Today I brewed up a 40-liter batch of a relatively simple American Pale Ale. The beer will be served at my friends’ wedding in July, so I aimed for a beer that as many as possible would find enjoyable. This meant a relatively low bitterness, a moderately light body and alcohol content, and a nice hop nose. The malt bill consisted of only Pale Ale, Munich and Carapils malt. I hit a 73% efficiency, which meant that the OG was 1.053. Slightly higher than I had aimed for, but not a big problem. I mashed at 65C, which will hopefully produce quite a light body and dry finish, when fermented with WLP007. We bought a pH-meter recently (Milwaukee MW-102), and this was the first time I used it during a brewday. We have been plagued with some high beer pH values recently, and naturally one cause could be a high mash pH. This was the case, and I had to add a total of 12 g of 80% lactic acid to the mash in order to get the mash pH down to 5.35. The meter seems to have been a really good investment, and hopefully our beers will improve as a result. Post-boil pH was 5.26, which should drop to below 4.5 with a healthy fermentation. I hopped the beer with Chinook, Cascade and Centennial, with a hefty flame-out addition. IBUs should be around 30-35, depending on how much iso-alpha acids were extracted from the flame-out addition. I will dry hop with all three varieties once fermentation slows down. I pitched a 2-litre starter of WLP007, which should leave a dry finish, clear beer, and slight hints of fruit esters to complement the hops. I’m fermenting at 18.5C, for a slightly cleaner finish. I’m really looking forward to sampling this one in a couple of weeks!
Recipe Details
Batch Size |
Boil Time |
IBU |
SRM |
Est. OG |
Est. FG |
ABV |
40 L |
60 min |
36.1 IBUs |
11.1 EBC |
1.053 |
1.011 |
5.4 % |
|
Actuals |
1.053 |
1.01 |
5.6 % |
Style Details
Name |
Cat. |
OG Range |
FG Range |
IBU |
SRM |
Carb |
ABV |
American Pale Ale |
10 A |
1.045 - 1.06 |
1.01 - 1.015 |
30 - 45 |
9.9 - 27.6 |
2.3 - 2.8 |
4.5 - 6.2 % |
Fermentables
Name |
Amount |
% |
Pale Ale (2-row) |
7.5 kg |
78.95 |
Munich II (Weyermann) |
1.5 kg |
15.79 |
Cara-Pils/Dextrine |
500 g |
5.26 |
Hops
Name |
Amount |
Time |
Use |
Form |
Alpha % |
Chinook |
15 g |
65 min |
Boil |
Pellet |
14 |
Chinook |
15 g |
30 min |
Boil |
Pellet |
14 |
Cascade |
50 g |
20 min |
Aroma |
Pellet |
6.5 |
Centennial |
50 g |
20 min |
Aroma |
Pellet |
11 |
Cascade |
50 g |
5 days |
Dry Hop |
Pellet |
5.5 |
Centennial |
50 g |
5 days |
Dry Hop |
Pellet |
10 |
Chinook |
20 g |
0 min |
Dry Hop |
Pellet |
13 |
Miscs
Name |
Amount |
Time |
Use |
Type |
Calcium Chloride |
9.00 g |
60 min |
Mash |
Water Agent |
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) |
9.00 g |
60 min |
Mash |
Water Agent |
Lactic Acid (Mash) |
8.00 ml |
60 min |
Mash |
Water Agent |
Lactic Acid (Sparge) |
3.00 ml |
60 min |
Mash |
Water Agent |
Yeast
Name |
Lab |
Attenuation |
Temperature |
Dry English Ale (WLP007) |
White Labs |
75% |
18.33°C - 21.11°C |
Mash
Step |
Temperature |
Time |
Mash In |
66°C |
60 min |