American Pale Ale *3/16/2011*

[TwoFortySX]

*March 23, 2011 UPDATE*

The airlock slowed to a stop so I decided to test the temperature, gravity and give this beer a taste.

The color is looking very nice.

This is the gravity reading that I took this afternoon. 1.020 @ 70F so corrected it is about 1.021. The final gravity that the recipe listed is 1.015-1.017 but since my starting gravity was a few hundredths high, I am guessing that this is going to finish a slight bit high.

Anyway, the taste..... Since there was a lot of talk about off flavors from this yeast I was really eager to give this a taste. The beer has no off aroma so that's good. There is a slight banana/buttery flavor to the beer, and when I say sight, I mean its so little that I might be imagining it. I figure another week on the yeast then I will rack this to my secondary and dry hop it. I am thinking that dry hopping this beer should help hide the slight off flavors.



Thanks,
Jimmy

 

[jvcjbl]

You calibrated your hydrometer in distilled water at the calibrated temp? This whole time I have been reading .005 high because my hydrometer was/is way off. Just asking cause you said it seemed to be a tad high on final gravity.

Also, congrats on an awesome beer thus far.

*March 23, 2011 UPDATE*

The airlock slowed to a stop so I decided to test the temperature, gravity and give this beer a taste.

The color is looking very nice.

This is the gravity reading that I took this afternoon. 1.020 @ 70F so corrected it is about 1.021. The final gravity that the recipe listed is 1.015-1.017 but since my starting gravity was a few hundredths high, I am guessing that this is going to finish a slight bit high.

Anyway, the taste..... Since there was a lot of talk about off flavors from this yeast I was really eager to give this a taste. The beer has no off aroma so that's good. There is a slight banana/buttery flavor to the beer, and when I say sight, I mean its so little that I might be imagining it. I figure another week on the yeast then I will rack this to my secondary and dry hop it. I am thinking that dry hopping this beer should help hide the slight off flavors.



Thanks,
Jimmy

 

[TwoFortySX]

You calibrated your hydrometer in distilled water at the calibrated temp? This whole time I have been reading .005 high because my hydrometer was/is way off. Just asking cause you said it seemed to be a tad high on final gravity.

Also, congrats on an awesome beer thus far.

I have not calibrated the hydrometer that I used for this brew. I have 3 hydrometers and only 1 of the 3 I took the time to calibrate.

Upon your recommendation I decided to do a quick check with tap water. I found that my hydrometer was .002 off! After temperature correction of the reading, 1.002 at 75F is actually 1.004 at 60F so I have correction of -.004 to apply to my new hydrometer.

Thank you sir. You are a gentleman and a scholar!

 

[commonsenseman]

I calibrated my hydrometer last week too, it was off a couple points as well. I'm guessing a lot of them are. After all, it just looks like they shove the piece of paper in there, can't expect too much for the price.

 

[TwoFortySX]

I checked the gravity today, it was still steady. Its been a little over two days with a constant reading. Normally, I would give it a few more days in the primary but I have two pressing factors. The first is that I am not going to have an opportunity to touch this beer for a while after today. The second is that I need this beer bottled in about 2 weeks because I am tentatively moving across state the middle of next month.

On to the pictures, kind of boring ones!

Sanitizing the carboy, airlock, stopper and nylon bag for dry hopping

I still had some bubbles floating on top which makes me think that it was still working even though the gravity reading was the same. I went ahead and transferred anyway. It can finish in the carboy, no worries. Let me know what you guys have to say about that.

And her resting place for the next couple of weeks!

 

[trevor_b]

In for the end result, looks good so far!

 

[Lynux]

If you taste butter that's diacetyl that needs to be consumed by the yeast. You may have needed a bit more time in primary to clean that up.

Next time pitch cooler; low 60's and I bet you will like the results better.

 

[TwoFortySX]

If you taste butter that's diacetyl that needs to be consumed by the yeast. You may have needed a bit more time in primary to clean that up.

Next time pitch cooler; low 60's and I bet you will like the results better.

Thanks. I didn't know that this yeast was known to produce diacetyl and banana flavors so easily at "normal" pitching and fermenting temps. If I would have known that I would have taken more care to keep the temperature down. Oh Well. You live and you learn. As for keeping it in the primary to help eliminate it, under most circumstances I would have kept the beer in the primary for 2 to 3 week but I am moving in a couple weeks.

Anyway, the buttery flavor is not all that noticeable so I am hoping that dry hopping will help mask it a little bit. If not then I can just let it bottle condition for as long as it needs to. I currently have 4 beers that are bottle conditioning so another one will not hurt. Three of those bottle conditioning beers are doing so because they taste okay but not great. I am hoping time will heal them. The other one is my vanilla coffee porter that has seemed promising through every step thus far and was just bottled a week ago after 3 week in the primary and 2 and half weeks in the secondary! I am still learning so my homebrew is a supplement, for now, to the craft and macro brew that I buy. It helps me have more patience for my beer to properly age.

 

[TwoFortySX]

A quick little update on this beer. Today was the first day that I took the time to check out my beer. I saw krausen and trub with hop flecks floating and settled at the bottom. After staring at the airlock for a little bit I have activity. I guess this shouldn't be a surprise that I have renewed fermentation. Racking to the secondary and dry hopping this beer was premature on my part. If there is a bright side to this the beer will have a chance to clean up some off flavors at the cost of losing some aroma and flavor of the hops.

 

[PVH]

Ironic yeast choice for an "American Pale Ale" with a label featuring the Gadsden flag.

By the way, the WLP005 flocculates like a madman. Only yeast I've had to hit with the whisk to get the starter out after letting it settle in the fridge overnight.

 

[TwoFortySX]

Ironic yeast choice for an "American Pale Ale" with a label featuring the Gadsden flag.

By the way, the WLP005 flocculates like a madman. Only yeast I've had to hit with the whisk to get the starter out after letting it settle in the fridge overnight.

This is my first experience with this yeast. I did not choose it but it was part of the kit that I bought from my LHBS.

I never actually thought about the fact I am making an American style Pale Ale with a British yeast and plan to use a label that will encompass the phrase "dont tread on me". I think I need to rename this beer a synonym of hypocrite. How about Imposter APA? Lol.

 

[PVH]

This is my first experience with this yeast. I did not choose it but it was part of the kit that I bought from my LHBS.

I never actually thought about the fact I am making an American style Pale Ale with a British yeast and plan to use a label that will encompass the phrase "dont tread on me". I think I need to rename this beer a synonym of hypocrite. How about Imposter APA? Lol.

No problem using that yeast, just funny. Then again, it's not as if American Brewers started from scratch and made entirely novel beer.

If you're going for something from revolutionary times, it could be 1783 Ale (end of the war) or something along those lines, since it has American Hops and British yeast living in peace.

Apparently, there is no limit to geeking out on beer.

 

[TwoFortySX]

I had a suggestion of Benedict Arnold APA which I liked. There is nothing more enjoyable then spending time being a beer geek. I first noticed that I had this issue when I was talking hops with a female bartender at a local bar that serves a predominantly craft selection.

 

[kpr121]

Nice post! I like all the pics!

BTW South Hills Brewing rocks! Decent prices on their grain, hops, supplies, etc. I thought their kits were a bit overpriced though.

 

[TwoFortySX]

*4/13/11*

I want to throw a quick update here to let anyone reading this know that I bottled this beer today. Like I mentioned before I racked and dry hopped this beer too early so fermentation did continue in the secondary. I was very surprised at the amount of trub the ended up at the bottom of my carboy. I thought fermentation was further a long that it was, my mistake for using a non-calibrated hydrometer.

There was surely some lost aroma from dry hopping before fermentation was finished although I am not worried about it. The beer still had a very very nice hoppy aroma but wasn't so intense as to burn your nostrils. There were also no off aromas that I could smell so I think the extra time sitting helped.

I didn't take a gravity reading or taste it. I really was not in the mood for beer at the moment. I know, I know. Blasphemy. The color was also a clearer, deeper amber color compared to the sample that I took a picture of. We will see what I have in those bottles in a couple weeks from now. When I open up some of those bottles I will post a picture and make some notes on the taste for everyone.


Thanks for taking the time to read my thread!
- Jimmy