American Pale Ale Bennington Wedding Ale - A crowd pleaser

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RichBenn

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2009
Messages
931
Reaction score
86
Location
Tahoe
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
US-05
Yeast Starter
Not needed if dry
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5 Gal
Original Gravity
1.051
Final Gravity
1.012
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
43
Color
9.2 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
21 days @ 62 F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
None
Tasting Notes
Well balanced if slightly on the hoppy side, but very well received.
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item % or IBU
4 lbs 10.1 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 48.08 %
4 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) 41.54 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (75.0 SRM) 7.79 %
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) 2.60 %
1.00 oz Centennial [8.70 %] (60 min) 29.0 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [6.00 %] (15 min) 9.9 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [6.00 %] (5 min) 4.0 IBU

1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min)

Mash specifics:
Simple Infusion, 152 degrees F for 1 hr.
I batch sparged these, using a mashout followed by a batch sparge for a total of about 6.9 gallons collected.
Boil for 90 minutes for a final volume in the kettle of about 5.5 gallons.

Ferment with US-05, WPL001 or 1056 @ 62-64 degrees for 3 weeks.

Mash water adjusted to(per TH's spreadsheet):
Ca 84 ppm
Na 8 ppm
Mg 1 ppm (don't worry about Mg)
Cl 85 ppm
So4 50 ppm
CaCO3 59 ppm

Mash + Sparge Water:
Ca 53 ppm
Na 31 ppm
Cl 31 ppm
So4 50 ppm
CaCO3 59 ppm

Don't worry about the exact water, but if you use TH's spreadsheet, get it into a range for a lighter beer and a Choride to Sulfate ratio in the .6 (bitter) range. Oh, and I get a little over 80% brewhouse efficiency, so adjust as necessary for your own system.

After all the time I've spent doing variations of other people's recipes, I thought it was about time I gave back.

I developed this beer for my son's wedding recently. Normally, I like highly hopped IPAs and IIPAs, like variations on Vinnies Pliny the Elder recipe, Eschatz's Bell's Two Hearted Clone, Yooper's Stone Ruination Clone, and enohcs Two Time Award Winning IPA.

But this was a wedding, people have to drive, so a rich Pale Ale was more appropriate and approachable by a larger group of people. I made a couple of kegs in separate batches, and also provided homemade and boutique wine as well. When I arrived to the reception maybe 15 minutes late due to wedding party photos, they were already on the second keg and had hardly touched the wine. Everyone who found out I had brewed it gushed over it, including friends familiar with my more exotic brews. Needless to say, we ran out. But I did manage a few glasses and I gotta say, it's the best Pale Ale I've made, even without dry hopping.

Just goes to show that maybe a good tasting Pale Ale will appeal to many more people than your more exotic brews. This one is now a standard feature in my kegerator.

If you try this beer, please let me know how you liked it. Or maybe I left some detail out. Or maybe you just have a question.

I'll try and post a picture, as well.

--Rich
 
Added mash specifics to original. And here is a pic(note, color is off, it's much darker):

BeerGlass.jpg
 
This beer just took First Place at the Thirsty Boy Homebrew competition in Carson City!

Given that I missed the mash temp by a couple of degrees, and the only competition I've entered this in, I was pleasantly surprised....
 
Brewed tonight to serve at my wedding on June 15th! Thanks for the recipe!
 
tjwor said:
Brewed tonight to serve at my wedding on June 15th! Thanks for the recipe!

Hope you like it! Be sure to let us know how it comes out.

Btw, I dry hopped the version I won first place with - cascades, I think.
 
Made 1 gallon test . Yum. Will brew for buddy's wedding in Oct. Did not dry hop but I think would help overall profile. Will make a full batch soon. Thanks again

ForumRunner_20130428_110923.png
 
Forgot to stop by with a report.

It all got drank, and rather quickly!

I had 5-gallons of this (per recipe) and 5-gallons of a wheat beer, both floated early on and I had many people tell me they really liked this one, and many people tell me the liked the other one.

Thanks for the recipe, most of the people are not craft beer drinkers, and I was worried it may be a touch too hoppy for most, but overall it was well received!
 
tjwor said:
Forgot to stop by with a report.

It all got drank, and rather quickly!

I had 5-gallons of this (per recipe) and 5-gallons of a wheat beer, both floated early on and I had many people tell me they really liked this one, and many people tell me the liked the other one.

Thanks for the recipe, most of the people are not craft beer drinkers, and I was worried it may be a touch too hoppy for most, but overall it was well received!

Glad it worked! I found it really appeals to the type that like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, for example. If they try them side by side, they'll go for this one every time, and maybe even ask about how to get into brewing.
 
Just finishing off the last half glass of this - it was great! Followed your recipe as close as I could - I did sub Chinook for the Centenial, and 6oz 40L + 6 oz 120L crystals for the 12oz 80L :eek:

Many thanks!

TceelRe.jpg
 
I also mix 20, 40, 60, and/or 80 to get the right color quite a bit when I don't have the exact crystal lovibond specified for a recipe. I think the mixes often add a bit more depth than a single one will while producing the same color.

I think most of us are not afraid to mod a good recipe. How did you like the Chinook in there?
 
The Chinook tends towards a grapefruit profile, and it shone through more than I expected. I had some trying to create a brew similar to Rogue's Yellow Snow IPA.

I thought the 60 minute addition would not greatly impact the final flavour profile outside of bitterness but I was wrong. The Cascade was there, but they don't give the 'edge' Chinook does. I tend to use Hallertau and Magnum as my early additions - both very clean hops, but am going to experiment a bit more with some others to see if they contribute more flavors. The Chinook certainly did!
 
The Chinook tends towards a grapefruit profile, and it shone through more than I expected. I had some trying to create a brew similar to Rogue's Yellow Snow IPA.
I usually think of Chinook as Piney and Spicy, not grapefruit. But I have used it a bunch in IPAs with Centennial when Simcoe (grapefruit) wasn't available, to head in Simcoe's direction. So now you have me thinking your grapefruit comments are right on. (I'm getting old, so my tastebuds are not as good as they once were:))

If you like Rogue's Yellow Snow, throw a little Amarillo in, and use a touch of Melanoiden malt. Might get close.

I thought the 60 minute addition would not greatly impact the final flavour profile outside of bitterness but I was wrong. The Cascade was there, but they don't give the 'edge' Chinook does. I tend to use Hallertau and Magnum as my early additions - both very clean hops, but am going to experiment a bit more with some others to see if they contribute more flavors. The Chinook certainly did!
I too have found many hops that aren't supposed to affect flavor much in the boil actually do. Chinook sure does!

Anyway, glad you liked it!
 
This sounds awesome, going to make a batch ASAP. What does your abv usually come out at?

[edit] and congrats on winning some brew comps with it! that's awesome!
 
This sounds awesome, going to make a batch ASAP. What does your abv usually come out at?

[edit] and congrats on winning some brew comps with it! that's awesome!
I'll have to check when I'm back to my computer. I have a batch of it almost ready to keg, as I desperately need to stop drinking so many IIPAs:drunk:

Pretty sure it was in the 5% range.
 
That ain't too bad! As you said, good for wedding guests who may need to operate a vehicle in the not too distant future.
 
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1410477966.410934.jpg
Just kegged another batch of this - tried a different yeast (Mangrove jack) and it finished at a higher F.G. than usual. Beersmith says I was under 5%. Not fully carbed yet, but it sure tastes good!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Well, barring catastrophe or small part oversight, I'm going to make this on Saturday. 15 gallon batch is the plan, split three ways with three different yeasts. It's going to be the first run on my Brutus, so wish me luck and I will let you know how it goes!
 
Well, barring catastrophe or small part oversight, I'm going to make this on Saturday. 15 gallon batch is the plan, split three ways with three different yeasts. It's going to be the first run on my Brutus, so wish me luck and I will let you know how it goes!

Great! - wish I could do yeast tests like that (without doing 1 gallon batches). Wishing good thoughts for you to hit your numbers. If it comes out, let us all know if you can perceive any differences.
 
Well, I made it. Post boil OG of only 1.48 and I only got about 12 gallons out of it with a lot of trub at that. And I only pitched two types of yeast due to error on my part. Denny went into the 3 gallon. And bry-05 went into the two 5 gals. No activity yet. I'll keep you posted.

Did you mean US-05 or BRY-97? If BR97, it's a slow starter, in my experience.
 
97. Thank you. And it was indeed haha. I racked them into secondaries on Saturday though and all tasted well. Sitting at 1.025. So looks good so far.

I forgot the fricken WhirFloc in this past weekends brew though haha; juggling too many balls for one brew day I think.
 
97. Thank you. And it was indeed haha. I racked them into secondaries on Saturday though and all tasted well. Sitting at 1.025. So looks good so far.

I forgot the fricken WhirFloc in this past weekends brew though haha; juggling too many balls for one brew day I think.

This was quite a while ago, but if you can remember, how was the difference between Denny's and BR-97?
 
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