Belgian Pale Ale

Beer Recipes
1

So hop harvest time is just around the corner and I’ve done the APA/IPA thing to death this summer so I want to do something a little different with me & my buddy’s hops. I was thinking a Belgian Pale Ale using our hops at flameout (will have several ounces of Cascade and an ounce or two of Willamette). Here’s my first draft of what I was thinking:

Title: Belgian Pale Ale

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Belgian Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 3.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 4 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.047
Efficiency: 80% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.054
Final Gravity: 1.013
ABV (standard): 5.33%
SRM (morey): 8.99

FERMENTABLES:
2.5 lb - Belgian - Pale Ale (40.8%)
2 lb - German - Vienna (32.7%)
10 oz - Belgian - CaraVienne (10.2%)
8 oz - Cane Sugar (8.2%)
8 oz - Belgian - Aromatic (8.2%)

MASH GUIDELINES:

  1. Infusion, Temp: 151 F, Time: 75 min, Amount: 17 qt, Sacc Rest

Any thoughts or recommendations? Most of the BPA recipes I’ve seen call for Pils as the base malt, but I’m not really looking for that Pils malt flavor in this one. That’s why I went with the Pale Ale/Vienna combo for the base malt. I’m going to try to grow up a starter from a bottle I brewed last fall using the Canadian/Belgian Wyeast strain. The other option I was thinking of was the Duvel strain.

For hops I was planning on bittering with Magnum for 15 IBU’s, then making a WAG at how long to hold a hop stand with the homegrown hops to get another 15 IBU’s or so. If I can end up in the 25-35 IBU range I’ll be happy.

2

I think the Canadian/Belgian Wyeast would go well with the Cascades. A good friend of mine has brewed a few beers with it and it comes across as a lightly fruity yeast when fermented on the lower side of the yeast’s temperature range (which I believe was around 68-70 for him).

3

I brewed a few beers with it last winter when my basement was close to 60F ambient. It was able to attenuate well despite the low 60’s fermentation temps. It has a nice plum note to it that I really enjoy. The overall yeast expression is on the lower side when fermented that cool, but all the classic Unibroue flavor is there (albeit subtly). I brewed a small, hoppy dubbel last fall that is still probably my favorite homebrew to date.

I haven’t done a pale beer with it yet, so I figure this will be a nice test. Plus, I can grow up a pitch for a tripel and/or another Quad (last fall’s Quad is really starting to hit it’s stride now).