I brewed the following recipe this summer and ended up with a pale ale with an incredibly smooth finish. It seemed to be just what I wanted after about 6 weeks in the keg. I would like to try to get this finish in a few of my other recipes, but I don’t have a lot of brew time for experimentation (brew once a month and have four kids with plenty of activities) and was wondering if any had recommendations/ideas/input on what might have contributed to this finish? or could this be multiple things in combination? I was thinking maybe to a couple batches with wy1450 and different low alpha acid hops and doing a 5 gal. batch and fermenting 2 2.5 gal buckets with different yeasts. To further complicate things I switched to a cooler setup where this batch was done when I was doing BIAB, so maybe I should do a no sparge with a thin mash? If I keep adding test cases/scenarios, It would be over a year before I figure this one out.
Recipe Specifications
Boil Size: 7.76 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.76 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 7.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 36.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 82.7 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
12 lbs Pale Malt; American (Farm Boy Farms) (6. Grain 1 100.0 %
0.75 oz Cascade [6.30 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 2 15.7 IBUs
0.75 oz Cascade [6.30 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 3 11.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [6.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 4 9.4 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 5 -
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) (Boil 10.0 mins) Other 6 -
1.00 oz Cascade [6.30 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Denny’s Favorite 50 (Wyeast Labs #1450) Yeast 8 -
Mash Schedule: BIAB, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Saccharification Add 8.64 gal of water at 162.2 F 155.0 F 75 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min
Smooth is kind of hard to diagnose from a distance but one thing pops out at me. You have your FWH at 60 min, when its probably perceived as more like a 20 min. So probably its a combo of that and ph
Nothing about that pale ale recipe stands out as “bitter” or “harsh”, so I would expect a “smooth” beer with the recipe given. FWH, in my book, are simply bittering hops with an added few IBUs - nothing about them is perceived as extra “smooth” to me. Take a pale ale with relatively low BU:GU ratio, couple it with a yeast that takes it’s time to flocclate, and by the time the beer clears it should be well aged and mellowed due to yeast-isoalpha acid bonding and flocculation. I would try it again exactly as you have detailed.
Thanks for insight. I think I am going to try and reproduce the current on my new cooler setup, then take it from there staying with fwh/yeast and changing the grist, then hops.
I think you may have to define what you mean by “smooth finish”. But I agree that both the FWH and the yeast could contribute to what I imagine you mean.
the times I have used Denny’s 50 versus Chico, I’ve always felt it was ‘smoother’ than the same recipe with Chico. I prefer that type finish in ambers, american browns and american porters, not so much in APA or IPAs.
+1. I notice that too, which is why I like 1450 for those styles - the softer, maltier mouthfeel or whatever. Which is also why I don’t use it for APA and IPA. Good call.
My kegerator is set for 41 degrees, if that helps shed a little light on things. My kegerator only holds two kegs, so i generally kick em in 8 weeks or less.