Beer Forum

I am planning to make the Mirror Pond Pale Ale CYBI recipe, which is something like 90% Pale Ale malt, 7% Crystal 75 and 3% Carapils (I need to actually write it down next time I listen). At the same brew session, a friend is interested in using the same grain bill, but using Belgian yeast and appropriate European hops. I think Belgian Pale Ales typically use Pilsener as the base. Has anyone tried a Belgian yeast - maybe WY 1388 and some hallertau/saaz hops with a malty US Pale Ale grain bill? Any reason not to?

Go for it! As you know, american pale ale certainly is not pils malt, but it will make a tasty beer.

Yeah go for it! The Belgian Blonde Ale I made last year used domestic 2-row instead of pilsener and it turned out great. It won a gold medal in the one comp I entered it in. It was a little darker than what it would have been with pilsener and I'm sure the flavor was a bit different, but it was still real good.

Besides, is Sam really going to be able to notice the difference??

Thanks for the positive feedback. Not being a big fan of the Pils taste, I was excited that he wanted to try this out for the Belgian Pale. For the American Pale, I will be doing the Mirror Pond clone recipe with their hop schedule, but switch to either American Ale II or Northwest Ale yeast.

Travisty wrote:Besides, is Sam really going to be able to notice the difference??

Absolutely not.

I have seen award winning recipes with blends of Maris otter and pilsner malt. Haven't tried brewing them yet, but they do sound good!