The many faces of the Pale Ale

Ah, the diversity of beer is such a wonderful thing. Most of the time when I reach for a beer I want something with substance and weight with a big flavor profile I can really sink my teeth into. Other times a more session-able highly quaff-able ale fits the bill. Seeing as I've been focusing on big beers lately (two quads back to back!) I decided I should have a highly drinkable beer on tap when I feel like an easier going refreshment.

Such a seemingly simple task actually turned into a bit of a conundrum. I've been meaning to make a good lightly hoppy crisp American Pale Ale, but I also really love Belgian Pale Ales. The solution? Brew them both! With a little help from another homebrewer I was sure I could pull it off without killing myself. But first, to the drawing board.

 For my American Pale Ale I wanted to build off another APA I did that I thought was pretty good, but a first draft and needed some work. I wanted something with a good malt presence but still light bodied and well attenuated, with a fair amount of bitterness and a good hop flavor/aroma. Balanced malt/bitterness/hop character and easy drinking is the name of the game here. My main inspiration for this style of beer is the Deschutes Red Chair NWPA. Pick this one up, its tasty!

 

For my Belgian Pale Ale I already had a pretty solid recipe I had brewed previously and already had a few things in mind for tweaking it. Mostly it was to see what the Allagash yeast I had cultured up for my Golden Quad would do in a lighter beer. I really dig the spice/ester character and thought these characters would be fantastic in a Belgian Pale Ale. The malt bill is more or less the same as some peoples attempts at a De Koninck clone. The original beer is hit or miss in terms of getting a good bottle in my experience, but its a solid example of a light tasty Belgian Pale Ale. Mine with its higher attenuation would probably be more similar to the Corsendonk Pale Ale, which is another favorite of mine.

For the brewday I got a fellow homebrewing buddy to come over so we could run some extra equipment and increase the brewing throughput to get the double brew day done. It was a brutal day but two batches from making water to cleanup in 8.5 hours isn't too shabby. I also got to break in my new 40-plate heat exchanger which did a magnificent job cooling, under 10 minutes actually. Money WELL spent!

Recipes, Brewing  and Tasting notes

Recipe: The Rabbit Batch2

Style: Belgian Pale Ale

Recipe Specifications
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Batch Size: 5.50 gal     
Boil Size: 6.89 gal
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 8.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 23.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU     
9.00 lb       Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM)             Grain        80.00 %      
0.75 lb       Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM)                Grain        6.67 %       
0.50 lb       Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)                       Grain        4.44 %       
0.50 lb       Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)                       Grain        4.44 %       
0.25 lb       Aromatic Malt  (20.0 SRM)                  Grain        2.22 %       
0.25 lb       Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)               Grain        2.22 %       
1.00 oz       Styrian Goldings [4.10 %]  (60 min)       Hops         13.5 IBU     
1.00 oz       Styrian Goldings [4.10 %]  (30 min)       Hops         10.4 IBU     
1 Pkgs        Tripel Reserve (Allagash) [Cultured]      Yeast-Ale                 


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
60 min        Mash In            Add 20.00 qt of water at 165.3 F    152.0 F      

Fermentation Schedule: 2 weeks at indoor room temp.

Indoors around 67f. Observed 72f fermentation temps, VERY vigorous ferment. Looks like it finished after day 5, I left it in for a few more days to clean up before moving it into the chest freezer on day 13 to drop the yeast out. This Allagash yeast does not seem to be a good floccutator. Got 86% attenuation or 6% ABV on the button! Attenuation is similar to my other experiences with this yeast, its aggressive!

Brew day notes: Started with this recipe due to the short boil time. Hit mash temps pretty solidly and got 75% attenuation, which was directly on mark. Yay! Wort smells fantastic! The new plate chiller did a pretty good job just off the water from the garden hose. About 18-20 minutes. The water coming out wasn't very warm and so I slowed down the water going out of the garden hose to reduce water consumption.

The Rabbit Batch 2 Belgian Pale Ale Tasting

Appearance: A bit of a cloudy dark gold color that I'm sure will clarify with time. Voluptuous satiny smooth white head that leaves good lacing and maintains a small head throughout the experience.

Aroma: Fruity and spicey esters. Fruit is like a light strawberry minus the tartness, spice is like a hint of soft lavender. In the background a little bit of Belgian-y malt sweetness makes it way through. Very nice!

Flavor: Again the light strawberry fruit and lavender spicey esters dominate, but are very soft and smooth. Some malt sweetness present, low bitterness and no hop character. Hints of biscuit pop in along with some smooth oatiness. Nice, pleasant, subtle but flavorful.

Mouthfeel: The Belgians would definitely say this is "easily digestible" meaning well attenuated and not thick but light and pleasant. The oats and cara-malts leave a little body behind in this highly attenuated beer giving it a nice smoothness.

Overall: This is shaping up into being a really great Belgian Pale Ale! The main showing here is the signature Belgian fruity/spicy esters that are delicious sitting on top of a drinkable Belgian session ale. The flavors blend together subtly and remain delicate but engaging. Really enjoyable!

Notes for tweaks: This Allagash yeast is highly attenuative even at lower fermentation temperatures, would probably be suited towards a Trappist Style beer that is low in specialty malts as they don't get much room to shine here.

Recipe: The Trinity Batch 2

Style: American Pale Ale

Batch Size: 5.50 gal     
Boil Size: 7.62 gal
Estimated OG: 1.043 SG
Estimated Color: 8.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 38.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 53.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU     
10.00 lb      Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)            Grain        80.84 %      
1.50 lb       Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)                Grain        12.13 %      
0.50 lb       Carastan (37.0 SRM)                                Grain        4.04 %       
0.25 lb       Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)                    Grain        2.02 %       
0.12 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain        0.97 %       
0.50 oz       Apollo Pellet [17.50 %]  (90 min)              Hops       34.7 IBU     
0.91 oz       Simcoe Leaf [12.70 %]  (1 min)                Hops         1.8 IBU      
0.94 oz       Citra Leaf [11.00 %]  (1 min)                    Hops         1.7 IBU      
3.5L Starter  Nottingham Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP039) Yeast-Ale                 

0.50 oz       Simcoe [12.70 %]  (Dry Hop 5 days)        Hops
0.50 oz       Citra [11.00 %]  (Dry Hop 5 days)         Hops

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body
60 min        Mash In            Add 21.43 qt of water at 160.4 F    152.0 F 

Fermentation Schedule: In the chest freezer at 60f for 2 weeks. Dry hop after 8 days.

Observed fermentation temperature of 64f for the first few days, I think the chest freezer was a little colder than 60f. It took off quick and finished quick, also probably around day 5. On day 8 added the dry hops. At day 13 I turned the chest freezer down to 35f to crash this beer and also. The Nottingham White Labs tube I had was a little old, so I gave it an extra day on the stirplate at a little bit larger than usual volume. I'm not sure that it needed it because it ripped through this beer and took it down to 1.005, or 85% attenuation. Very dry!

Brewing notes: We kind of rushed the American Pale Ale as my buddy needed to get going and so we only ended up doing about a 30-40 minute mash and did a very short recirculation and sparge. This accounting for fairly low efficiency of about 53%, oops! I cooled this beer with 10g of water with 20lbs of ice in it and I had it under 60f so quick I didn't get an accurate time. It was under 10 minutes. Quite impressive.

The Trinity Batch 2 American Pale Ale Tasting Notes

Appearance: Still a bit cloudy, so it comes off as a dirty gold with light white head that leaves some solid lacing and a nice lasting crown. Good carbonation keeps that crown going.

Aroma: Mild malt character with some fresh baked bread from probably both the malt and the yeast. Fresh grassy citrusy hops. The simcoe is lightly detectable, and the citra is a bit of an afterthought. Good combo.

Flavor: Some light malt sweetness is attached to the fresh bread character, backed by light but present bitterness and some hop flavors. The high attenuation off the yeast really did a number here, but it brought it all into a good balance.

Mouthfeel: Very dry but not biting. Goes down easy, very refreshing.

Overall: Definitely a session beer. The yeast overdid it some and attenuated the hell out of it, but its still pretty good and stands on its own. Not a bad APA.

Notes for tweaks: Get your planned efficiency (duh) and use a less attenuative yeast for things to come into balance better.