Easy Drinking Recipe

I am looking to brew something this weekend that is fairly easy drinking. Last beer I did was a clone of Brewdog's 5AM Saint and I was planning a porter next, but I think just having those two in the fridge might be a bit heavy going, so I am going to delay the porter until next time.

Two beers that come to mind in this genre are McMullens Pale Ale and Flying Dog Easy IPA, they are both between 4 and 5%, not too much bitterness and nice fruity flavours.

I have only done 3 brews to do so I am still getting to grips with the effect on the finished product each element of the process has. I could therefore do with some help.

I would love to give the Flying Dog Easy IPA a go, I have found a recipe here, anyone tried this beer and have any idea whether the recipe lines up at all? The official website says it has biscuit malt in it, so it definitely looks like an attempt at the same thing at least!

The McMullen Pale gives you a lot of information on what is in it and it's attributes, so should be quite easy to get something similar for someone who knows a bit more than I do.

Thanks!

blawford said:

I am looking to brew something this weekend that is fairly easy drinking. Last beer I did was a clone of Brewdog's 5AM Saint and I was planning a porter next, but I think just having those two in the fridge might be a bit heavy going, so I am going to delay the porter until next time.

Two beers that come to mind in this genre are McMullens Pale Ale and Flying Dog Easy IPA, they are both between 4 and 5%, not too much bitterness and nice fruity flavours.

I have only done 3 brews to do so I am still getting to grips with the effect on the finished product each element of the process has. I could therefore do with some help.

I would love to give the Flying Dog Easy IPA a go, I have found a recipe here, anyone tried this beer and have any idea whether the recipe lines up at all? The official website says it has biscuit malt in it, so it definitely looks like an attempt at the same thing at least!

The McMullen Pale gives you a lot of information on what is in it and it's attributes, so should be quite easy to get something similar for someone who knows a bit more than I do.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I have a Mc Mullen's country bitter recipie,however it's Extract,not that it can't be converted to grain,using M/O or similar.If you should be interested give me a shout:)

Hopefully not too late...

I haven't tried the Flying Dog, but that recipe is straightforward and smacks of classic IPA. It'll be a good pale ale for a fourth brew.

The grain bill is dead simple - it's hard to go wrong with 100% pale malt, and throwing in some biscuit malt will give it toasty, nutty taste. I've never seen it used at 17%, gut reaction is that's a bit high and risking a cloying, strong maltyness. I'd personally be tempted to mix it 7.5% / 7.5% with some light crystal. If you find it's not perceptible enough, you can always ramp it up for another brew.

The recipe doesn't recommend a specific mash temperature. The website mentions that it's a light IPA so I'd try to hit 65C / 150F. That's your target temp, not your strike temp). You may want to leave it 90 minutes to make sure you get a full conversion at that lower temperature.

As for the hops, that's a pretty standard pale ale schedule. Remember to tone down the amounts as that's a 50 litre batch! You're going to get consistent citrusy/stone fruit, floral and slightly earthy spicy (not in a chilli way, more 'spice-ness') flavour from that. Horizon and Cascade/Mosaic should work well together. If you can't find Horizon, you could try Magnum - it won't give as much aroma as Horizon, but given a 60 minute boil most of your aroma is coming from the cascade/mosaic anyway.

When the recipe says "Boil 0 minutes" basically you add these at flame-out and let them sit in the kettle whilst you cool the wort down. A 30 - 40 minute cooldown of a 5 gallon batch ought to give you a decent amount of hop aroma.

Finally, on the yeast - US-05 is about as bomb proof as they come. I love it, and use it possibly to excess. I try to keep it around 18C but I've neglected it at around 22 - 23C and it's been fine.