6lbs 9 oz pale liquid extract
2lbs 4 oz light DME
1lb flaked rye
12 oz 2 row
8 oz honey malt
4 oz munich 20 L
2 oz vienna
Steeped the grains for 30 mins pre-boil @ 155f
Added 1/2 the LME and all of the DME at 60
added the second half of the LME at 30
1.5 oz chinook at 60
1.5 oz bramling cross at 20
0.5 oz citra at 20
0.5 oz bramling cross at 7
0.5 oz chinook at 7
1.5 oz citra at 7
I was actually hoping for a little better attenuation by using the S05. I missed my predicted ABV % by 1% due to keeping the fermenter at the low end of the S05 tolerance. I did that mainly because I wanted very clean flavors from my hops and grains with as few fruity esters as possible. I did get what I was after, a nice hops forward beer with a malty backbone. Next time, I might bump up my brew temp to around 65f instead of 62f.
Anyway, it's beautifully crystal clear with no yeast or chill haze. It drinks very nicely with a great complex hop bite. Up front, it's the combination of chinook grapefruit and earthy black currant flavor from the bramling cross. The aftertaste leaves mostly the lemon/lime rind of citra. The grains are complex with the rye spicyness balanced well by the honey malt sweetness. The munich and vienna give it a little bready pizza crust depth.
The head is a beautiful milky off white and it coats and clings to a pint glass without fading. I think it's a damn fine fall beer and would pair well with football tailgating foods, wings, hot thai food or as a foil for traditional authentic mexican food.
