New Pale Ale Tasting
A while back I brewed up a batch of a very good pale ale that used cascade hops for both bittering and flavoring. It was a very tasty pale ale with a super simple recipe that I figured would be easily repeatable, so I decided to use it as a base recipe for trying out different ingredients. I’ve tinkered with things a fair amount, but the model for my base recipe can be found on the homebrewtalk website under poster “EdWort”. Hey, credit to the master!
I definitely wanted to get away from using cascade as my bittering hops. I just don’t like the way it finishes quite enough to make it a part of my stock lineup. Batch #2 in my pale ale experimentation line used galena hops for bittering. I popped the cap on the first bottle last night to a nice strong hisssss.
This beer needs a few more days to round off the carbonation, but I think I’ve found a real winner. It isn’t perfect, but it is getting very close to what I’m looking for.
My stock pale ale needs to be a beer any casual beer drinker can enjoy. It should be an excellent “conversion” brew for BMC drinkers. This one has a good caramel backbone and finishes light, refreshing and almost not bitter. The flavors in the middle are caramel, light summer fruits and some grapefruit. This is damn near exactly what I was going for. I am actually hoping a little more hoppiness will show itself as the carbonation process completes.
What would I change? Well, until I taste it again in a week, I won’t know for sure. I suspect I may need to kick up the bittering hops just a notch. While I want it to be a good “go to” beer for casual beer drinkers, I want to really love it myself. Without a bit more hops character, I’ll like it, but I won’t love it. I may also try to get the alcohol down a smidge - just a little less base malt, which will also increase the caramel flavor possibly a bit as well. I could also possibly use a different yeast for this. This beer clocked in at about 6%. I’d like it closer to 5% for maximum sessionability.
Once I dial it in, I’ll post a recipe. Then it’ll be on to a “stock” IPA. I have an excellent starting point for that brew as well. Mmmmmmmm beeeeeeerrrrrrr
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on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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