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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?

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!

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.

Love Beersmith! Good luck with the brew!

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

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?