American Pale Ale Aberdeen Brewery - Session Haus Ale (3.5%), AG

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BierMuncher

...My Junk is Ugly...
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jan 17, 2007
Messages
12,440
Reaction score
952
Location
St. Louis, MO
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Nottingham
Yeast Starter
Nope
Batch Size (Gallons)
11
Original Gravity
1.040
Final Gravity
1.013
Boiling Time (Minutes)
70
IBU
19.6
Color
3.8
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
5 Days at 68 Degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
5 Days (with Glelatin) at 68 Degrees
I brewed this a few weeks ago in preparation for a small party at the house. A bunch of the SWMBO’s work friends who have had zero exposure to homebrew were coming over. It was a combination end of summer, back to school (they’re all teachers) BBQ. I whipped up this super easy beer and it was a huge hit. Very lite. Very crisp. Just the right balance of malt and bitterness, low IBU and hop aroma and very reminiscent of a pilsner.

Plus at 3.5%, I felt very comfortable having both taps flowing. I couldn’t wait to brew it again so it’s on deck for this weekend.

If you’re looking for a super easy brew that appeals to all audiences and is a great session ale, this is a can’t miss. If you prefer a hoppier edition, I’d suggest dry hopping an ounce of cascade in the keg or in the secondary.

Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 13.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 3.8 SRM
Session_Haus_Color.jpg
Estimated IBU: 19.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Estimated ABV%: 3.5%

Session-Haus Ale_HopsRatio.jpg

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
14.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.50 oz Simco Hops [12.00%] (60 min)
0.50 oz Pearle [8.00%] (60 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [6.60%] (5 min)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-)


Mash at 153 degrees for 80 minutes.

If you want to do a five gallon batch, simply cut the ingredients in half.

TASTING NOTES: This was a great beer. The SWMBO loves it. Very crisp and low hop aroma. Makes a great simple house beer that any beer lover will like. Great clarity. Good color and nice mild aroma. It comes highly recommended as an AG recipe for someone wanting to brew for a wide audience.

HappyFri_4.jpg
 
After the secondary fermentation how long did you condition this brew and at what temperature. This sounds like a great recipe. I want to try and brew it soon.

Thanks in advance
 
Keith Brown said:
After the secondary fermentation how long did you condition this brew and at what temperature. This sounds like a great recipe. I want to try and brew it soon.

Thanks in advance
Adding unflavored gelatin (2.5 Tsps mixed and dissolved in 1 cup of hot water, buy it at your local grocery store) to the secondary, it will clear up within 3-4 days.

I keg, so I force carb’d at 37 degrees and within days it was drinkable and we tapped the keg for company within a week of kegging.

If you bottle, allow the normal 21 days at 70 degrees to carbonate. This is a light ABV beer, so it is very fast from brew, to glass.

The definition of “fresh” beer.
 
BierMuncher,

I tried this recipe and just had my first taste and it was great (see picture). I followed your directions and it turned out fantastic. This was my first all grain brew session and exceeded my expectations. I have your SWMBO Slayer - Belgian Blonde in the primary now and can't wait to try a mug of it.

Thanks for sharing.

12236-Brew080_thumb.jpg
 
I'm glad you liked it. It's a staple around here.

Seems to be the first one that people line up for when they come over. Nottoo hoppy. Low-moderate ABV%. And it's a great beer for washing down food.
 
BierMuncher said:
I'm glad you liked it. It's a staple around here.

Seems to be the first one that people line up for when they come over. Nottoo hoppy. Low-moderate ABV%. And it's a great beer for washing down food.


You are a savior to me :)

I'm having a Halloween party on 10/27 and I want to have a beer ready. I will be brewing this Saturday, 10/06, (if my equipment comes). I just ordered a Bayou Classic SP10 and will be getting a pot and IC from the homebrew store.

So that leaves me 3 weeks from brew day to party, and this sounds like a perfect fit!!!! And not to hard for my first AG!!! WOOOOT!
 
bigben said:
You are a savior to me :)

I'm having a Halloween party on 10/27 and I want to have a beer ready. I will be brewing this Saturday, 10/06, (if my equipment comes). I just ordered a Bayou Classic SP10 and will be getting a pot and IC from the homebrew store.

So that leaves me 3 weeks from brew day to party, and this sounds like a perfect fit!!!! And not to hard for my first AG!!! WOOOOT!
I see you keg. That's good. Can you get your hands on some unflavored gelatin?

If so:

Dissolve 2 tsps (per five gallon batch) of unflavored gelatin in a cup of water and let sit for 45 minutes. Then heat over stove until almost boiling, or until completely dissolved. Let cool for about 20 minutes. (doesn't have to be completely cooled).

While racking to secondary, about half way through, add the gleatin mix. (No need to agitate any further).

This will greatly enhance the clarity of the beer in the secondary. You should be able to rack to a keg within 2-3 days. Then get the keg chilled and gassed and keep it chilled. You should have enough time to get past the chill haze.

This method is not best for heavy grain bills, but a light beer like this it's great.
 
Yes, I do keg...just started on my last batch.

I have read about using gelatin, but it freaks me out, lol. What happens to it in the beer? Does it all settle to the bottom? What if you transfer it to the keg, is it safe?

I dont think my burner is gonna get here by this weekend, so I may be screwed...we'll see.
 
bigben said:
Yes, I do keg...just started on my last batch.

I have read about using gelatin, but it freaks me out, lol. What happens to it in the beer? Does it all settle to the bottom? What if you transfer it to the keg, is it safe?

I dont think my burner is gonna get here by this weekend, so I may be screwed...we'll see.
It will settle to the bottom of your secondary and any remnants that make it to the keg will settle again, once chilled. It is flavorless and odorless.

Inflavored gelatin is sold with baking goods in the gorcery store. It's ll food grade.
 
I'll take that under consideration when I transfer my Canadian Ale to the secondary on Monday. Thanks!!
 
BierMuncher said:
This method is not best for heavy grain bills, but a light beer like this it's great.

Why should it not be used for larger grain bills?
 
mew said:
Why should it not be used for larger grain bills?
A heavier, more complex grain bill will always do better with a longer settling time...just to let the flavors mellow and meld. ALso gives the yeast some time to clean up after itself after a more robust fermentation.

And by heavy..I mean anything over the 1.055 range.

I'll still add gelatin when the secondary has had time to mature in order to clear the tank.
 
This looks like such a great beer. I'm going to try it this weekend.

I'm kind of nervous about making a low gravity beer though, since I'm a new brewer. Some people have advised me to choose a higher gravity beer for the first batch or two so I have more margin of error should I miss the gravity.

Do you think it would hurt the recipe much if I went to say 8-8.5 of the Pale Malt ? I don't mean to imply that I'd improve on your recipe, I was just thinking it might give me a little more room for error in case I have problems with the gravity.
 
Mutilated1 said:
This looks like such a great beer. I'm going to try it this weekend.

I'm kind of nervous about making a low gravity beer though, since I'm a new brewer. Some people have advised me to choose a higher gravity beer for the first batch or two so I have more margin of error should I miss the gravity.

Do you think it would hurt the recipe much if I went to say 8-8.5 of the Pale Malt ? I don't mean to imply that I'd improve on your recipe, I was just thinking it might give me a little more room for error in case I have problems with the gravity.
By all means...cater any recipe to your liking. I did Edworts Haus ale at 4%. (his lawyer is in touch with my lawyer :D)

Do you use Beersmit or some other program? What you'll want to do is adjust your hops to compensate for the extra grain. Use the chart in the original post to maintain the right hops/grain profile.
 
I didn't realize I would need to adjust my hops to account for the extra grain. :(

I don't really want a higher gravity or higher alcohol, I just want a little wiggle room in case my efficency is not that great when I'm mashing/lautering the grains.

Do you think I might be better off to just stock up on some Pre-Hopped DME just in case I end up way off on the OG, and then stick with the original recipe ?

One of the things that appeals to me about this recipe is that its pretty simple, not a lot of additions and it seems like less room for error. I don't think I want to add extra grain after all if its going to effect the recipe that much.
 
Mutilated1 said:
I didn't realize I would need to adjust my hops to account for the extra grain. :(

I don't really want a higher gravity or higher alcohol, I just want a little wiggle room in case my efficency is not that great when I'm mashing/lautering the grains.

Do you think I might be better off to just stock up on some Pre-Hopped DME just in case I end up way off on the OG, and then stick with the original recipe ?

One of the things that appeals to me about this recipe is that its pretty simple, not a lot of additions and it seems like less room for error. I don't think I want to add extra grain after all if its going to effect the recipe that much.

I’d say go ahead and add your extra grains and don’t worry about the hops ratio then. This isn’t a real hopped up beer anyway. More for the non-hop lover.

Try and stick to keeping it all-grain, but if you have some DME on hand, don’t hesitate to adjust the final (cooled) gravity by boiling up a bit, cooling and adding to the wort.

Think of any recipe as the baseline for your beer. Your process, your technique and your equipment will all contribute some differences to the final product…making it uniquely yours.
 
I've had very good luck with your recipes so far. So, I brewed 5 gals of this one yesterday. I dropped the grain bill a little because I've been getting better than 80% efficiency. Also I changed the aroma hops. I'm a little "burned out" on cascades. (It seems that most of my brews have some cascades/centenial/amarillo.) So, I went with some Kent Goldings that I had on hand for the aroma addition at :05 minutes. I'm not sure how much that will change it from the original.

I ended up with just under 5 gals in the bucket. I tested it and it was 1.044. So I topped it up to 5.5 and that dropped it to 1.040.

I'll let you know how it turns out. The hydro sample tasted very promising.
 
Hey BM. I myself just today was attempting to make my own session APA. I really like this one and since I have a ton of cascades, I think this would be a good try. I've began to notice a trend in some of your recipes being that they're low ABV "session" brews. I want to start doing this. Do you have any advice?
 
Brewing this tomorrow. A few weeks ago I remember looking for a rolling rock/becks/st pauli's girl ale clone and someone suggested someone else should make this and skunk it a little bit in the sun, so that's what I'm gonna try.

Just making 2.5 gallon batch first time through with everything quartered from original recipe. Gonna experiment with skunking times ranging from 0-60 minutes and see what works.
 
turtle said:
Brewing this tomorrow. A few weeks ago I remember looking for a rolling rock/becks/st pauli's girl ale clone and someone suggested someone else should make this and skunk it a little bit in the sun, so that's what I'm gonna try.

Just making 2.5 gallon batch first time through with everything quartered from original recipe. Gonna experiment with skunking times ranging from 0-60 minutes and see what works.

I found that somewhere between 20-40 minutes was the sweet spot, depending on the hop level of the beer. Let us know how it turns out.
 
I almost feel silly asking this, but how would one make an extract version of this, if one were so inclined? So as to sacrifice some flavor and texture for time involved.
 
i would really like to make this beer but cant find simcoe hops in my area, anything that i can use as a substitute?
 
sorefingers23 said:
i would really like to make this beer but cant find simcoe hops in my area, anything that i can use as a substitute?

I did it with Northern brewer and cascade and it turned out great. Im drinking a batch now that I used Citra and its awesome
 
I just finished brewing this one up. I hit 1.050 for my OG, a little high but ill take the extra alcohol. Thanks a lot!
 
BierMuncher, good night!
I've a question to you. Sorry if it's been already asked and I didn't find it in the blog. If I use the gelatyn to clarify (as you say), the number of vial yeast cels remainging in the fermented wort will be able to produce enough gas? I am going to put the beer in bottles using the usual priming method. Tks, greetings from Brasil.
 
I'm looking for a nice little beer like this for the lightweights and the women who aren't really beer drinkers at my upcoming Oktoberfest. By the way, I had some success with that target audience making a slight variant of your Litehaus Wheat.

What I'm pondering is how this would work out with Maris Otter, since that is what I have around and the LHBS is not so local. Would it be pretty close if I use the MO and leave out the Vienna?
 
I am thinking of making this as my first all-grain (and second ever) beer. I would also like to know if MO can be substituted, as American 2-row isn't available.
I know they are different, so if not can anyone suggest a better substitute?
 
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