Pale Ale

Classification: pale ale, all-grain

Source: Timothy Laatsch (LAATSCH@kbs.msu.edu), HBD Issue #1726, 5/9/95

I just wanted to pass along some comments on the first of a series of pale ales that I'm brewing in an attempt to hone my mashing/brewing technique. This beer came out pretty good and I would only change a couple things.
Beautiful deep golden color, chill haze, medium bodied, mild hop bitterness, very hoppy aroma and flavor (citrusy!), mild malty finish.
I presume the chill haze is to be expected with a single infusion of klages. A brief protein rest might "clear" this up, but I don't want to hurt the body. I would boost the bittering hops a little and slightly decrease the amount and duration of dry-hopping (maybe 0.5 oz for 1 weeks). I also plan to use gelatin for clarification in future batches. The big deficiency from my perspective is maltiness---maybe a half pound of aromatic would make things come alive a little. Any suggestions are welcome.

Note: I have already brewed pale #2 and, of course, I changed too many damned variables at once to determine the predominant influences. Oh well, I have the rest of my life to work out the details. I made some of the changes noted above, substituting toasted malt for aromatic (use what you have), and threw in a half pound of malted wheat just for fun. Mash-in stabilized at 125 F and I immediately heated to rest @ 140 F for 30 min, then on to 156 for 1 hour. Perhaps this brief stint in the protein-rest range will aid in clarification. I also made the classic mistake (read: adventure) of using a different yeast. I bought Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale for an oatmeal stout and then chickened out because I had no 6-row to aid sparging---couldn't let that precious yeast go to waste, so it ended up in pale ale #2. Any ideas what I will end up with here? Brewing in style is over-rated anyway. ;-) The Irish is presently CRANKING away @ 64 F.

Ingredients:

9.0 lbs US 2-row
1.0 lbs 40L crystal
0.5 lbs cara-pils
1.0 oz BC Kent Goldings pellets---60 min
0.5 oz " 40 min
0.5 oz " 20 min
0.5 oz " 5 min
0.5 oz " steep for aroma
1.0 oz " dry-hop, 3 weeks in secondary
Wyeast 1028 London Ale 500-ml starter

Procedure:

Single Infusion
3.5 gallons
65 min @ 68 C (154 F)
Mashout: Infused additional 1.5 qts. Held 10 min @ 76 C (169 F)
Sparge: Recirculated about 15 qts. Collected 6.5 gallons over 1 hour period
Ferment: 1 week primary, 3 week secondary, 20 C (68 F)
Force-carbonated in keg

Specifics:

OG: 1057
FG 1012
IBU: 22.7 (Suds 3.0)