Three favorite beer styles with medium ABV and low to medium IBU?

Rockhead said:
Or perhaps a Northern German Pilsner like Jever, dry with about 40 IBU, and noble hops (but more bitter and less aroma)?
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I did think of that, but thought it might be more IBUs than you were looking for...
Shouldn't be much different than brewing a helles (don't tell a bavarian that though! ;)), though I have yet to actually try brewing a pils.
 
If you're interested in trying some of the lagers folks have recommended - get some 34/70 yeast and try to keep the temps in the mid 60's. That would work just fine for a Vienna and Czech Amber.

Otherwise, I think an ESB, Mild or Brown ale would be great! - Nottingham is my go to yeast for these :)

You could try a Kolsch. - llalemand makes a soild dry yeast for Kolsch called Koln.

I love an easy to make and easy to drink Blonde Ale in the summer (or any time of year really. I make one with Cascade hops that's always a hit! - I use Nottingham in that too! (34/70 works with it also)
 
Blackmuse said:
I love an easy to make and easy to drink Blonde Ale in the summer (or any time of year really. I make one with Cascade hops that's always a hit! - I use Nottingham in that too! (34/70 works with it also)
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Blond Ale is what I am planning on brewing next. :)
Figure I can use my Helles recipe as and just swap out 34/70 for US-05 as soon as my basement gets above 15°C.
(my "fermentation chamber" can cool fairly unlimitedly, but can only warm about 2-3°C)
 
Kolsch was my first thought, I also used the Lallemand Koln yeast and liked it. Can't wait to brew my Kolsch again

Definitely not low IBU, but since you already have US05, a Sierra Nevada clone is a nice option.

Shady Bohemian is a great beer! If the lagering aspect sounds unappealing, then maybe a low abv brown or porter with your US05

When I was dialing in my system I brewed Bee Cave Haus Pale ale multiple times, very simple recipe and meets your parameters. I think I used S04 but the recipe calls for Nottingham
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/bee-cave-brewery-haus-pale-ale.31793/
 
sbaclimber said:
I did think of that, but thought it might be more IBUs than you were looking for...
Shouldn't be much different than brewing a helles (don't tell a bavarian that though! ;)), though I have yet to actually try brewing a pils.
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You are right, I keep gravitating back towards higher hops, but need to stay on track with my objective of broadening out.
 
These low ABV and low IBU styles are my go-to beers. My 3 favorites are:

Traditional Belgian Farmhouse Ale, 5.0 %ABV, 25 IBU.

Belgian Pale Ale, 5.5 %ABV, 25 IBU.

American Pale Ale, 5.0 %ABV, 35 IBU with dry hopping.

These beers all have a well-balanced flavor in my opinion.
 
Rockhead said:
Really like Anchor Steam, so California Common would be good. Not sure my temp control is ready for true lagering yet though, but Shady Bohemian sounds great. Only know Genesee cream ale from my youth and it’s only a vague memory.
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My temp control is a basement with an ambient temperature of around 65 degrees and beyond that a large soft insulated cooler made to fit a keg and ice bottles. I did a steam beer with Wyeast 2112 at 58 degrees and it came out quite good. My cooler was able to hold between 55-60F pretty well I even had to cut back on how many ice bottles I was putting in because it tried dipping lower on me a few times. You can basically rig something like that up in anything that's both insulated and large enough for your fermenter. My problem like yours is I don't have any place to truly cold lager anything.
I'd vote for the steam beer but if you have US-05 I've made a couple really nice blonde ales with it. Basically just 2-row malt, and whatever hops you prefer, I like what Northern Brewer hops bring to it but American C hops will work just fine too. It's basic but super drinkable and has mass appeal. I have a co-worker that only drinks pale lagers who raved about it. Also it's a great style to fruit if that's your thing. It's also a good style if your looking for repeatability. It's the style I used to dial in my equipment, I brewed 3 straight of it.
I also think a brown ale or Kolsch might be enjoyable for you too
 
Rockhead said:
Helles sounds great. English bitter as well, along with an amber or brown. Might hold off on stouts and porters for now, although they will make my longer list.
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I created this ESB recipe based on David Heath's You Tube video on brewing an ESB. I've only brewed it once but, it immediately became my favorite. The only "special" ingredient is the Lyle's Golden Syrup. It gives mild but detectable butterscotch/caramel flavor. I found it locally at World Market, but I think any shop that stocks UK food items would have it. If that fails there's always Amazon.

Also, @Josh Hughes has brewed a version he likes that he got out of BYO magazine.
 
Great ideas. Many thanks!

Liking the California Common (Anchor Steam), ESB (David Heath), English Mild (Newkie - although splitting the Wort?), Belgian Pale Ale (@Bubba Wade how does this differ from your farmhouse?), Czech Dark Lager (Shady Bo) and American Ale (Bee Cave or Sierra Nevada).

Have an insulated box, it’s just not super precise and needs ice infusions, so it sounds like “true” lagering is out but steam beers and pseudo-lagering might work with the right yeast.

Now, where to start...
 
Rockhead said:
Belgian Pale Ale (@Bubba Wade how does this differ from your farmhouse?),
.
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I make the farmhouse ale with Saison yeast and use flaked corn to lighten the body.

The Belgian Pale Ale uses a traditional Belgian yeast and is made darker and a bit sweeter with the use of Special B malt.

Anyway, these are my takes on these styles.
 
Will shoot for Sierra Nevada Clone #1, using this modified recipe. Constructive criticism would be great.
 
Late to the game but everything I brew fits your description. English bitter is pretty easy and quick. Adjust the level of crystal and you get something more akin to a brown. Drop the base and you get something more akin to a mild. Obviously style arguments can result from this comment as it’s not 100% accurate lol. But Maris Otter, medium crystal and EKG/Fuggles and you got 3-4 lower alcohol, good flavor, low to medium ibu brews. Windsor and Nottingham are great fast dry yeasts. I also like using 34/70 making German lagers. Use Munich and or Vienna and add 20 ibu at 60 and some at 15 and it’s a good easy drinker. Like @Blackmuse says it ferments clean in the 60s.
 
Rockhead said:
They are remarkably similar, aren’t they? Smaller volume on mine, but…
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Trying to do a clone can be very tricky, and instead I like to think of it as a beer "inspired by" the recipe of choice. The recipe that you posted looks like it would make a tasty pale ale for sure. But since SNPA has been around for a long time, there are some very common elements among all "clone" recipes of it, for instance: pale ale base malt, C60 malt to an SRM of ~8 or 9, Magnum bittering addition, perle bitter (sometimes flavor) addition, Cascade flameout hops and/or Cascade dry hops, and a Chico strain of yeast. Here's another example of a SNPA clone recipe (from BYO magazine) that is slightly different from the one I posted earlier, you can hopefully see how similar they are though.

Screenshot_20210708-154458_Chrome.jpg


Using caramel 80 will result in a slightly different beer than using C60, and eliminating the Perle hops will change the final aroma and flavor of the beer as well. Some people don't think that pale malt and Pilsner malt are interchangeable, while others can't perceive a difference in beers brewed with each of those base malts. What ultimately matters is that you're the one paying for ingredients and drinking the beer, so do what you would like :)
 
Thanks @Sunfire96, I think “inspired by” is entirely appropriate. Here is the recipe straight from Sierra Nevada that I was “following”. Pilsner malt is a pretty straightforward swap for the the 2 row, I have 80 instead of 60, so I adjusted the volume to match SRM, and aligned the IBUs and ABV. No mention of Perle or Magnum, only Cascade, but I had thrown in Magnum for the longer boil. Might be wrong, but believe that US Safale 05 is considered an acceptable Cali Common Ale dry yeast.
Haven’t begun, so might yet decide to get 2 row and 60 before I start.
 
Yeah only time I’ve heard of anything but cascade in the SN Pale is in home brew recipes
 
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