estimated Color: 8.2
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 at 65 degrees
Secondary : 10 days
force carb and keg at 12lbs

3 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L

1lb Pale Liquid Extract [Boil for 60 min]
1lb Light Dry Extract [Boil for 60 min]
2 lbs 4.8 oz Pale Liquid Extract [Boil for 20 min]



0.50 oz warrior [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min

0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.70 %] - Boil 10.0 min

0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.20 %] - Boil 0.0 min
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.70 %] - Boil 0.0 min

0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.20 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days


1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) .
no yeast starter , but i will rehydrate packet with 6oz of water.

im adding yeast nutrient as well to make up for LME being used.


strike temp at 162 , mash at 152 for 60 min with 5.6qts of water

since i need 7 gallons pre boil , i was going to heat 6 gallons of water to 168 in my brew kettle , put the grain bag in there (sparge) for 10 minutes when im done mashing, and then add my 1 gallon of wort water , extract, and go full boil as usual .
i was going to wait until after hot break to start the 60min timer and my first hop addition.
i dont feel i need to add some of the 4lbs of extract towards the end of the boil since i heard that only effects you if your doing a partial boil. true?



any suggestions? now that i know that i have the equipment to go all grain i will next time.

let me know what you think . thanks guys !

remember that the grains will absorb some of the water, so you'll need to start with a bit more what what you've planned for.

your recipe and process look great. should be a tasty beer!

i dont feel i need to add some of the 4lbs of extract towards the end of the boil since i heard that only effects you if your doing a partial boil. true?

not true, late additions of extract have the same benefit for partial mash as they do with all-extract: makes your beer brighter and improves hop utilization.

Click to expand...

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Simcoe will give you some resinous piney aromatics/flavor in excess to the tangerine the amarillo throws off.
Great hoping schedule but i would also add one of the 3Cs @5min (cascade,columbus,cenntennial) if you want a more juicy "citrus juice" pale.

With that amount of 2-row your technically mashing these grains.
I would leave them in 148* water for 60min for full conversion.
Also since your getting conversion from the grains i would add most if not all your extract @ the end of the boil to reduce caramelization
On all your recipes your 60min hop addition/timer should not be added till the boil STARTS.

Hope this helps!

interesting . thanks for the tips. the LHBS just told me adding 2/3 of my extract at flameout is a waste of time and thats only important for partial boils ... not full boils.
i thought it was a good idea from what ive read on here.

i really want to add a dry hop addition of the citra... but i think i will hold off until i make another beer.

Johnnyhitch1 said:

but i would also add one of the 3Cs @5min (cascade,columbus,cenntennial) if you want a more juicy "citrus juice" pale.

Click to expand...

what about my citra?
i can just as easy go get some cascade at the lhbs if you think it will help instead. the flavor i love is a local beer by me , columbus brewing company's colmbus IPA . lots of orange, bit of pine .

i was worried about the simcoe giving off too much pine , but didnt worry about it since so many people on here have great success brewing simarillos .

woodbutcher said:

what about my citra?
i can just as easy go get some cascade at the lhbs if you think it will help instead. the flavor i love is a local beer by me , columbus brewing company's colmbus IPA . lots of orange, bit of pine .

i was worried about the simcoe giving off too much pine , but didnt worry about it since so many people on here have great success brewing simarillos .

Click to expand...

Im a "if its broke dont fix it" kinda guy, dont get me wrong i absolutely love citra but sometimes its to much of a "hop bomb" and drowns other hops out of the equation. The 3Cs are part of a group that people "know off" because IMO for flavoring pales there the top choice. To each there own of course but i can never get enough cascade/centennial where i only buy around 2pds of citra a year....

If your LHBS told you not to waste your time with late extract additions i would think twice about there informational help.
Heres a good read

Here's Dude's hop schedule for Lake Walk Pale Ale. I'm not sure I've had a better tasting beer.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/lake-walk-pale-ale-32939/

.75 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - 60 min
.75 oz Simcoe (13.0%) - 20 min
1.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - 5 min
1.0 oz Simcoe (13.0%) - 5 min

1.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 oz Simcoe (13.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter

Dude, you picked my favorite hop bill there, excellent choice, it will be good! Cheers!

well i guess im on track ...seeing how my recipe looks a lot like that lake walk pale ale! cant wait to brew it another time with more creativity in the grain bill.

i think im gonna leave the hops as is for this batch.

as for extract, i will add 20% of the extract at beginning and the rest at 20 minutes even though i feel it doesnt really apply too much to this brew.
i read the article and it seemed like it helps with keeping the beer's color lighter, protects from burning malt flavors, and allows the hops to be fully utilized .

while this really doesnt help me too much - i am doing a full boil, srm 8 , and i have a ton of hops to spare- i will still give it a shot.

i have never kegged before, but i cannot wait to not bottle. i will go through all the sanitization and scrubbing and cleaning methods i have read ...
one thing im wondering though ... i dont have a kegerator, but i have a basement, and its always about 60-65 degrees here in ohio. i like beer at this temperature when served (call me weird... drinking a IIPA right now at 67deg) .
how long will my beer last in the keg if kept at this temperature down there?
will 12lbs still apply even though its not chilled?

im changing it to a 5.5gal boil since i want to fill up my 5 gallon keg as much as possible, so im gonna up the DME to 1lb to compensate.

i always wondered why i saw so many recipes with 5.5

looks tastily similar to DFH 60 Minute hop schedule, with late hop bursting instead of continuous additions

Here's my Simcoe Amarillo IPA that scored an average of 44/50 at a recent competition if it helps.

13 gallon batch
30 lbs Marris Otter
2 lbs C40

1.5oz Simcoe @ 45
1.5oz Amarillo @ 45
1oz Simcoe @ 20
1oz Amarillo @ 20
2oz Simcoe @ 5
2oz Amarillo @ 5

dry hop:
4.5 oz Simcoe
4.5 oz Amarillo

MASH 152

hmm . didnt know it was so similar to DFH ... guess ill like it then , though i cant remember how DFH tastes ..

after reading about first wort boils ( FWH ) i am going to add 1oz of amarillo when i sparge in the boiling pot for 10-20 minutes tea bagging the grain bag.

well i dont think i was quite confortable with the beersmith program. i didnt calculate the equipment part right since they dont really have a profile for setup. . i have an 6 gallon partial mash steeping pot and 15 gallon boiling pot.... and i couldnt input it correctly.

my OG wasnt 1.049 , it was 1.042 and its been hovering over 1.007 as the FG for the last couple days so im sure its ready to be racked.

i was 4-5 points under my estimated beersmith calculations ... and i think i know why .
when i started partial mashing the 3lbs of grain, i had trouble keeping a consistent temp and then found out my digital meat probe was acting up . also, i had no idea about brewhouse efficiency and what that was , so i didnt adjust it in beersmith.

after the boil, i kept my recipe the same in the program, but started dropping the brewhouse efficiency from the default 75% to 70...65.... 60%.... and i think it finally meshed up with my OG and FG numbers at 50% ! ouch.... oh well, no contamination, i have been tasting a refractometer sample every morning and it tastes great ! its currently at 5.2 brix (4.7abv) and 1.007 FG according to the calculator in beersmith.
i will rack it tomorrow and add .75 simcoe and .75 amarillo for the dry hop.

shes going to be dry but lesson learned!

i am building a mash tun today and making another beer tomorrow ... all grain this time.
now im ready to go and actually prepared.

update:

finished at 1.010 ...
tastes great . thanks for everyones help. this was exactly the flavor i was looking for.