4 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

The wife is on a girls weekend and it's always good to brew when she won't be inconvenienced. A starter I made this week is sluggishly coming to life but it won't be ready so this was my plan B. I do need some hoppy pale ales so this fits the bill and I had a primary with a British Summer Ale in it and some 1099 at the bottom of it. Thanks to Blkmt2000 and nettles for the direction on this...

Plan B Pale Ale

8.5 lbs Rahr Pale Ale Malt
1.0 lbs White Wheat
2 ounces Crystal 80°L
2 ounces CaraAroma (130-170°L)
.8 ounces Northern Brewer pellets 7.8% for 60 (6.2 AAU, 26 IBU)
1 ounce Saphir pellets 4.6% for 15
1 ounce Santiam pellets 6.3% for 10
1 ounce Santiam pellets 6.3% for 2
1 ounce Glacier pellets 4.5% steeped in the 175° kettle after flameout for 20-30 minutes (hopstand as Blkmt2000 refers to it).
Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale Yeast

OG: 1.054, FG: 1.012, IBU: 49, SRM: 8, ABV: 5.2%

I mashed at 150.2°, single infusion. All filtered tap water with exactly the same amount of sulfate as chlorides (a mere 51ppm). Should be a very pale amber color and it should also be crystal clear because this 1099 flocs like a mofo. Mash pH of 5.3, kettle pH should be around 5.4 or so. I have not used Glacier but picked some up because of a pale ale I tried at a brewpub recently that was delicious. It's supposed to have a nice, pleasing aroma and I think Blkmt2000's suggestion of "hopstanding" it is just the ticket. Cheers.

Edited by Village Taphouse, 25 April 2015 - 07:18 AM.

[Poptop]

Ken, what do you like about adding wheat? I am trying to nail down a simple grist to use with varied crystals for pale ales. I want to make a bulk purchase and am wondering if I need to include wheat.

[Big Nake]

I have always heard that it 'softens' the beer a little bit and that it aids in head formation and stability as well as supports yeast health and even promotes clarity. The addition of the wheat in this beer was a spontaneous reaction to finding out that many commercial pale ales that I have enjoyed locally are made with high percentages of wheat. I was very surprised to find that some of these hoppy, citrusy pale ales were as high as 50% wheat. I used to add a small percentage of wheat to a lot of beers and I don't use it as often anymore. If you make something like an American Wheat where the beer is 50% or so wheat malt, it has a very nice, light & soft character to it. Btw, the one recipe I recently made where the head brewer gave me the recipe was base malt split 50/50 between 2-row and wheat and then CaraVienne (there's your crystal malt) for a bit of color. Someone else said they thought it sounded very similar to Gumballhead (IIRC).

Edited by Village Taphouse, 27 April 2015 - 06:40 AM.

[Poptop]

Thanks Ken. 50/50 scares me and my "orange" igloo. However I can almost taste the softer mouthfeel as you suggest.

[Big Nake]

Thanks Ken. 50/50 scares me and my "orange" igloo. However I can almost taste the softer mouthfeel as you suggest.

I generally don't get a stuck runoff with wheat and this beer I made ran off just fine with that percentage of wheat. I use an SS braid in my MT. The only really bad runoff I had recently was a cream ale with 2 pounds of masa harina in it. That one took fffffooooorrrrreeeeevvvveeeerrrr!