My first attempt at a pale ale.

Bulin's Milker Bucket Brews

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https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/851373/boom-boom-pow-

Not sure if I did that right. It's an extract with 9.15 pounds of Briess Golden Light LME. 6 ounces YChief Saaz and 1 Ounce Northern Brewer Cluster at 60 minutes, 2 ounces Saaz at 10 minutes(all pellet hops). 5.5 Gallon batch about 6.6 ABV.

It's not the worst beer I've ever had...I think the combination of cluster and saaz has potential once I get the ratio right.
 
7 oz of hops is pretty wild to throw in at 60. I would try tossing in 1oz at 60min that should be enough bittering, and then save the rest for @10 min or flameout to punch up the aroma and flavor.
 
Well it is boom boom pow so a good strong sharp bitterness might be in order.
Yep if you want more flavour and aroma from your hops try moving some towards the end of the boil.
 
The hop uptake is skewed by the use of all the LME in a partial boil recipe. You'll do better by using part of the LME in the full boil and part as a late addition. Split the LME so that a third or so is going in for a full 60 minutes and 2/3 is added at 10 minutes from the end of boil. Be sure you check the "late addition" box for that part. When you do that, your IBUs will jump way up. Then you can adjust the amount down and get better bang for your hop-buying buck.
Here's a suggestion: https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/870614/boom-boom-pow-edit-suggestion
Saaz and Cluster are great together. I use that combo for all my Cream Ales and American Pilsner recipes.
 
The hop uptake is skewed by the use of all the LME in a partial boil recipe. You'll do better by using part of the LME in the full boil and part as a late addition. Split the LME so that a third or so is going in for a full 60 minutes and 2/3 is added at 10 minutes from the end of boil. Be sure you check the "late addition" box for that part. When you do that, your IBUs will jump way up. Then you can adjust the amount down and get better bang for your hop-buying buck.
Here's a suggestion: https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/870614/boom-boom-pow-edit-suggestion
Saaz and Cluster are great together. I use that combo for all my Cream Ales and American Pilsner recipes.
The software corrects for the smaller boil size if you punch the recipe into Brewer's Friend.
 
I've done 3 extract beers so far. I feel like I learn more by experimenting that I would by working off a kit or recipe that someone else came up with. I've done a lager with all Saaz that, despite messing up almost everything possible when brewing it, really isn't too bad. Next up was the Boom Boom POW recipe I posted in this thread, then I took a crack at a Pre-Prohibition Cluster hopped ale(too early to tell on that one). Of course the end goal is to get to all grain brewing, going to start that in Sept. will be brewing my "Dirty Boh 2.0" lager on Labor Day and following it two weeks later with "Sticky Blonde" reusing the 34/70 from the Dirty Boh in the primary.

Not sure what style Sticky Blonde is really, maybe somewhere between a Cream Ale and a Cali Common...

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/851102/sticky-blonde
 
The software corrects for the smaller boil size if you punch the recipe into Brewer's Friend.
I'm talking about the high gravity wort. By having the wort gravity lower, the IBUs increase and allows for a lot more efficient use of hops at 60 minutes. LME doesn't need to be boiled at all and the more you can put in toward the end the better.
The edited version I posted uses the same ingredients but using several ounces less hops for basically the same results.
 
and following it two weeks later with "Sticky Blonde" reusing the 34/70 from the Dirty Boh in the primary.

Not sure what style Sticky Blonde is really, maybe somewhere between a Cream Ale and a Cali Common...
It's a straight-up Cream Ale in terms of style. Looks like a good beer but I'm not sure I'd suggest an adjunct lager with a cereal mash for a first-time all-grain brewer. I'd advise that you try something very straightforward like a simple Blonde Ale or even a Helles lager using Pilsner and Vienna to get your mashing skills honed a little before you start trying to add cooked grits to your mash. If you're intent on using corn, substitute flaked maize and do a simple infusion mash. That'll give you the same result without the hassle and potential mess or outright fail with the cereal/decoction style mash
 

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