Simple pale ale recipe, ideas to improve?

I brewed a beer for my younger brother's return from law school. He's very picky about which beers he likes, but he genuinely liked it! I give you guys here at HBT much of the credit. Thanks homebrewers!

While he's home I'd like to include him on a brew day, which I hope will be this week. I thought about trying to find another recipe he'd like that we could do, but now I'm thinking we can redo my recipe and make improvements.

I know and appreciate how beer is very much a matter of taste, but do you veterans have some advise for small changes that could add complexity without overwhelming the beer? My brother likes well balanced beer.

Here is the recipe. It's very simple and when I brewed it I only had a 2.5 gallon kettle. I now have a 10 gallon kettle and a Blichmann burner which should help. NOTE: I'M ON THE VERGE OF GETTING A CONVERTED COOLER FOR MASHING. Don't hesitate to throw in ideas for base grains and mashing temps... I might have one by the end of the day if I can convince myself I can spare the cash.

Perle Pale Ale
6 lbs extra pale DME (added at 15)
1 lbs caramel malt (40 lovibond)
3 oz perle hops (an ounce at 60, 15, and 0)
Nottingham yeast

The funny thing is he doesn't like pale ale generally.
Thanks in advance!

Oh, and if you were wondering, the original recipe turned out great

Maybe sub in some (or all) Cascade hops for the Perle? Cascade is THE classic APA hop, Centennial is a good one too but watch the higher AA% lest you make it too bitter. Your malt profile looks like a good base for some hop experimentation. Though you could always try a lighter Caramel malt or maybe split the C malt between 20 and 40...something like that.

I just did an APA in which I used Pils as the base malt. It's not quite ready but it's tasting pretty good already. I had wanted to use 2 row but the local shop I went to was out of 2 row. I guess what I'm saying is you could use Pils. But if you want to convert your current recipe you would do about 10 lbs of 2 row (or Pils) and maybe throw a half pound of carapils in there along with your C40. Mash low (148F-150F) if you want a lighter body, higher if you want something a little sweeter.

Excellent, thanks for the advice hogwash! I'm going to stick with mostly perle, because my brother doesn't really seem to like the flavors associated with most classic APA hops. Definitely curious about all grain and pilsner malt though!

The original beer looks tasty-a good starting point. Try combining other hops that you think you can play around with. You could add some interest by using a portion of munich or rye LME to achieve different beers. Or, try subbing the crystal for some cara-vienne, caramalt, or cara-rye for other unusual flavors. Steeping some biscuit or victory malt will add another layer of flavor that I love in an APA.

DSorenson said:

Here is the recipe. It's very simple and when I brewed it I only had a 2.5 gallon kettle.

Perle Pale Ale
6 lbs extra pale DME (added at 15)
1 lbs caramel malt (40 lovibond)
3 oz perle hops (an ounce at 60, 15, and 0)
Nottingham yeast

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Is this recipe for the 2.5gl pot you used? And what was your beginning boil/flame out amounts of water? I'm interested in giving this one a go I like that it is a good base to play with.

Thanks guys! I went with my first all grain brew to change it up. I used pale malt and biscuit malt upon his request. He also wanted palisade hops, which I was glad to experiment with. Looks great, smells great. You guys called it when you said to change up the hops.

To thejudge: I believe I was at best able to boil 2 gallons. The post boil was not really quantifiable, but it may have been a gallon and a half. I topped off with a lot of water. To be honest, I wasn't sure It would turn out considering the emphasis some brewers put on full volume boils. The hops come through really well. Let me know if you try it!

im not sure how you Americans like your beer, but i swear by pride of ringwood. chuck in half ounce for 60 min boil. try using some cara malts too, good for this style ive found out.

DSorenson said:

Thanks guys! I went with my first all grain brew to change it up. I used pale malt and biscuit malt upon his request. He also wanted palisade hops, which I was glad to experiment with. Looks great, smells great. You guys called it when you said to change up the hops.

To thejudge: I believe I was at best able to boil 2 gallons. The post boil was not really quantifiable, but it may have been a gallon and a half. I topped off with a lot of water. To be honest, I wasn't sure It would turn out considering the emphasis some brewers put on full volume boils. The hops come through really well. Let me know if you try it!

Click to expand...

Ty I will, just need to free up a fermenter first lol.