Tag Archives: pale ale

MSGC Pale Ale

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I’ve been doing a bunch of brewing for my club’s participation at an upcoming homebrew festival, and so have neglected my own taps! In order to avoid the desperate turn of a vacant tap on the keezer, I cranked out another brew in July, just before I left for a two week stint in the field.

It took a bit of thought to settle on a style. I was first leaning towards a lager of some sort, but also wanted something with a slightly quicker turnaround. Then an IPA popped into my head, but after looking through a few recipes I didn’t find anything that terrible inspirational. Finally, I thumbed through Gordon Strong’s Modern Homebrew Recipes, and ran across his Galaxy Pale Ale. I made a few adjustments for ingredients, and brewed the batch!

Strong’s original recipe was Galaxy hops only, and didn’t have any dry hop addition. I didn’t have enough hops on hand to do both a generous addition of Galaxy as well as a generous dry hop, so I modified the hop bill accordingly. For the hot days of late August, I wanted something tropical and fruity on the palate and the nose. I have a good combo of hops in that realm in the freezer, so put together a combination of Mosaic, Simcoe, Galaxy, and Citra (the MSGC combo of the recipe name). These are four of my favorite hops, and I’m hoping will combine nicely.

As I added up the hops, I realized I didn’t need a bittering addition. Everything will get added at flame-out, with a whirlpool to extract bittering, aroma, and flavor. This is an experiment for me–I’ve never done a beer before with all hop additions after flame-out.

The grain bill is 45% pilsner, 45% 2-row, and 10% Vienna malt. The original recipe called for light Munich instead of Vienna–I don’t have any Munich on-hand, so made this substitution. The flavor will be a bit lighter as a consequence, but I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing.

MSGC Pale Ale

  • 4.5 lbs. Barke pilsner malt (Weyermann)
  • 4.5 lbs. 2-row brewer’s malt, California select (Great Western)
  • 1 lb. Vienna malt (Great Western)
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet (10 minute boil)
  • 1 oz. Citra hop pellets (14.1% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 1 oz. Galaxy hop pellets (18.1% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 1 oz. Mosaic hop pellets (10.9% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (13.6% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 1 pkg. US West Coast Yeast (Mangrove Jack’s M44)
  • 1 oz. Citra hop pellets (14.1% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1 oz. Galaxy hop pellets (18.1% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1 oz. Mosaic hop pellets (10.9% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (13.6% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • Infusion mash to hit target of 142°, 60 minutes, batch sparge.
  • 1.051 o.g., 1.013 f.g., 5.0% abv, 38 IBU, 4 SRM
  • Water built from RO and Claremont tap water to hit final water balance of 80 Ca, 3 Mg, 6 Na, 83 SO4, 68 Cl, 60 HCO3, -9 RA, with 4 mL of 88% lactic acid added to mash to adjust pH.

Procedure

  • I prepared the mash water with 4 g gypsum and 4 g CaCl added to 3.5 gallons of RO water. I heated it to 161°, and mashed into hit a temperature of 151°. I also added 4 mL of 88% lactic acid to the mash, for pH adjustment. The mash temperature was down to 148° after 30 minutes.
  • I created my sparge water from a blend of 2.25 gallons of tap water (with Campden tablet) and 2.5 gallons of RO water. No further adjustments were made. I started the sparge by adding 1.5 gallons of water to the mash, letting sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufing, and collecting the first runnings. I then added 3.25 gallons of sparge water to the mash tun, let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the rest of the runnings.
  • In total, I collected 7 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.041, for 78% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the kettle to a boil. The only thing to add during the boil was the Whirlfloc tablet!
  • After flame-out, I added a big mesh bag with the hops, and stirred for 10 minutes. Then, I chilled to 85°, transferred with aeration, and chilled the wort overnight. Once I had hit my fermentation temperature of 68°, I pitched yeast.
  • I brewed this batch on 16 July 2018, and left it in the primary until kegging. Starting gravity was 1.049.
  • Final gravity was 1.007. I kegged the beer on 9 August 2018, added the dry hops, chilled to 50°, carbonated (with shaking), and put the beer on tap.

 

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Tasting

I did a tasting for this beer on 19 August, after 10 days on tap. It’s pretty excellent–one of the best beers I have done in awhile!

  • The Basics
    • 1.049 s.g., 1.007 f.g., 5.5% abv, 38 IBU, 4 SRM
  • Aroma
    • A nice forward tropical fruit aroma, with a bit of mango, peach, and citrus all melded together. Delicious on the nose!
  • Appearance
    • Light gold color with slight haze. Thin white head that is reasonably persistent.
  • Flavor
    • It’s a fruit explosion! The beer has a gentle but firm bitterness, with flavors of pineapple, passion fruit, mango, and citrus (and just a little bit of “dank” character). The malt character is slightly grainy, with a nice bit of complexity behind that.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-light bodied, with an off-dry finish. Carbonation is moderate.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Absolutely! This is one of the best pale ales I’ve made in a long time. The hop aroma and flavor are amazing, and I love the complexity that the four-hop blend brings to this. Although the beer is paler in color than acceptable for the BJCP style, I dig it in this particular recipe. It really is a nice beer!
  • Overall
    • 10/10

Brew Updates: Palaeotis Pils 1.2 & Old Pine Pale Ale

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I’ve kegged two of my brews in the past week, incluing my German pils and my American pale ale. Here are the details!

  • After 10 days in primary, I kegged Old Pine Pale Ale on 12 December 2017. I added the dry hops at this point, in a bag. Depending on how it works out, I may or may not remove the hops. I force carbonated the keg, and had it on tap by 16 December. The brew is pretty hazy at this point, and should clear up with time. Final gravity was 1.012, down from 1.052, working out to 5.2% abv.
  • My latest iteration of Palaeotis Pils started fermentation on 20 November 2017. It fermented at 50° until 27 November, when I raised the temperature to 54°. I raised the temperature to 66° on 2 December 2017, and cold crashed it on 10 December 2017. I kegged the beer on 16 December 2017. Final gravity was 1.010; with a starting gravity of 1.049, we’re clocking in at 5.1% abv. There is a touch of haze, which I’m going to settle out with time and cold.

Old Pine Pale Ale

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I’ve been doing a lot of IPAs lately, and decided to mix things up a bit with an American pale ale for my next hop-forward beer. The December 2017 issue of Brew Your Own had a clone recipe for Dale’s Pale Ale (by Oskar Blues Brewing), which is one of my favorite beers. I particularly like the malt body with it, so riffed off the recipe to come up with my own version. My other requirement was to focus on piney-type hops, so I bolstered the Cascade core with a hefty Simcoe late addition and dry hop. My hope is to turn this around pretty quickly, because I’m likely going to be out of my Thanksgiving IPA in a matter of days!

Old Pine Pale Ale

  • 9 lbs. California Select 2-row brewer’s malt (Great Western)
  • 1 lb. Golden Promise malt (Simpsons)
  • 0.75 lb. Victory (biscuit) malt (Briess)
  • 3 oz. 80°L caramel malt (Briess)
  • 2 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 2 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (13.6% alpha), 5 minute whirlpool after flame-out
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. California Ale yeast (WLP001), prepared in starter
  • 3 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (13.6% alpha), 5 day dry-hop

Target Parameters

  • Infusion mash to hit target of 152°. Batch sparge.
  • Claremont tap water, with addition of RO water and mineral adjustments to hit target of 98 ppm Ca, 22 ppm Mg, 24 ppm Na, 196 ppm SO4, 48 ppm Cl, and 167 ppm HCO3.
  • 1.055 s.g., 1.012 f.g., 54 IBU, 7 SRM, 5.7% abv

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Procedure

  • Three days in advance of brewing, I prepared a 1.5 L starter (to produce enough yeast for the pitch on this batch as well as to have enough to save for later).
  • For the mash water, I added 2 gallons of RO water to 1.67 gallons of tap water, with mineral additions of 5.9 g gypsum, 0.6 g table salt, 4.8 g epsom salt, and 1.4 g CaCl. I also added 4.5 mL of phosphoric acid (75%) to balance out the pH.
  • I mashed in with 3.67 gallons of the above water at 165°, to hit a mash temperature of 153°. After 50 minutes, I added 1 gallon of tap water at 185°, let sit for another 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the first runnings. I added another 3.6 gallons of tap water at 185°, let sit for 10 minutes, vorlafued, and collected the remainder of the runnings.
  • In total, I collected 6.65 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.045. This equates to 75% efficiency.
  • I brought everything to a boil, adding the various hops and Whirlfloc at the appointed times. After 60 minutes, I added the final hop addition, let sit for 10 minutes, and chilled down to 77° before transferring to the primary fermenter and pitching the yeast.
  • Starting gravity was 1.052, just a touch below the predicted. A slightly more vigorous boil probably would have brought things more into line. Even so, I’m not terribly worried; it’s well within overall parameters.
  • I brewed this beer on 2 December 2017, and am fermenting it at 66°.

Gondwana Pale Ale 1.5

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african_queenMy 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.

Beer Tasting: Good Riddance Pale Ale

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20170218_163101This pale ale has disappeared surprisingly quickly; with only a little bit left in the keg, it’s a good time to do a quick tasting.

  • The Basics
    • O.g. = 1.053; f.g. = 1.011; 5.6% abv; estimated IBU = 41; 7 SRM.
  • Aroma
    • Orange and grapefruit, with a hint of tropical fruit at the background — a nice, medium-strong hop aroma.
  • Appearance
    • When poured, I get a tall, off-white head that is pretty persistent and medium-fine. The beer itself is a burnished gold color and fairly hazy (but not opaque like a NEIPA).
  • Flavor
    • The balance is towards the hops (which have a definite grapefruit character), but the malt character is still pretty nice–slightly grainy.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Bitterness is moderately high, but not over the top. The finish is a touch thinner and drier than I care for, which could be corrected by mashing a degree or two higher or adding in an extra quarter pound of crystal 20. That said, the finish is also nicely balanced between hops and malt, and isn’t puckeringly bitter like some other beers I’ve made.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • This beer was a real surprise! I like it much more than I thought I would. Considering that the main aroma hops were coming up on two years of ago, they held their own really well. I suppose the combination of vacuum seal+deep freeze paid off! This is definitely encouraging for other hops in long-term storage. Overall, the base recipe is another good one to add to my repertoire of American pale ales, with just a few minor modifications for mash temp and hops.
  • Score
    • 7/10