BetterBeerBlog

To date, I have only brewed 3 pale ales. The first pale ale was brewed so long ago that I don’t even remember what it tasted like or if it even tasted good. The other two pale ales were the same basic recipe but I used Centennial hops to finish one and Simcoe to finish the other. I don’t think I even got a chance to taste those beers as I brewed them as giveaways for my wedding last year.

Since then, I have had the pleasure of tasting some really extraordinary pale ales such as Firestone Walker’s 31, 21st Amendment’s Bitter American and Speakeasy Pale Ale. The common thread on just about all these beers were an almost intoxicating hop aroma with a smooth, moderately hop bitterness with just enough malt to support. It was then I thought that I’d give the style another chance.

In determining a recipe for this beer, I wanted my pale ale to be very aromatic, bursting with citrus and floral hop aromas to the point of being perfumey. I wanted the hop bitterness to be smooth. I also wanted a lower alcohol beer that I could session. At this point of my life, I am done with brewing high gravity beers for the sake of brewing a high gravity beer. If I wanted to get drunk, it’d be cheaper for me to pick up some cheap vodka, cheap orange juice to be mixed in a cheap, red plastic cup. It was important for me to brew something sessionable but high in flavor.

Here is my ingredient list:

Malt:

• 5 lbs - Cooper DME

Grain:

• 1 lbs - Briess Crystal Malt (10L)

Hops:

• 2 oz - Amarillo (8.9)
• 2 oz - Simcoe (12.0)

Yeast:

• White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP0001)

Extras:

• 1 tablet - Servomyces (Yeast nutrient. I can’t really tell if the stuff works or not but since I bought a pack, I’ll just use it)
• 1/4 teaspoon “Super” Irish moss (Actually a type of seaweed, it is used by brewers as a clarifying agent)

Original Gravity: 1.046 (right at the low end for what is acceptable for the style)

Final Gravity: TBD

Tasting Notes (wort): Pale gold in color with white bubbles. Sweet, cereal-like malt aroma with a grassy hop aroma. The wort has a sweet, cereal flavor with moderately strong hop flavors and a hop bitterness that lingers well into the finish.

As the beer progresses, I will be updating this post with more current information regarding the taste of the beer during it’s various stages of development.

Post Primary Tasting Notes: Gold in color with white bubbles, hazy. Citrus notes, slight floral, slightly grassy? Sweet smelling. Grainy malt, bready flavors. Good hop flavor, moderate hop bitterness, doesn’t last too long in the finish.

Brewing Notes: The hop schedule for this beer was different than the brews I’ve done in the past. I used 1/2 oz Amarillo for the full 60 minute boil. I added another 1/3 Amarillo and 1/3 Simcoe at the 30 minute mark. Then I dumped the rest of it at in the final minute.

This wasn’t the original plan though. I accidentally dumped in more Amarillo than I should have (grabbed the wrong bag) and I used the remaining hops in a late kettle addition when I was supposed to have dry-hopped them. I am not too comfortable with dry hopping just yet.

Another thing I’m doing with this beer is I am attempting to control the fermentation temperature. I have had an extra refrigerator in my garage for some months now and I have finally gotten around to using it as my fermentation control box. I have to remember to be patient with this beer. I have set the temperature control box to about 68° - 70°F so it will be fermenting at about the optimal temperature, maybe a bit on the cool side.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 1:21 am and is filed under Homebrew, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.