Fir Tip Ale

[mthibodeau]

So I want to make a Fir Tip Ale, instead of Spruce and here is my first crack at a recipe (also my first crack at a recipe period)

I started with Dave's winter warmer recipe and then modified. This is for 5 gal

15 lbs 12oz Pale Malt (2 row)
10.4 oz Caramel/Crystal 75L
3.2 Oz Blackpinz
6 Oz Molasses

1.0 Oz Citra (FWH)

2 Oz Fir Tips @10 Mins
0.5 Oz Citra @ 10 mins
0.25 Tsp Irish Moss @ 10 Mins

2 Oz Fir Tips @0 Mins
0.5 Oz Citra @ 0 mins

2 Vials English Ale yeast - WLP002 or maybe WLP005 - I havent used either so feedback would be great

Anybody have any thoughts/suggestions/etc on the recipe?

[Hobbitfu]

Sounds great! Love citra hops. What original gravity are you shooting for and abv and you wanting? Was looking to use WLP005 in a batch too but haven't used it yet. I used WLP007 dry English and had great results in an imperial stout. Like 002 but attenuates a bit more. Live to hear tbe results of your brew!

[mthibodeau]

according to beer smith

OG 1.085
FG 1.023 (using wlp002) - havent tried the others to see the effect

abv 8.2

I was shooting for an 8bv of 7.5 to 8.5 somwehere so Im happy with its prediction. I think the citra will go nicely with the fir tips.

[Hobbitfu]

Love Beersmith! Good luck with the brew!

[mthibodeau]

Thanks. Anybody have any thoughts on the 10min and 0 min addition amounts? I want the citra to compliment the fir tips and not take over, but I havent brewed with it yet and dont want to over do it

[mthibodeau]

And one more question, well three but in one post

1. Any thoughts on adjusting the water chemistry? If so what region/brewery's water should I try and replicate? This is something I've read a bunch about, but havent played around with any, although I know it can make a huge impact on the final beer

2. Loss of efficiency due to full volume no sparge mash? I haven't done this yet but I've heard you can lose a few percentage points of efficiency because of not sparging, so some places recommend adding extra grain to compensate. Anybody who uses this method how is your efficiency coming out? I may also just leave it this time as its a big enough beer that if I lose a little bit of abv nobody will really notice

3. Last one I promise (well not really I wont promise that). Not that I plan to enter this into a comp, but if I did it would go in the winter seasonal beer category, that part was fairly clear in the new 2015 bjcp guidelines. Under the new regs I have to declare a base style though, and I'm not sure where it would fit. At first I thought english strong ale (og too high though), then maybe an old ale (not sure about the old part, have to wait until I taste it) but another issue with either of those is the use of american hops, so I went to the american stong ale but it doesnt seem to fit there either. Thoughts?