I’ve had this beer in the keg for a while and I’m just getting around to posting. The idea behind this brew was to get ready for spring with a hoppy pale ale. I brewed this beer around the same time as my Bohemian Pilsner, so both were ready at the same time. I included in the recipe a small percentage of Rye malt. I really like the bready and subtle spicy qualities rye can bring to a beer, however at such a small percentage I’m not sure if it will have an impact.
The recipe (5 gallons):
- 7.0 pounds of Pilsen malt (Weyerman)
- 1.o pound of Rye malt
- 2.0 pounds of Munich Malt – 10L
- 1.0 Carapils
Mashed in at 150°F with 1.3 qts/pound of water for 1 hour. Raised temp to 169°F for a ten minute mashout step and batch sparged as usual. Collected 7.0 gallons of wort and boiled for 90 minutes (to reduce the DMS from the Pilsen malt). Added bittering charge at 60 minutes:
- 1.0 oz of Centennial at 60 minutes (32 IBU)
- 0.5 oz of Centennial at 10 minutes (10 IBU)
- 1.0 oz of Amarillo at 5 minutes (5 IBU)
- 1.0 oz of Cascade at flame out
Chilled wort by whirlpooling to 64°F and pitched about 300 billion yeast cells (Wyeast 1056 – Chico ale).
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OG: 1.050
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Fermented for 1.5 weeks at 67-69°F and racked to keg when finished. Dry-hopped in keg with:
- 1.0 oz of Amarillo
- 1.0 oz of Cascade
Carbonated to 2.4 volumes of CO2.
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Review:
Appearance: Pours a light golden color with a bit of haze coming from the dry-hops. Decent head retention that sticks around to a thin lace.
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Smell: American hops dominate the nose of this beer. Citrusy and floral notes come to mind followed by candy coated tropical fruit. The brew smells great and the dry hop combo of Amarillo and Cascade did their job admirably. There is a soft malt presence, but the hop character takes a front seat.
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Taste: For a pale ale, the hop bitterness is quite assertive and it lingers on the back of tongue. I like it since I’m a hophead but if this went to competition it might seem out of balance to the judges. After a while the malt character shines through with freshly baked bread and slight toast from the Munich malt. There is a spiciness there but its hard to tell if it’s from the hops or the Rye. The beer finishes with low residual sweetness and dry – perfect addition to spring.
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Overall: Love it. Perfect for what I was craving – a simple hoppy pale ale with not much sweetness. I brought some over to my friend’s apartment and this paired very well with spicy empanadas from Empanada Mama (one of the best places in NYC for empanadas). I have to admit I rushed the brew a bit. It was carbed and ready to drink after two weeks of fermentation. The beer is MUCH better about a month and two weeks after fermentation to allow the dry-hop flavor and aroma to meld with the beer.
Isn’t Wyeast 1056 the American Ale Yeast?… anyways, beer sounds good… The last beer is always the best…
Jorge
How To Brew Beer
Hi Jorge,
American ale = Chico ale strain.
Same strain from Sierra Nevada (Chico)