Taking a crack at a British pale ale to get a handle on maris otter. May also be brewing this to use up some fridge hops.
Recipe: Transatlantic Pale Ale
Calling this Transatlantic Pale Ale since it is utilizing East Kent Goldings from the east side and Chinook from the West.
General Information
| Batch Size | 5 Gal |
| Batch Type | All Grain |
| Expected OG | 55 |
| Actual OG | 54 |
| Expected FG | 17 |
| Actual FG | 14 |
| ABV | 5.25% |
| IBU | 45 |
| Mash | Single Infusion, 60 min, 152°F |
| Boil | 60 min |
Ingredients
Ingredients are per 1 gallon where applicable
| Amount | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| Fermentables | |
| 1.6 lb | Maris Otter |
| 0.7 lb | Crystal Malt 40° L |
| Hops | |
| 0.2 oz | East Kent Goldings 3.9% AA |
| 0.1 oz | Chinook 10.8 % AA** |
| 0.1 oz | Chinook 12.4 % AA** |
| Yeast | |
| 1 packet* | Omega OYL-016 British Ale VIII |
| Yeast Nutrient | |
| Yeast Energizer | |
| Other | |
| ½ tab* | Whirlflocc |
* Note that this should be enough for up to 5 gal. ** The 10.8% AA were hops I already had available, but some extra was needed, hence the inclusion of the 12.4% AA.
Mash
| Type | Single Infusion |
| Sparge | Batch |
| Water/Grist | 1.25 qt/lb |
| Target pH | 5.4 |
| Target Mash Temp | 152°F |
| Grain Temp | 70°F |
| Strike Water Temp | 163°F |
| Actual Mash Temp | 152°F |
| Strike Water Volume (1 gallon batch) | 0.71 gal |
| Sparge Water volume (1 gallon batch) | 1.14 gal |
Strike Water Profile
This and the summer saison will be my first attempts to use local water. There is little calcium from the tap so I’ll be using calcium chloride to add it in, as well as 10% phosphoric acid to drop the pH to the target.
| Ca+2 | Mg+2 | Na+ | Cl- | SO4-2 | Alkalinity | Residual Alkalinity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83.4 | 2.7 | 46.0 | 190.1 | 100.0 | -37.0 | -98.0 |
Just highlighting the clarity gains from running the wort back through the grain bed. I probably ran a few gallons back through, and managed to get a fair amount filtered out.
Boil
Boil Schedule
Values are for 1 gallon batch.
| Time Remaining in Boil | Addition |
|---|---|
| 60 min | 0.1 oz Chinook 10.8% AA |
| 0.04 oz Chinook 12.4% AA | |
| 20 min | 0.06 oz Chinook 12.4% AA |
| 10 min | 0.1 oz East Kent Goldings |
| 5 min | 1/2 tab Whirlfloc* |
| Flameout | 0.1 oz East Kent Goldings |
* Should be sufficient for up to 5 gallons.
Fermentation
This wort is being fermented in the basement, typically hovering around 64°F, with a fermwrap. The fermentation range is 67-71°F to try to get some fruit flavor out of the yeast.
Yeast activity was slow to start, with the first noticeable activity beginning 26 - 30 hours after pitching the yeast. Fermentation was definitely complete after 9 days.
The gravity came out a little lower than expected, but within style.
Carbonation
This was carbonated in the keg at 64°F at 22 PSI. This was supplemented with the rolling method - carbing at 35 PSI for 3-5 minutes while rolling the keg vigorously.
Result
Taste Test 1
This taste test was taken on 6/27/19, 2 days after force carbing the beer in the keg. The keg quickly cooled in a cooler, with the beer hitting a temperature of 47.8°F. The keg had not been cooled long enough to cold crash the beer yet.
Appearance
Light brown, toasty head with mild retention. The liquid is an extremely hazy red-brown.
Aroma
Primarily toffee and some caramel.
Taste
Toffee. A little raisin with herbal earthiness. Slight bite to the finish.
Mouthfeel
Medium body. Slightly acidic. It could probably stand to be carbonated a bit more.
Things to do Better
So far, I’m pretty pleased with this beer. There are a few things I’d like to tweak, some of which I’ve said in other posts.
Efficiency
This brew the original gravity was pretty well nailed, which is great. However, now that that is nailed I’d like to work on raising the efficiency above 65%.
Clarity
The clarity out of the tun is frequently problematic. This time I lowered the water to grist ratio and added rice hulls, but the wort was still pretty hazy and grainy (worked pretty well with the summer saison though). I’ll need to look into tweaking the tun in the future.
Water Experimentation
Just for the heck of it, I’d like to brew this, or a similar beer, with an alternate water profile. This profile seemed to drive a strong malt presence, and I’d be curious how much this would differ of the profile emphasized hops more. It would also be interesting to just take a new recipe and try a couple of water profiles on it simultaneously.