Hoppy Summer Pale Ale

[jimp2003]

Nice one Kev!

Sorry Ian I should have explained that more fully.

[Barley Water]

I also just did what I guess I'd call a summer pale ale. What I was trying to do was to dumb down a Dogfish Head 60 recipe I have which I really like for a contest in August for "quaffing beers" (no high gravity stuff). I was shooting for an O.G. of 1.050 with 40 IBU's bitterness and hop bursted. The grist was all US 2 row with just a touch of amber malt thrown in for just a slight bit of toast, the beer will end up pretty light, just a bit darker than a pils. Used Warrior to bitter and Gallina ('cause Simcoe is currently unavailable, I'll see how that works out) and Amarillo to hop burst. I need to dig around in my little hop collection to see whats in there but I likely will dry hop with a bit of Cascades and Amarillo, maybe 1/2 an ounce each for about 10 days contact time. The beer should end up pretty dry due to having no crystal malt at all in the grist and the fact that I pitched a ton of yeast from a previous fermentation (that beer had a 4 inch head only 2 hours after pitching, the yeast was very keen as you would say) and mashed at only 150F which should give me a fairly fermentable wort. I suspect you guys would call this an IPA but over here, at best it's IPA lite. Anyhow, I am hoping the beer will be refreshing, I personally don't like sweet stuff in the summertime when it's really hot (and we have already hit 104F here in Dallas this year) so a dry, bitter beer should work out pretty well, I guess I'll see what happens. I really like the recipe I have for the IPA but it would be great if this works out since it's nice to have the flavor without the higher alcholol content. I also have had really good luck with low cohumolone hops, hopefully this combination works out well.

[iandiggs]

I'm also somebody who loves a good, really hoppy taste rather than bitterness, so would it be more advisable to steep the amarillo/cascade in the wort after it has been boiled for 90 minutes (at different points), per the above comment. Again, sorry if this is a dumb question. Ian

[alix101]

I made his brew with cascade only , Nottingham yeast.. and what a winner it was:) I didn't last long anyway ... cascade didn't give me the hop hit, like let's say a punk Ipa does s, next time it's amarillo all the way next time .... I'm sure you have a winner here...

[alix101]

I'd also try putting the hops in at 20.. 10.. 5. And flame out ... And perhaps only use the cascade to dry hop

[MattK]

I racked my 100% citra pale ale into secondary yesterday, and it's tasting pretty damn good. Looks like it's around 3.9%, hoppy but not too bitter. I'd've liked to have added some hops to the FV, but had used all the citra. I should have some more arriving on Tuesday so may chuck some into secondary. I was planning to bottle it, but am thinking I may cask it instead, in which case I'll dry hop it. I'm addicted to citra!

[sladeywadey]

I made his brew with cascade only , Nottingham yeast.. and what a winner it was:) I didn't last long anyway ... cascade didn't give me the hop hit, like let's say a punk Ipa does s, next time it's amarillo all the way next time .... I'm sure you have a winner here...

which brew did you make?

[iandiggs]

This is the first all-extract brew i've done and you can really see - and smell - the difference between them and the kits. Amarillo hops smell beautiful. I'm fermenting in my front room, which isn't a particularly high temperature - perhaps about 20 C - do you think this is ok? It's been there about 24 hours now and the fermentation is not that vigorous - a small, uniform layer of froth so far. Is that normal with nottingham yeast at lowish temperatures? (I'm going to dry-hop with cascade once signs of initial fermentation have passed).
It smells absolutely lovely. Just hope my barrel doesn't leak again , like they have the last 2 times (will buy a new one from wilkos).

[jimp2003]

24 hours into the fermentaion is still early days and you have signs of life so I would not worry yet. As long as the wort was at the right temperature range when you pitched the yeast things should pick up soon.

20 C is towards the top of the temp range for Nottingham and some people report getting a banana like flavour if you let the temp get to 22 C or higher so if you are able to keep it at 20 then fine.

I agree with you about the smell of the amarillo - it is fantastic. I bottled my brew on Friday (43 bottles ) and the kitchen was full of hoppy aroma. SWMBO kept complaining about it and I just could not understand it - I swear if I made an essence of amarillo and put it in a pretty bottle she would love it

Jim

[iandiggs]

Thank you Jim. Still, this morning there is only a thin layer of froth on the surface - i have moved the FV into my kitchen where it is a bit cooler which i presume will mean the fermentation will slack off further. If fermentation doesn't become any more vigorous (despite the coller temperature), will it just mean that i have to leave it longer?
Maybe this is just a particular perculiarity of nottingham yeast??
Thanks in advance for any views you might have....