For this recipe, I wanted a nice down-the-middle American Pale Ale, to use up some of my hops on hand and also to emphasize the pine/citrus flavors I love. I’ve brewed something in the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale territory before, so this time around I wanted to do something a touch different. I looked in the Craft Beer for the Home Brewer book, where I found the “Capt’n Crompton’s Pale Ale” recipe from Epic Brewing. The reference to Crompton made me think of the famous paleontologist “Fuzz” Crompton, for whom Lanasaurus is named, and then I remembered that this is the junior synonym for Lycorhinus, and there we are with the final name!

The recipe is pretty similar to the original, except I made some minor substitutions for hops (Crystal instead of Mt. Hood, and I upped the Amarillo a little). For the dry hop addition, I used the very latest 2022 Cascade hops from my dad’s bines in South Dakota. They were under two weeks past picking when I added them to the beer!

Lycorhinus Pale Ale

• 6 lb. Finest Pale Ale Malt, Golden Promise (Simpsons)
• 6 lb. 2-row malt (Rahr)
• 0.5 lb. Caramel Munich 60L malt (Briess)
• 0.5 lb. Carapils malt
• 1 oz. Centennial hop pellets (8.1% alpha), 60 minute boil
• 0.5 oz. Crystal hop pellets (4.5% alpha), 30 minute boil
• 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
• 0.5 oz. Amarillo hop pellets (9.5% alpha), 5 minute boil
• 0.5 oz. Centennial hop pellets (8.1% alpha), 5 minute boil
• 1 pkg. American West Coast Ale yeast
• 1 oz. Cascade whole hops, dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

• 1.058 o.g., 1.012 f.g., 6.0% abv, 39 IBU, 7 SRM
• Claremont tap water adjusted to 78 ppm Ca, 21 ppm Mg, 92 ppm Na, 188 ppm SO4, 110 ppm Cl, 30 ppm HCO3
• Full-volume mash, no sparge, at 152° for 60 minutes

Procedure

• I heated 7.25 gallons of water to 158°, adding 6 mL of 88% lactic acid to neutralize the carbonate.
• I adjusted the pH to an estimated 5.35, using 88% lactic acid. I adjusted the mash to 152° for 60 minutes, and then raised the mash to 168° for an additional 10 minutes, all with recirculation.
• After the mash, I pulled the grains. In total, I collected 6.25 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.049, for 64% mash efficiency.
• I added 4 g of gypsum and 4 g of epsom salt, to adjust the water.
• I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops per the recipe. After a 60 minute boil, I turned off the heat and then chilled to ~82°. I transferred to the fermenter, and then chilled in the fermentation chamber to 66° before pitching the yeast.
• Starting gravity was 1.058. I brewed this beer on 3 September 2022, and fermented it at 66°.
• On 17 September 2022, I transferred the beer to the keg, and used 1 oz. of the 2022 South Dakota crop of Cascade to dry hop in a bag. I dry hopped the beer at room temperature for 3 days before removing the hops and carbonating at 34°.
• Final gravity was 1.010, for 6.3% abv.

Tasting

• Appearance
  • Deep gold beer with a slight haze. The medium-sized ivory head is quite persistent.
• Aroma
  • Light citrus hop aroma, with a slight caramel malty note. Clean yeast character.
• Flavor
  • There is a perfect proportion between malt and hops. The overall flavor tilts bitter, but the malt backbone is fantastic, with aspects of bread, bread crust, and a slight hint of caramel. The hops are citrusy, and the fermentation profile is pretty clean.
• Mouthfeel
  • Medium-light body, with a slightly dry finish. Moderate carbonation.
• Would I Brew This Again?
  • Yes! This is a tremendous recipe, and the beer itself has matured into a super nice example of a classic America pale ale. It took a few weeks after kegging for the beer to mature and the haze to settle, but right now it’s a perfect beer. It is incredibly drinkable, and probably one of the best American pale ales I have made.
• Overall
  • 10/10