GABF 2018

Heading to The Great American Beer Fest (GABF) this year? Visit us at booth HM8 in the Homebrew Marketplace. We’ll be showcasing ingredients and have some brewing related swag for you to take home! If you’re able to attend the Members Only Session on Saturday afternoon, grab a free Gambrinus Honey Malt sample w/American Pale Ale, Three Ways recipe.

 

American Pale Ale, Three Ways
Targets: OG: 1.050       IBU: 40-45       SRM: 6.5         ABV: 5.2%

American pale ale is the style that, directly or indirectly, launched thousands of craft breweries as well as many thousands of craft beer love affairs. It’s a liquid opportunity to reflect on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we might end up.

Here then, are three iterations for a choose-your-own-adventure brew session: a Classic Formulation with a venerable combo of pine and grapefruit from Chinook and Cascade hops; a New Wave version featuring the stanky citrus and mango candy of El Dorado and Azacca; and a Tropical punch bowl of lime, coconut, and peach using Cashmere hops and bolstered with some fruit extract at packaging.

All three start from the same grist of pale malt supported by a small fraction of honey malt and medium crystal, and fermented with a clean American ale strain.

INGREDIENT LIST

 

KEY POINTS

  • Chico or bust. There are a few instances where a particular yeast strain is more or less synonymous with a beer style, and this is one of them. Clean, hop-accentuating, and with a good work ethic in the fermentor, the Chico strain is one of the most-used yeasts in craft and home brewing, particularly for pale ales and IPAs.
  • Specialty malts for color and balance. Domestic pale ale malt gives a nice, neutral base, while around 8% total of Honey malt and a medium-colored crystal malt will give a deep gold color, flavors of sweet caramel and fruit, and counterbalance the rather stiff hop bitterness.
  • Lots of late boil hops, just a bit of dry hops. A good dose of late hops will give us pronounced but not screaming levels of flavor and aroma, backed up with just a modest bit of dry hopping – we don’t want to take a hard left into IPA territory here!
  • Anglicize it. If you want to take this alllll the way back to the source, substitute Maris Otter or Golden Promise for the Rahr pale, replace the hops in the Classic Formulation with Challenger and East Kent Goldings, and use a Whitbread- or London-type ale yeast to create an English pale ale.

 

BREWING

  • Prep
    • Mill the grains, or have it done for you at the shop
  • Mash & Sparge
    • Mash: 152°F for 60’
    • Mashout: 170°F for 5’
    • Sparge and collect wort in boil kettle
  • Boil (60 min)
    • Classic Formulation  
      • T-60: 0.75 oz Chinook
      • T-15: 1 oz Cascade
      • T-0: 1 oz Cascade
      • T-0: Cool the wort and transfer to a sanitized fermentor
    • New Wave Formulation
      • T-60: 0.5 oz Azacca
      • T-5: 1 oz Azacca and 1 oz El Dorado
      • T-0: Cool the wort and transfer to a sanitized fermentor
    • Tropical Formulation
      • T-60: 0.5 oz Magnum
      • T-5: 2.5 oz Cashmere
      • T-0: Cool the wort and transfer to a sanitized fermentor
  • Fermentation and beyond
    • Primary fermentation: 66-68°F for 7-10 days
    • Secondary fermentation: 1-2 weeks
      • Classic Formulation: dry hop with 0.5 oz Cascade for 3-7 days
      • New Wave Formulation: dry hop with 0.5 Azacca for 3-7 days
      • Tropical Formulation: dry hop with 0.5 oz Cashmere for 3-7 days, and add 2-4 oz (or to taste) of chosen fruit extract at packaging
    • Serving: shaker pint, front porch, feet up