Brewers Best Summer Ale... with a kick

[huntb]

So here goes my third batch. I am modifying a Brewers Best Summer Ale kit. Let me know what you think:

Ingriedients:
3.3 lbs Pilsen Light LME
1 lb Bavarian Wheat DME
1 lb Pilsen Light DME
8 oz CaraPils Crushed

0.5 oz Cascade (Bittering)
0.5 oz Citra (Bittering)
0.25 oz Cascade (Flavoring)
0.5 oz Citra (Flavoring)
.25 oz Cascade (Aroma)
1 oz Citra (Dry Hop)

1.25 oz Orange Zest
1.25 oz Lemon Zest

Safale American Ale (US-05)

Steep CaraPils for 2 mins and bring to boil. Add bittering hops at 60 mins. Add Cascade flavoring hops and zest at 40 mins. Add Citra flavoring at 30 mins and aroma hops at 5 mins. Ferment for 5-7 days and rack to secondary with 1 oz Citra for 7-10 days. Bottle condition for 2 weeks.

Thoughts? Suggestions? My first was a modified brewers best IPA with Amarillo and Simcoe dry hops. I currently have a BB robust porter fermenting that I am going to add 4 oz of JB Black soaked oak chips to the secondary for 2-3 weeks, so I'm really trying to experiment a bit before I go to AG. This should be a nice bitter, low ABV.... ESB/Pale Ale?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Here are some thoughts/suggestions:

1) 40 and 30 aren't really good times to get flavor. Move them to 20 or 15. Then do aroma at 5 or flameout. This is just my humble opinion.

2) Don't bother with the secondary, especially not after only 5-7. If (and only if) you decided to secondary (which isn't necessary for this style) you should do it after fermentation has finished. And by finished I don't mean the airlock has stopped bubbling because that tells you nothing. Take a gravity reading when it looks like it might be done. Then take another reading 3 days later. If they are the same (pending it's an appropriate final gravity) then fermentation is complete and you can secondary or just save yourself some trouble and wait another week in the primary, dry hop in the primary for 3-7 days, and then bottle.

3) Meh, bottle condition for 2 weeks. Then throw one in the fridge for at least 24 hours before sampling it so the CO2 can be dissolved into solution. If it's not the carbonation you're expecting then it'll probably need another week or two, sometimes much longer. This is normal.

 

[huntb]

Thanks for the help! I chose 40 and 30 for "flavoring" because I do want it to have a little more bitterness but maybe I will try 30 and 20.

As for the secondary, I really want this beer to clear up well so it has that nice summer clarity and flavor. I just know with my first batch that there was a ton of trub in the bottom that I really didn't want in the bottling bucket. It still didn't turn out that clear but maybe because it didn't cool fast enough in the ice bath. I had to run to the store while it was cooling to buy another bag of ice.

 

[unionrdr]

Well,1st off,the BB summer ale kit is said to be a shock top clone. Tasted like it when my wife brewed it as her first. You're also adding more of what's already in the kit as well. & 30 & up will get you more bittering than flavor. I never do flavor additions more than 25 minutes. Usually 20 minutes on down. Just do a small bittering addition with the carapils that comes in the kit. Then proceed.

 

[Benedetto]

funny, I made almost the same thing as party favors for my wedding this summer. I served them in Grolsh bottles with the rubber gasket caps! The only difference is i didn't use any of the citra in the boil. I made three batches. one with no changes, one dry hopped with an oz of cascade, and one with an oz of citra. the citra dry hop was my favorite, but it needed MANY weeks for the flavor and aroma to mellow out. after only 3 weeks in bottles the citra was a bit harsh but after about 2 months it was perfect.

still got 3 bottles left! mmmmmmmmmm

 

[unionrdr]

The op also needed to steep the grains for a lot more than 2 minutes...

 

[Benedetto]

hahah! yeah i think he forgot to hit the zero button.