After a bit of a hiatus from brewing, and an even longer hiatus from brewing hoppy American styles I decided to get back to basics with a simple Pale Ale. For this recipe I aimed for a beer with some aspects of the classic examples of the style with a little bit of the haziness of more modern pale ales. This recipe was designed largely around using ingredients that I already had on hand for an upcoming doppelbock and hops that are over two years old at this point.
7/31/21
Made a 1L vitality starter with the London Ale III yeast, it seemed to get going almost immediately and was extremely active by the time of pitching. Brewday hit a few snags including the water being cut off to my building (and not running clear for a while after being turned back on) and me adding an extra half gallon by accident so the beer ended up with a lower OG than intended. Due to the extra water I ended up with more wort than would fit in the carboy and still have enough headroom so I saved a small bit of the yeast from the starter and added the last quart or so to that jug. Between the old ingredients and the extra water this one probably won’t be the best beer I’ve brewed in a while but hopefully can still come out enjoyable.
8/1/21
Very active fermentation in both the carboy and the jug that had held the starter and received excess wort.
8/5/21
Airlock activity seems to have stopped but still a large krausen on top of both the carboy and jug. Gravity sample reads 1.008 so it seems to be fully fermented. Considered adding the Nelson now but decided to save them for keg hopping in a few days.
8/20/21
Kegged the beer in the carboy with 2 ounces of Nelson in a stainless steel mesh dry hopper. Taste is alright but the roasted and caramel malts stand out a little too much and the hops are more subdued than I would've liked. This is likely due to age of the hops, the extra water that was added, and the extra week it took to get around to kegging it. Hopefully with carbonation and the keg hops it will become a little brighter.
10/8/21
This one has been interesting as it has transitioned over the 6 weeks on tap. Initially very fruity and hazy the beer has transformed closer to a traditional American pale ale over time. The keg hops, in addition to fading over time, seem to have caused some hop creep as this one has consistently become more carbonated than others set to the same PSI. For a smaller pale ale this one is interesting and satisfying enough to be an everyday drinker, especially as a change of pace from the sours and lagers I’ve also had on tap.
