Pale ale with remnants

[beanstalk]

Hi folks,

I have 2kg left of Maris Otter pale malt and 50g of both saaz and cascade in the freezer.

I'd like to make a pale ale, don't mind if its IPA or American Style.

Would it be ok to just use the pale malt with the hops? I only want to make a small batch just as an experiment and to use up the grain before it goes off. Can I also use my PECO boiler to mash and boil that small amount?

I have lots of crystal and choc malt lying around and could add a tiny bit if needs be, but do it need to?

I'm waiting to get us-05 yeast for it but I also want to buy an auto syphon (my last one broke) but none of the online irish distributers can offer me both at the minute! 

[beanstalk]

Maybe another yeast might be suitable? Safale 04?

(edit: just realised these are a lot of questions! sorry!)

[imark]

Go for it. Maris otter on its own is fine for a American pale. Add crystal if you want English style. Maybe just make 10L with so little malt and hop and though.

[DEMPSEY]

Go for it. Maris otter on its own is fine for a American pale. Add crystal if you want English style. Maybe just make 10L with so little malt and hop and though.

+1 here 

[beanstalk]

thanks folks!  sure i might as well hop the heck out of it too.

would there be a massive difference between Us-05 and english ale 04?

[molc]

s04 has more esters, whereas us05 is quite clean. Just comes down to what sort of flavour you want, but both will make a nice ale.

[beanstalk]

I've noticed the us-05 ferments a bit more thoroughly, is this normal? wheras the english ale yeast left me with a higher FG in the last two batches i made. I'm just worried that with only 2kg of pale malt i might be pushing it to get a decent abv, even if it is only 10L i'm aiming for.

Imark mentioning adding crystal for an english style, I have both crystal 80 and 250. any idea which i should add and how much of to get the more english style (i'd like to keep the colour pale)?

Thanks folks,
beanstalk

[imark]

For an english style use 5-10% of the lighter crystal and S04. For american no crystal and US05. With the hops you mention it wont be over hopped. And keep it to 10L for ~5% ABV. This is a user upper right? So don't get too hung up on the details. 

[Qs]

I've noticed the us-05 ferments a bit more thoroughly, is this normal? wheras the english ale yeast left me with a higher FG in the last two batches i made. I'm just worried that with only 2kg of pale malt i might be pushing it to get a decent abv, even if it is only 10L i'm aiming for.

Imark mentioning adding crystal for an english style, I have both crystal 80 and 250. any idea which i should add and how much of to get the more english style (i'd like to keep the colour pale)?

Thanks folks,
beanstalk

Yeah US-05 attenuates better than S-04, if you want to get more alcohol from it I'd go with the 05. It'll ferment very clean if you keep it at 18-19C. If you want to make it taste English though you'll need to use 04. You can just mash at a lower temp to get more attenuation.

When you say 80 and 250 you mean EBC or Lovibond, I'm assuming EBC. You could use either depending on how you want it to turn out. Or you could use a little of both. What sort of IBUs are you expecting with those hops, nothing too strong I'd imagine. If thats the case I'd use a 5-7% of the 80EBC (less if its lovibond) or else it'll get very caramelly.