Baseline Ale for revision

Korpi Brewery

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Hello fellow brewers!

We're attempting to create a sort of "go-to" ale for a summer wedding. We've created a Baseline Ale for a cliff to jump off from. Where should we take it from here? More hops perhaps? More amps and voltage? It should be a drinkable pale ale, that would please a wide range of guests. Nothing too dramatic, but still a proper brew!

Here's where we are @

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/566483/baseline-ale-1-1

Roughly
81% pale ale
19% Crystal 50

Cascade for 60mins
Cascade for 10 mins

White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001
 
I dunno. V 1.00 had a strange dark foresty aroma about it. Perhaps the Cascade needs a partner?
Cascade is usually pretty nice all by itself, but some spice from Willamette is never a bad combo. Or something like a little Mosaic in the late hopping that will lift the grapefruit flavor and aroma and introduce some lush tropical notes.

The recipe seems a little heavy on Crystal for an APA. Something closer to 10% would be my preference. Cleaner finish and more emphasis on the hops and base malt. You could add some Munich for a more bold malt backbone if you think the base malt is a little lacking.
 
I agree with J A. I would never use that % of any crystal in a pale ale. A pound or two of Munich or Vienna would add some nice malty notes if that's what you're looking for and either would go well with 1/2 lb. or less of the Crystal 50. If you're stuck on the Crystal 50, I'd cut it down to 1/2 that amount at most. That's just me.
 
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Cascade is usually pretty nice all by itself, but some spice from Willamette is never a bad combo. Or something like a little Mosaic in the late hopping that will lift the grapefruit flavor and aroma and introduce some lush tropical notes.

The recipe seems a little heavy on Crystal for an APA. Something closer to 10% would be my preference. Cleaner finish and more emphasis on the hops and base malt. You could add some Munich for a more bold malt backbone if you think the base malt is a little lacking.
Thanks J A! That was gold! I love Mosaic on it's own. I'll add some of that to the mix. That's a vey good point about the malt bill. Will probably have to tone down the Crystal and add a bit of Munich to see if that changes things. Cheers for the advise!
 
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I agree with J A. I would never use that % of any crystal in a pale ale. A pound or two of Munich or Vienna would add some nice malty notes if that's what you're looking for and either would go well with 1/2 lb. or less of the Crystal 50. If you're stuck on the Crystal 50, I'd cut it down to 1/2 that amount at most. That's just me.
Cheers BOB357! Do you reckon 50% less Crystal and replace it with Munich would do it?
 
Cheers BOB357! Do you reckon 50% less Crystal and replace it with Munich would do it?
My rule of thumb is one pound of Crystal per batch for a pale ale. Munich is a different maltiness, I prefer it to Crystal, but it's then not so much a pale ale. You're currently at 20% of grist (approx.) as Crystal. I'd use 10% as a baseline, need more maltiness go to Munich.
 
Cheers BOB357! Do you reckon 50% less Crystal and replace it with Munich would do it?
I generally use either Munich or Crystal. I don't see any reason why both wouldn't be OK, but with both I would cut the C-50 down to a half pound and replace the remainder with Munich. Just try to keep my grist down to 2 or 3 different grains.
 
Munich is a different maltiness, I prefer it to Crystal, but it's then not so much a pale ale.
Some folks like Vienna instead of Munich. Not a bad choice.
Cheers BOB357! Do you reckon 50% less Crystal and replace it with Munich would do it?
My go-to for a crisp, relatively light Pale Ale is about 10% Munich and 5% "character" malt. Up to twice that much will work for a bigger-bodied beer. I use Victory and Biscuit a lot because of the toasty/nutty characteristics.
 
In post #4, JA said " malt backbone" so you should discount anything else from him. He's obviously a marketing guy for some hipster craft brewer.

But then he said Mosaic would pair with Cascade and he is right. Halfway restored to full brewerhood.

And for the win ... Biscuit malt. Full rehabilitation.

I have a pale recipe that uses about 4% Biscuit and that toasty character is a winner. It called for Victory when I first brewed it, but I had to sub Biscuit and liked it so well that I edited the recipe going forward.
 
In post #4, JA said " malt backbone" so you should discount anything else from him. He's obviously a marketing guy for some hipster craft brewer.
I will cop to using unnecessarily trendy descriptors. :D
But it's not like I uttered "reinheitsgebot" in polite company. :D:D:D:p
well victory and biscuit are suppose to be the same just from different countries
Yeah, I think that's true. But I also think that the difference in styles between the Belgians and American maltsters might make them subtly different. I usually keep them both on hand but I could probably use one or the other. Just for stylistic consistency, if it's a Belgian beer, I'll usually stick with Biscuit and for IPAs and Pales, I'll usually go with Victory.
 
Malt backbone.... There, I said it. And if my IPA doesn't have one, it isn't my IPA.
 
Some folks like Vienna instead of Munich. Not a bad choice.

My go-to for a crisp, relatively light Pale Ale is about 10% Munich and 5% "character" malt. Up to twice that much will work for a bigger-bodied beer. I use Victory and Biscuit a lot because of the toasty/nutty characteristics.
Hey hey hey... It appears that our Brewmonk - based Carage brewhouse likes to create very dark, deep amber colors with crystal (50). I have Access to similar Munich but also a much lighter Vienna. With this, it seems light Vienna is the obvious choice, right?
 
Vienna is always a good choice for adding sweet maltiness. It works as well as Munich in a lot of ways but is a little lighter in flavor and color. You could use a fairly high percentage of Vienna for a hoppy pale.
A touch of Crystal 50 won't hurt a thing. I'd personally choose to keep it below 5% and probably nearer to about 2-3 percent.
 
I've had good luck with 1/4# honey malt for 5 gallons. Even 2 oz adds a subtle honey flavor
another option is 1 pound Carared its 20L but has has more fermentables than crystal but leaves a rich malt taste less sweart
use 1/2 to 1 pound
 

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