Smokey Pale Ale

[alwilson]

Hi Guys,

I've been dreaming of beer recipes in the shower again, I must stop that at some point.. Maybe after this brew!
I think I want to make a smokey pale ale, almost like a fresh summer ale, with some backdoor bbq memories.

Any suggestions for the grain bill? - 50/50 pale malt and rauchmalt so about 2.5kg of each in a 25l brew?

then I thought 60gms of fuggles for bittering at t-90, and late hopped with first gold for a bit of citrusy 'top freshness'

what do you think?


Alex

[TheMumbler]

Depends on the OG and the aa of the hops obviously. But seems OK, I say give it a go. Then again I made a nearly 100% rauchmalt ale late hopped with bramling cross so what do I know

btw that one tasted vile out of the trial jar but has shaped up OK over time. The smoke and alcohol flavours (it is 7% or so) have muted the blackcurrant from the bramlings which was a good thing. Going from that you may want to go heavy with the flavour/aroma hops if you want to be able to taste them. Of course you will have less smokiness with a 50/50 grain bill, so maybe not...

[alwilson]

Hi TheMumbler.

Thanks for that - how smokey was your 100% rauch? I mean I want to a hint of smoke, I dont want it to taste like a bonfire, I think im aiming for something comparable, a beer version if you will of lagavulin.

[TheMumbler]

It is very smokey but I don't think it is as smokey as Schenkerla (i think they smoke their own) I would think that a 50/50 beer would be pretty smokey. Partly it is going to depend on how strong the other flavours are. If you only want a touch of smoke I'd be tempted to reduce the smoked malt a bit. The really smokey beers certainly aren't to everybody's taste. I find the Shenkerla rauch weissen overly smokey as it to my mind overpowers the weissen yeast flavours but I like the Marzen which has a stronger smokiness. Actually I have been meaning to do a wheat beer with just a hint of smoke but never seem to get around to it. I was thinking about using 500g or so for that. If you are after lagavulin (mmm lagavulin )a bit of peat smoked malt seems like the obvious thing.

I've only ever brewed that one so smoked beer and haven't used the peat smoked malt so I'm guessing as much as you.

[alwilson]

I should probably actually drink a smoked beer to start with to make sure I like it, before I end up with 5 gallons of slops!

But you never see the stuff bottled

[TheMumbler]

I should probably actually drink a smoked beer to start with to make sure I like it, before I end up with 5 gallons of slops![/quote]
Probably a good idea

But you never see the stuff bottled

You can try a bottle of mine if you are anywhere nearby. Maybe start low on the smoked malt (5-10% of grist at a guess) the worst that will happen then is that you don't taste it, which will leave you with a perfectly drinkable bitter.

[alwilson]

Thanks Mumbler, appreciate that offer - I'm in London though?

[TheMumbler]

I'm a fair bit north of you then. Can't you get smoked beer in the big smoke? You used to be able to buy it in one of the pubs here (not sure if they still stock it), although it was pretty pricey.

[alwilson]

Sadly no smoked beer here that I've yet to find. Tried the usual 'ale shops' but nothing.

The world seems to be going mad on brew dog recently, I had their trashy blonde last night, and it was filth. Too much hop. It seems the trend is make the hoppiest beer possible, rather than focus on balance. Shame.

[Invalid Stout]

The last time I had Trashy Blonde I thought it wasn't hoppy enough. Tastes differ.

[alwilson]

I should probably elaborate a bit. Mine was hoppy in a purely bitter way. Took all the moisture out of my tongue. But had very little aroma. A bottle of HogsBack OTT and a Tabechera (from amarcord) later and I could still taste the trashy.

But taste is funny like that.