I’ve been brewing quite a lot, but haven’t posted in a long ass time. Back to it: Pale ale time! I love a good pale ale, one of the first beers that made me fall in love with pale ales was Golden Tuna from Half Acre (now called Tuna session ipa). I would pound 20 oz pints at the taproom and they were fresh, balanced, flavorful, and easy to drink.
Last year I was in Denver for GABF and I went to TRVE brewing and had a pale ale called Scorn. That beer took me back to how I felt drinking Tuna and I wanted to brew something similar – a clean, dry hopped pale ale. I found the recipe for Scorn here, It’s got a clean pilsner malt base, some vienna for sweetness, and some wheat for body and mouthfeel. Since I have lots of hops, I’m switching the combo of citra & mosaic for sabro & cashmere. Let’s gooo!
Scarecrow Pale Ale Recipe
Batch Size
Boil Time
IBU
SRM
Est. OG
Est. FG
ABV
3 gal
60 min
~38.38 IBUs
3.52 SRM
1.053
1.011
5.57 %
Fermentables
Name
Amount
%
Briess Pilsen Malt
4.8 lbs
78.1
Weyermann Barke Vienna
.8 lbs
13
Rahr White Wheat
8.7 oz
8.9
Hops
Name
Amount
Time
Use
Form
Alpha %
Vic Secret
5.9 g
60 min
Boil
pellet
19.6
Sabro
.6 oz
15 min
Whirlpool
pellet
14.5
Sabro
1 oz
3 days
Dry hop
pellet
14.5
Cashmere
2 oz
3 days
Dry hop
pellet
7.2
Yeast
Name
Lab
Attenuation
Temperature
US-05
Safale
78-82%
64-82°F
Mash
Step
Temperature
Time
Mash
151°F
60 min
Water
Calcium
Magnesium
Sodium
Chloride
Sulfate
90
12
16
74
143
Fermentation
Step
Time
Temperature
Primary
TBD
68°F (temp controlled)
Brewed: 3/3/20 | Actual OG: 1.056 | Actual FG: TBD| ABV: TBD
Water: Minneapolis tap water, campden added, 2.2g gypsum, 1.4g calcium chloride, 1.5g epsom salt
I had a really tasty beer with Serrano peppers from Headflyer Brewing, it was crisp, fruity, and full of pepper flavor and aroma with very little to no heat. They describe it as “a combination of light heat from Serrano peppers paired with the citrus backdrop of pineapple” and it was bangin! This reminded me of some habanero peppers I put in vodka to make a tincture a while ago. When using peppers, a lot of people suggest using tinctures so you can start with a little and adjust the flavor\heat. I’ve also heard of using peppers in the boil to get deeper flavor. After some research on how to go about using the peppers, I wanted something easy drinking with nice pepper flavor so I settled on a Jalapeno Pale Ale.
To get the pepper flavor I wanted, I used them in the boil and also made a tincture to dose at kegging. For the boil peppers, I split and roasted them in the oven for about 20 minutes and threw them in the for last 15 minutes of the boil (1 deseeded). I ended up using all of the tincture at kegging to get maximum pepper flavor. Halfway through the keg I threw in a chopped jalapeno I froze in case I needed more. It added some nice spice and fresh pepper flavor. I wanted to use fruity hops, since it paired well in the beer that inspired this recipe so I used El Dorado and Citra hops. I’m quite pleased how this beer came out and it’s all gone as I write this. Check the recipe.
Jalapeño Business Pale Ale
Batch Size
Boil Time
IBU
SRM
Est. OG
Est. FG
ABV
3 gal
60 min
35.15 IBUs
7.32 SRM
1.047
1.010
5.17 %
Fermentables
Name
Amount
%
Pale Ale Malt
4 lbs
72.7
Red Wheat
1 lbs
18.2
Crystal 40L
.3 lbs
5.5
Golden Naked Oats
.2 lbs
3.6
Hops
Name
Amount
Time
Use
Form
Alpha %
El Dorado
3 g
60 min
Boil
pellet
14.4
El Dorado
.5 oz
8 min
Boil
pellet
14.4
Citra
.5 oz
5 min
Boil
pellet
13.1
El Dorado
.5 oz
3 days
Dry hop
pellet
14.4
Citra
.5 oz
3 days
Dry hop
pellet
13.1
Split jalapeños (1 deseeded) before roasting.
Other
Name
Amount
Time
Use
Form
Jalapeño peppers
2 each
15 min
Boil
Spice
Jalapeno tincture
~1.5 oz
0 days
Keg
Spice
Yeast
Name
Lab
Attenuation
Temperature
American Ale Yeast US-05
Fermentis/Safale
74-76%
64°F-82°F
Mash
Step
Temperature
Time
Mash
150°F
60 min
Water
Calcium
Magnesium
Sodium
Chloride
Sulfate
129
2
12
109
151
Fermentation
Step
Time
Temperature
Primary
10 days
Ambient (~68)
Notes
Brewed: 4/4/19 | OG: 1.046 | FG: 1.008 | ABV: 5%
Water: Minneapolis tap water, campden added, 2.5 g gypsum, 2 g calcium chloride
In my early days of brewing I found a post on Homebrewtalk about a Blueberry Oatmeal IPA and I tweaked the recipe a bit and brewed it. Everything was going well until I added fresh blueberries to the secondary and that’s when I got my first infection! Ever since I’ve always used frozen fruit and haven’t had any issues.
I rarely brew the exact same beer twice, but I often make tweaks and brew a similar recipe which brought up the Blueberry Muffin Ale. For this beer I used a base of 2 row, a bunch of oats (malted and flaked), a little Munich malt for some clean maltiness, and added some victory malt for that biscuity, toasy, bready component. I added a dash of maltodextrine for mouthfeel and mosaic hops later in the boil for aroma. I then added 3 lbs of blueberries for 7 days in the secondary and opted out (forgot) the dry hop. It was nice to revisit the idea of this beer and add what I felt the recipe needed. Check it out!
I love enigma hops. Enigma hops are an Australian variety that are descendants of the Swiss Tettnang hop. Their descriptors are “pinot gris, raspberries, red currant, and light tropical fruit.” In the hop spectrum, they’re heavy on the fruit and they’re close to galaxy and vic secret, but lean more toward spice (see pic).
I had my first taste when I got my hands on a fresh can of Other Half‘s Enigma IPA. I loved how the hops were a little spicy, but also really fruity, tropical, and slightly dank. I was then on the search to get some of these hops. At that time, they weren’t easy to get, but I kept searching. I then got my hands on Other Half’s DDH All Enigma Everything and that really showcased the hops juiciness and fruitiness and I was even further hooked! Once I was finally able to get some Enigma hops I brewed an all Enigma IPA and it was bomb. Later I brewed Enigmanilla, with all enigma hops. Now on to the Enigma Oat Coat.
This beer has a simple base of Pale Ale malt and Fawcett Oat malt. I love brewing with oats, and now that I can regularly get oat malt, I’ve been using it quite a bit. I feel it gives the beer a distinct “oat” flavor and does wonders for head retention and body. Hopped exclusively with enigma hops, this has all the fruity, lightly spicy goodness. Check the recipe!
A little while back I brewed and American brown ale (Bobby Brown Ale) and it was really nice. It had chocolate and caramel flavors, but was really clean and drinkable. It’s the season for darker beers and I love a good American brown, so I wanted to revisit and revamp that beer. The BJCP describes a brown ale as “A malty but hoppy beer frequently with chocolate and caramel flavors. The hop flavor and aroma complements and enhances the malt rather than clashing with it.” That’s what I love about brown ales, the balance, the flavors, and the fact that they’re darker, but supremely drinkable.
For the base, I added Maris otter instead of just 2 row. I used Crystal 80 instead of 60, upped the chocolate malt a touch, and added maple syrup in the boil. I wanted to spice it up for the holidays, so i added two cinnamon sticks and some ground allspice, ginger, and nutmeg to the boil. I wanted a silkier mouthfeel so I added some maltodextrin to boost the body. Check the recipe: