Freezer Cleaner Pale Ale

I decided to use up random ingredients, and to use up some of my homegrown hops as I still have a LOT in my freezer from last year. I had a "little of this, little of that" so that's why the weird random amounts.

What do you think?

11 gallons

13 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 5 69.2 %
2 lbs Munich I (Weyermann) (7.1 SRM) Grain 6 10.3 %
1 lbs Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 7 5.1 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8 5.1 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 9 2.6 %
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 10 2.6 %
8.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 11 2.6 %
8.0 oz Wheat - White Malt (2.3 SRM) Grain 12 2.6 %

0.75 oz Magnum [11.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min
2.00 oz Chinook (Homegrown) Boil 15.0 min
2.00 oz Cascade (Homegrown) Boil 10.0 min
1.00 oz Cascade (Homegrown) Boil 0.0 min
1.00 oz Chinook (Homegrown) Boil 0.0 min

1.00 oz Cascade (Homegrown) Dry Hop 5.0 Days
1.00 oz Chinook (Homegrown) Dry Hop 5.0 Days

For one 5 gallon fermenter, BRY-97
For the other, Northwest Ale (Wyeast #1332)

I had .5 pound of several different things, as you can see. I need to place a big order again, so I wanted to use up all the leftover small amounts of grain.

I've used Northwest ale a few times and I just don't care for it.

Malticulous said:

I've used Northwest ale a few times and I just don't care for it.

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This is the second time I"ve used it, so I'd be very interested in hearing why you didn't care for it!

I don't "know" this yeast strain at all, but it's too late to change it now because I just pitched!

From everything I've read about northwest, it seems to be a love it or hate it strain. I just finished a simcoe/citra/centennial IPA with it (fermented at 67) and I don't notice any of the "tang" I've seen people mention with it. It is reallllllly fruity, but I guess that's to be expected with 3oz of citra.

It's not jut the tartness but it just seemed 'off.' I kind of got used to it by the time the kegs died, not enough to do it again though.

Malticulous said:

It's not jut the tartness but it just seemed 'off.' I kind of got used to it by the time the kegs died, not enough to do it again though.

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Ah, well, hopefully fermenting it cool will help it be ok! I don't mind some fruitiness, in fact that is why I chose this strain, and I was in a rut with my WLP001 for everything American. I have some Wyeast 1272 but I wanted to try something new. Hopefully it'll be good enough that we don't notice anything off about it. Thanks for the input!

eww hops!

claphamsa said:

eww hops!

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Says the guy who drank two pints of Pliny with me!

Come on over to the dark side. You know you want to.

necessity is the mother of invention, hope it turns out good.

on the yeast comments, I don't like nottingham ale yeast, I can't put my finger on it, but it just tastes "off" to me; different strokes for different folks I suppose.

It seems that most problems with wy1332 and tartness are due to high fermentation temp, inadequate oxygenation, and/or yeast health. I contacted wyeast about this supposed issue some years ago and they mentioned the same thing. I even contacted a brew lab in the UK that deals with top cropping yeasts, regarding fermentation schedules, and they expressed similar sentiments; yeast health, proper oxygenation, low pitch and ferment temps.

On that note, it is worth noting that many English yeasts require more oxygenation than is often used by homebrewers. 8ppm from splashing or an aquarium pump is not going to be enough for many yeast strains; Ringwood, Fullers, and other high flocculators (1332 included).

Lastly, I've had nothing but positive results with this yeast (no tartness) when I've pitched low (60-62F) and kept the temp below 65F. And this is internal temp, the fermentation with this one really gets going.

Thanks for the additional info!

I've had this fermenting at 64, so we'll see how it comes out. I ferment many ale yeast strains at 62-66, with only a very few at 68+ so I've not had issues with excessive fruitiness or tartness due to a high temperature fermentation.

I've noticed that I don't care much for S05 below 65, as it gets weirdly peachy tasting, and I don't ferment it above 68, so I rarely use it due to the limited good results I've had with cooler temperatures. It also takes forever to flocc out, so I prefer out neutral-ish strains for my American beers. I don't use nottingham any more at all- I stopped about 4(?) years ago when then were having production issues and haven't been enticed back.

I'm using 007 in most everything now. I love it. More character than Chico but not too much. It ferments fast in the mid sixties with just my aeration then it drops like rocks. :rockin:

I used the BR-97 only once. I freaked out as it wasn't starting the next day and threw some US-05 in thinking it was a bad batch. Then it took off. I could swear the taste was slightly different, so it may not have been a bad batch of yeast after all. So I'm interested in the flavor differences, which I hope you'll post.

I have never experienced the "peach" flavor you and others ascribe to US-05. It's either a taste bud difference, or it may be that I have VERY soft water and brew mostly light SRM IPAs and Pale Ales with only a touch of minerals added to get pH in line. Or it could be that I started drinking Sierra Nevada Pale (Chico) in the early days and am somewhat stuck on that yeast, or it's hop differences?

At any rate, I'm sure this recipe will turn out good; those yeasts may be both be a good choice for the recipe.

I took a sample today. There is still some krausen remnants, but it seems to be very quiet (still at 64 degrees). The SG is 1.014, and I now raised the temperature to 70 so we'll see if it finishes up. It's gradually going to rise, and just now at 65.

The taste was pretty good. It wasn't tart, nor particularly fruity. I has afraid that all the homegrown hops would cause a grassy flavor, but it isn't grassy at all. It's actually pretty nice at this point.


So.................still cleaning the freezer out before restocking this fall.
I made an American amber today. It was the worst brewday I ever had. My false bottom/stand allowed some grain in, but I couldn't clear it. I had to totally dismantle the MLT and the bottom draining plumbing to clear it. My mash temp dropped to 133 during all that, and I had buckets of the mash sitting around the laundry room (since it was a 10 gallon batch, I didn't have enough containers to hold it all). I'm totally beat- it was far too much like work today to be fun!

I'm just glad that I can sit now and have a nice IPA and rest my weary old bones!