Hey Guys. Thinking about a new pale ale. Kind of going for a contrast to an oat pale ale that I recently did with Bravo, Cascade, Amarillo, Centennial, & Simcoe.
OG 1.052
IBU 36
75% two row
15% munich
10% honey malt
17 g Magnum 60 min
14 g of Cascade and Willamette each 10 min
14 g of Cascade and Willamette each 0 min
28 g Liberty dry hop
First off, I realize that many might think 10% honey malt is too much. I have yet to reach a threshold with honey malt to where it is identifiable to me as anything other than crystal malt. I have no experience with Willamette or Liberty so that is kind of just a shot in the dark. I assume another critique may be a lack of hops. Just trying to keep it kind of simple. Any thoughts?
Seems like a lot of honey malt - personal preference though. I like a BU/GU of .8 on APA, which would be ~ 40 IBUs, so you’re pretty much there. Hops are all preference too. Liberty is a Hallertau offshoot and a good hop. Might be interesting with the Cascade. Personally, I’d replace the Willamette (not a fan)with Liberty and add some Cascade to the dry along with the Liberty. Cheers !
Looking at the hop list for you first beer and comparing that to Magnum, Cascade, Willamette and Liberty in moderate amounts, I’d suspect the honey malt to come through much more in this beer.
Thanks everyone. I will consider dropping the honey malt a bit. I honestly don’t know if I have ever used it in a pale ale. I usually use it in lighter beers like american blondes and such. I need to go back and see what % I have used it in the past. I don’t think I usually go above 5%. The main reason for it is that I had a pale ale recently with honey malt listed as a main ingredient and I enjoyed it.
I only have any oz of Liberty otherwise I would consider using more of it with Cascade. Maybe I split the dry hop addition between Cascade and Liberty so that I can free up some Liberty for a kettle addition?
I agree. That much honey malt might be too much for me and/or several other people. But if you want a honey flavor, then do it! That’s why we do this right? To brew beer to our likings!
I knew the honey malt thing would get me in trouble…haha. I just looked back and realized that I don’t use it as much as I thought. The Blonde Ale that I brewed yesterday had 7.3% which is the most I have ever used. It will likely come through pretty well since the hop amounts were low. I will wait to see how it turns out before making any conclusions however I will likely use 5-10%. I suppose I could use 5% honey and 5% crystal as well.
Mea culpa…you certainly did! But I disagree with even “good approach”. To me, a good approach is to use whatever ingredients in whatever quantities get you the desired result. Many of my beers have 20% (maybe even a bit more) specialty malts. It depends on how you use them and how they interact with the other ingredients.
I emailed New Belgium to see if they would divulge how much honey malt that they use in the beer that is partially influencing this pale ale idea. They have replied that they use 9% so I was pretty close. That is in addition to more crystal malt according to their website. I think I will likely go with 9% honey malt and no additional crystal.
;D