[Iliff Ave]

Brewing this in the next 3 days. I have no experience with Willamette or Liberty so we shall see how it turns out. I am trying to experiment with some older, more traditional american hops since I am so used to using Amarillo, Centennial, etc in pale ales these days.

91% Vienna
9% Honey Malt (I know it's a lot - amt from NB which brews the beer that inspires partially inspires the grains)

11 g Magnum, 7 g Simcoe 60 min
28 g Cascade 10 min
28 g Willamette, 7 g Simcoe 0 min
28 g Liberty dry hop

OG 1.051
IBU 37
SRM 8

So I am not completely convinced about the hop schedule. Kind of threw in the Simcoe for the hell of it. Here is an alternative hop schedule. Which would be better? I feel like the top one will give me better impressions of each hop.

11 g Magnum, 7 g Simcoe 60 min
14 g Cascade, 14 g Willamette 10 min
14 g Cascade, 14 g Liberty, 7 g Simcoe 0 min
14 g Cascade, 14 g Willamette, 14 g Liberty Dry Hop

[Jimmy K]

If you want to experiment with traditional American hops, what is simcoe doing there? I feel like your studying the fine are of swordplay - and here's a hand grenade. 
 
I like both schedules, but you'll have much more melding with the bottom one.

[Iliff Ave]

If you want to experiment with traditional American hops, what is simcoe doing there? I feel like your studying the fine are of swordplay - and here's a hand grenade. 
 
I like both schedules, but you'll have much more melding with the bottom one.

Haha...yeah the simcoe is in there just to provide some extra goodness. Maybe I should leave it out which was my original plan. I guess I am afraid that the current hops will be underwhelming and might need a little kick...

[HoosierBrew]

If you want to experiment with traditional American hops, what is simcoe doing there? I feel like your studying the fine are of swordplay - and here's a hand grenade. 
 
I like both schedules, but you'll have much more melding with the bottom one.

+1.  At least the Simcoe is at a reduced amount, because it can take over blended equally with milder hops. I think aside from the Willamette (not a fan) it'll be good.

[Iliff Ave]

Yeah I have heard conflicting things about Willamette... I will probably remove the simcoe.

18 g Magnum
14 g Cascade, 14 g Willamette 10 min
14 g Cascade, 14 g Liberty 0 min
14 g Cascade, 14 g Willamette, 14 g Liberty Dry Hop

[Iliff Ave]

Just mashed in...love it! So I decided to go with the stripped down hop schedule so that my unsophisticated pallet can try to distinguish between hop types a bit more. That and I usually overcomplicate matters...thought simple would be good.

17 g Magnum 60 min
28 g Cascade 10 min
28 g Willamette 0 min
28 g Liberty dry hop

[HoosierBrew]

I bet you'll like it !

[Iliff Ave]

The brew session went pretty well overall. Hit my preboil gravity on the nose and was a point under on my post boil gravity due to less than expected evaporation. I am trying to get a decent house APA by brewing multiple different batches to see which one I like best. I think this will be better than my last, oat pale ale attempt where I was a bit heavy handed with the Bravo FWH addition and didn't balance the hops out enough with my grain bill. It did have a great aroma from the Bravo/Simcoe dry hop though.

After way too long it seems that I have finally got my system dialed in thanks to more accurate volume measurements. I seem to get right around 68% efficiency which I assume is constrained by pH/water conditions (haven't addressed that yet). I am okay with that number for now as long as I can keep getting consistent, predicted results. The beer tastes good so I am not too worried about the water for now....maybe eventually...

[HoosierBrew]

Nice job on hitting your numbers and volumes. It's a good feeling, right ?! It's the feeling of taking control of the process. If you consistently hit ~ 68% efficiency (which I did after dialing in my system) I would look at your grind. I went up to ~80% consistently after getting my LHBS to double crush my grain. I crush at home now but get just over that efficiency, but get it consistently.

[Iliff Ave]

Yeah I have my own grain mill in attempt to at least get a consistent crush. It seems to look good to me but I don't really know what I am looking for...haha.

[Iliff Ave]

Just kegged this. Sample looks and tastes great. The hops provide a nice floral/earthy/citrus combination. It will hopefully be one of the better pale ales that I have done because I kept it simple which is rare for me. I am liking the cascade, willamette, liberty combo  which makes me want to utilize more "traditional" hop types.

The honey malt seems undetectable at this point which is surprising...