Little Fighter Red Ale

[JakeSparrow]

Okay so I've decided to simplify this recipe, and I want to make a seperate brew that will use the rye that was originally gonna be used in this. I finally got a burner and smaller kettle to brew with, so if this recipe checks out and there's no glaring problems, I will brew this weekend. I am using ingredients that can be found at my LHBS, and I liked what I've seen regarding Motueka and NZ hops, I think it'll make a nice combo. What do you guys think?

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: LilFighter

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 3.25 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 4 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.055
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.068
Final Gravity: 1.019
ABV (standard): 6.44%
IBU (tinseth): 62.18
SRM (morey): 16.68

FERMENTABLES:
4 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (47.1%)
4 lb - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (47.1%)
4 oz - American - Roasted Barley (2.9%)
4 oz - Belgian - CaraMunich (2.9%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Chinook, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: First Wort, IBU: 43.86
0.25 oz - Nelson Sauvin, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 10.54
1 oz - Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 7.77
1 oz - Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Aroma for 0 min
0.75 oz - Nelson Sauvin, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop for 3 days
2 oz - Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Dry Hop for 4 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 150 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 2.7 gal

YEAST:
Danstar - American West Coast Yeast BRY-97
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 72%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 62 - 75 F
Fermentation Temp: 68 F
Pitch Rate: 0.5 (M cells / ml / deg P)


Generated by Brewer's Friend - http://www.brewersfriend.com/
Date: 2014-08-19 19:40 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2014-08-19 19:39 UTC

 

[AnOldUR]

I'd rather see a full ounce of Nelson at 20 minutes and another full ounce at dry hop and adjust your bitterness by cutting down on the 60 minute Chinook if needed.

But it's your beer and still looks good as is.

 

[JakeSparrow]

That's actually a great idea, I think what stopped me from doing that was the IBUs. May either just bitter with .5 or do a 30 min addition rather than FHW.

Thanks for catching that, 2:1 sounds like a better ratio as I wanted the NZ to make its presence known but hog the spotlight.

EDIT: Looks like I'll go with a .25 oz FWH addition to keep the IBUs down, and go with the advice to up the NZ.

 

[AnOldUR]

Hope it helps. To me Nelson is a great flavor/aroma hop. That quarter ounce at 20 wouldn't have done much but the small bump in bitterness it gave you. An ounce, on the other hand, will add some flavor.

A word on first wort hopping and bitterness. There's a lot of contradictory information out there, but this is what I go with. The measured IBU's from FWH is greater than a 60 minute addition, but the perceived bitterness is less. It's described as a softer, rounder bitterness. That's why some people prefer it. A lot of brew software gives you the actual bitterness as it would be measured. The thing is that the people drinking your beer won’t be measuring IBU’s. For my taste, I enter my FWH additions in using the FWH option in BeerSmith, but then I change the boil time to 30 minutes. You’ll have to experiment with it and come to your own conclusions.

 

[JakeSparrow]

Yes, I actually recently discovered the difference between FWH and the more typical 60 min bittering addition. After reading about it I love the sound of softer bitterness so that's what I would be using on most brews.

But before now I wasn't quite sure how the brew software would handle it. I do have beersmith at home (im at work and use the brewersfriend website while here) so I will check it out. Thanks for the insight!

Hopefully I will have some tasting notes on this recipe soon.

 

[AnOldUR]

Hopefully I will have some tasting notes on this recipe soon.

Look forward to reading them. I've never used Motueka and am curious how it works with Nelson Sauvin. Also, would be interested to see if you get red from the 4 ounces of Roasted Barley. Although I've read that it works, it's been hit or miss for me. Most of the time ending up more amber than red.

 

[JakeSparrow]

I'm really hoping that it turns out red, that's an important aspect I'm shooting for. I was going to just use a 100% grain bill of BestMalz Red X and see how that went but I heard it is very similar to Munich in taste/aroma. Not that that's a bad thing but for what I'm going for in this IPA I decided to go in another direction.

 

[JakeSparrow]

Upon re-reading the Red X malt thread here on the forum, apparently it's not just like munich, but it a bit malty which is fine by me. The red that others have gotten from it looks good, I will probably make this a single malt beer, while keeping the same hop schedule.

 

[JakeSparrow]

I actually had a good question. I have Chinook at .25 oz FWH. Obviously the store doesn't sell .25 oz of hops. And I do not have the equipment to save the rest. I would have to either use a hop with much less AA at the full ounce or should I just throw the other .75 oz of Chinook in as a dry hop?

 

[AnOldUR]

I'd throw it in the mash. If nothing else, you'll get a more aromatic brewday.