All-tanum Pale Ale

Local home brew shop had a 50% off sale on Ahtanum so i decided to buy a few oz, a whole pound to be exact. Here's the pale ale recipe scheduled for 8/15/12.

Recipe: All-tanum Pale Ale
Brewer: Justin Frank
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Bottling Volume: 5.10 gal
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 6.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 40 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.8 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
9.00 gal Hop Profile Distilled Water 1 -
10.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 2 -
6.00 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 3 -
4.00 g Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 4 -
2.00 g Chalk (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 5 -
1.00 g Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 6 -

10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 7 89.9 %
8.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 8 4.5 %
6.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 9 3.4 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 10 2.2 %

1.00 oz Ahtanum [5.20 %] - First Wort 90.0 min Hop 11 19.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Ahtanum [5.20 %] - Boil 45 min Hop 12 15.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Ahtanum [5.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 13 6.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Ahtanum [5.20 %] - Aroma Steep 20.0 min Hop 15 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 16 -
1.00 oz Ahtanum [5.20 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 17 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 2.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 20.00 qt of water at 164.5 F 156.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (0.11gal, 3.78gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------
Aroma to be added at 140F while chilling to preserve the mycrece oil.

Water Chemistry:

Ca: 123
Mg: 17
Na: 8
So4: 232
Cl: 56
HCO3: 56

Ferment @ 65F.

Just got done with this one earlier today. Ended up 3 points above my predicted SG :rockin: Should be a fantastic tailgating brew. Pics and tasting notes to follow.

Ended up dry hopping with two ounces instead of one, bottling on Friday. I will post pics of the hydrometer reading sample and taste notes.

Beautiful golden copper color. Hit 1.010 which is lower than expected but not unwelcomed.



Tastes very citrusy. Malt balances well touch of sweetness with toasted beady tones. Bitterness is very clean and subtle with a crispness at the end. Nice mineral taste from the water chemistry.

I like ahtanum in light ales that showcase the 'lightness' of the flavor. I like to pair with palisades (lightly) to give pale ales a strong floral with citrus aroma. I think ahtanum is underused in homebrewing. Kudos to you for giving it a go!

I like your water build information. I would like to know how you build water for a less hop forward lighter beer. Do you have a template for something more malty that isn't a porter or stout?

Maybe I should give this hop another go. Last time I tried it I wasn't overly pleased with the characteristics. But it could have been an issue with the grain bill as it was when I was still trying to nail down my standard recipe for a pale. I've heard enough good things about it that it sounds like I should give it a second chance.

Any suggested hops to pair with it? I saw someone mention Palisades (a hop I know I'm not overly fond of), but was wondering if anyone else had some pairing suggestions.

Generally Chlorides will let the maltiness shine through, combo that with a yeast that doesn't accentuate the hoppiness and youre golden. A hoppy brew is usually 4-1 sulfur to chlorides, so make that 2-1 and it should be a nice malt forward brew.

Gduck said:

Any suggested hops to pair with it? I saw someone mention Palisades (a hop I know I'm not overly fond of), but was wondering if anyone else had some pairing suggestions.

Click to expand...

Honestly i've been a big user of big oily, dank, musky hops until now. After i started using sterling i have gained an appreciation for the lighter hops in life
This was merely a taste from the fermenter, i assume the taste will only get better from here. I really enjoy this grain bill, perfect sweetness and maltiness with slight toastines. I will be conducting an all galaxy hopped pale with this grain bill in the future.

I've used Ahtanum to finish classic pale ales but blended Palisade's floral character with Ahtahnum's citrus character in this one:

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
10 lbs Pale Ale Malt (Breiss) (4.0 SRM) Grain 86.96 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 13.04 %
0.40 oz Columbus - HOH [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 18.2 IBU
0.75 oz Ahtanum - HOH [4.50 %] (20 min) Hops 6.6 IBU
0.75 oz Palisades - HOH [8.00 %] (20 min) Hops 11.8 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade - HOH [4.70 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
0.75 oz Ahtanum - HOH [4.50 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
0.25 oz Palisades - HOH [8.00 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
1 Pkgs Dry English Ale (White Labs #WLP007) Yeast-Ale

Some people liked the floral, some didn't. I thought it was pretty interesting and elegant.

Thats alot of crystal! No complaints of the sweetness? I love palisade though, nice blend with the ahtanum, maybe a fruitier hop like crystal and a spicy hop like sterling may blend well with this hop to complete the overall hop taste experience. Interesting use of columbus, in my experience it has been a very dank hop, id use maybe horizon or another low Co-Humulone hop to ensure a clean bitterness as not to interfere with the delicateness of the other hops. I do love me some columbus/tomahawk/zeus though!

Ha, the bottom of the fermenter with all the yeast, break, and dry hop smelled like an orange rind. Damn i hope this comes through in the final product.

Regarding the crystal - WLP007 is a badass at took it to 1.015. It still seemed dry to me. Columbus was what I had on hand to bitter with. I would rather have used magnum or warrior, but thats what I had. Keep us posted.

It's been two weeks since I bottled this one, figured I would fridge it and try it out.

Looks good! How did it taste?

Pretty good, nice soft malt character and good crisp clean bitterness. I would eliminate the 45 minute and add more from 20-5 minute tho. It's lacking in the hop flavor department. Great citrus smell on the nose. I would like to cold condition this one for a few weeks then I'll post again, I'm sure it will change even more.

Well all opinions have been assessed an the major consensus is great! Most people love the well rounded hop bitterness and the citrus edge, crisp and clean, only complain was a grassy note, probably from the use of old hops. Everyone loved the malt balance, perfect sweetness with malty body, bready, soft and smooth. I'll be making a similar beer using the hop bursting technique, stay tuned.

Hmmmm. I have four ounces of ahtanum pellets in the freezer. I was going to make something like a Stone APA, but you've got me rethinking that.

I think those hops are going to be moved to the front of the freezer, while I think about my plans. Thanks for sharing the photos!

The fresher the better, as with any hops, is best. I kind of kick myself for buying up so many packs, I should have known they wouldn't be top quality. But if I got good results with less than perfect ingredients I'm sure the results will be phenomenal with fresher ones.