Pale Ale recipe formulation

[Challenger440]

So I am not much of a hophead, in fact i stay away from IPAs, but I just ordered some hops from farmhousebrewingsupply and decided to throw in 4 ounces of cascades for good measure. I am aiming to do a pale ale that has a strong malt character up front with a nice hop flavor on the back end.

This is what I was thinking:
5.0 lbs Marris Otter
2.5 lbs Vienna Malt
2.0 lbs Munich Malt
0.5 lbs Crystal 20
0.5 lbs Crystal 60
1.00 oz Cascade 5.9%AA (60min)
.50 oz Cascade 5.9%AA (30min)
.25 oz Cascade 5.9%AA (10min)
.25 oz Cascade 5.9%AA (5min)
.25 oz Cascade 5.9%AA (flameout)

OG: 1.056
IBU: 31.2

Any thoughts?

 

[kanzimonson]

Is it specifically the hop flavor/aroma that you don't like? This beer is going to be pretty skewed towards the bitter side with very low hop flavor and aroma.

A pretty typical APA hop schedule is 1oz at 60 min and .5-1oz at 10min and 0min.

Malt bill looks good. I personally like crystal in my APA because I like the sweet/candy as a contrast to the bitterness but I think you can have a really malty beer here.

You might want to consider using 1968 as your yeast. This yeast is amazing for taking a malt bill and really boosting its flavors to the front. Just be aware that it finishes a little sweeter with a higher FG.

 

[Challenger440]

Whoops! I got to typing too fast, I meant to include some crystal 20 and 60.

I don't like the bitterness of IPA's, I haven't tried to develop my taste for it, but I do enjoy hop flavor.

 

[kanzimonson]

If you're going to add that crystal, you can cut back the vienna and munich a lot. As it stands, this is much closer to an amber ale (might be a better style for you now that I think about it).

I stick by my original hopping recommendation, though if you want less bitterness then maybe only make it .75oz at 60min. Then 1oz at 10min and 1oz at 0min. This will give you a beautiful hop flavor and aroma without too much outright bitterness.