Pale Ale tasting

More Hard Work

Time to test the Pale Ale I brewed on February 7th. I suppose I should call this an American Pale Ale as it contains all American hops and was brewed to style type 18B (American Pale Ale) according to the Beer Judge Certification Program style guidelines. This is not something I've ever bothered about before but members of my local homebrew group are attempting to brew this style which will then be evaluated by a certified beer judge, so I have made the effort to brew the beer according to the parameters specified, which are:

OG 1.045 - 1.060

FG 1.010 - 1.015

ABV 4.5 - 6.2%

IBU's 30 - 50

SRM 5 - 10 

Fortunately this beer ticks all the boxes (according to Brewer's Friend and my hydrometer readings); 

OG 1.050

FG 1.011

ABV 5.1%

IBU's 46.3

SRM 8

Which is great, but more importantly does it taste good?

Short answer, yes!

The style guidelines state it should be "pale, refreshing and hoppy" which it is, but with a little bit of malty sweetness to balance the bitterness. It's also very clear.

I like this one, I may take more notice of style in the future.

Scottish Pale Ale tasting

First Tasting

After 11 days of bottle conditioning it's time to check the Scottish Pale Ale brewed on Jan 31st.

It's excellent, I am really pleased with this. It is beautifully bitter and full bodied, very smooth, very clear and extremely drinkable despite the strength (5.8%) I might make this again. It's going to be even better after a few more weeks conditioning. I must remember not to drink it all as I am entering it in the Stockport Beer Festival Homebrew Competition, and they want four bottles! 

Update 23/03/2017

Just tasted this again and it's got better. Very crisp clean taste, extremely clear and well carbonated. I find it almost tastes like a strong European lager. The Edinburgh Ale yeast is exceptional.

Altbier tasting

First Tasting

It's time to taste the Altbier I brewed on Jan 24th. It's only been in bottles for 18 days but I think it's time to try it. Although 6-7 weeks conditioning is recommended I'm too impatient to wait that long.

It's smooth and malty, a bit ester-y, but hopefully that will drop out over the next few weeks, and very clear. I actually tipped the bottle right up (forgetting about the sediment) but the yeast remained stuck to the bottom of the bottle. Overall I'm pretty pleased with this, I'll try it again in a couple of weeks.

Bottling - Scottish 100/- Pale Ale

Bottling Day

Once again I have managed to be sufficiently organised to manage some bottling on a brewday. The Scottish Pale Ale I brewed on Jan 31st finished at 1.015 resulting in 5.84% ABV and 72.5% apparent attenuation. This was supposed to match an 1879 recipe from William Younger but my OG was 10 points lower than forecast at 1.060. Fortunately the FG was also 10 points lower and apparent attenuation 10 percentage point higher so the final ABV was an exact match for the historic recipe.

Pale Ale brewday 07/02/2017

Pale Ale brewday 07/02/2017

This is similar to the pale ale I brewed in November 2016, but this time I will bottle it rather than put in the pressure barrel.

Recipe (BIAB):

• Mash for 1 hr at 67°C
• Boil for 60 mins
• Mash water volume 30lt
• Maris Otter 4.4kg
• Carapils 200g
• Crystal malt 70L 200g
• Galena 20g (at start)
• Amarillo 30g (15 mins)
• Amarillo 45g (at end)
• Citra 20g (dry hopped 3 days)
• Irish Moss 1 tsp (15 mins)
• Gervin English Ale Yeast 11g pack

Hopefully I should get 21-22lt in the fermenter.

Results:

I ended up with 23lt in the fermenter and 1.050 OG, exactly as predicted! Hopefully I 'll get a final gravity reading of 1.012 giving 5% ABV.

Update 15/02/17

Actual FG was 1.011, so ABV = 5.1% and attenuation = 78%.
Final bottle count was 42 x 500ml, should keep me going for a bit!