My local homebrew shop happened to have a pound of African Queen hop pellets during my most recent visit…for those not in the know, this is a variety grown in South Africa, and one of the few that is available (for now) in the United States. Due to some recent hop farm purchases, future South African hop availability is likely to be even tighter than before, so I had to jump at this chance to brew with this variety.

These hops are touted as being on the flavor/aroma end of things, so I wanted a good pale ale recipe that would highlight this. My classic Gondwana Pale Ale seemed like just the ticket! I subbed in a little Vienna malt for the 2-row to help bolster the maltiness. Otherwise, there is very little changed here from my most recent iteration, just the hops.

Gondwana Pale Ale 1.5

• 6.5 lbs. 2-row malt (Rahr Malting Co.)
• 3 lbs. Vienna malt (Great Western Malting Co.)
• 0.5 lb. crystal 40 malt (Great Western Malting Co.)
• 7 oz. Carafoam malt (Weyermann Malting)
• 0.35 oz. Warrior hop pellets (15.8% alpha), 60 minute boil
• 2 oz. African Queen hop pellets (14.5% alpha), 5 minute boil
• 2 oz. African Queen hop pellets (14.5% alpha), dry hop in keg
• 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
• 1 pkg. California Ale yeast (WLP001)

Target Parameters

• Infusion mash to hit target of 152°. Batch sparge.
• Claremont tap water.
• 1.053 o.g., 1.011 f.g., 5.4% abv, 41 IBU, 6 SRM, 5 gallons into fermenter

Procedure

• A few days in advance, I made a yeast starter, cold-crashing it and setting aside some for a future batch.
• On brew day, I mashed in with 3.5 gallons of water at 163°, to hit a 152° mash temperature. The temp had dropped to ~150° after 30 minutes.
• After 60 minutes, I added 1.25 gallons of water at 185°, let sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the first runnings.
• Next, I added 3.5 gallons of water at 185°, let sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the remainder of the wort.
• In total, I collected 6.6 gallons of wort with a gravity of 1.045, for 78% efficiency.
• I started the boil and added everything per the schedule.
• After 60 minutes, I chilled the wort down to 70 degrees, and pitched the yeast. I’ll be fermenting at 66°.
• Starting gravity was 1.053 (right on target!). I brewed this beer on 27 May 2017.
• Final gravity on 7 June 2017 was 1.012, which equates to 5.4% abv. I added the hops to the keg in a mesh bag, and began carbonation and dry-hopping at room temperature.