Pale Ale in secondary

[tmurph6]

Hey all, I'm going to be brewing a pale ale next week for a baby shower on memorial day. I know, I'm starting really early, but I just have the itch...

Anyway, I plan on a 2 week primary and 2 month secondary then 4 weeks in the keg for carbing. My instinct tells me that the extended aging of this beer will make it nice and smooth and clear. However, I was curious if there was anything wrong with this approach? I'm also considering dry hopping a week before transferring to the keg...

My recipe:
8 lbs Light LME
.5 lb carafoam
.25 lb Belgian Special B (anyone watch brewing tv and see the episode with worth brewing, I really liked this idea)

.5 oz cascade @ 60
.5 oz cascade @ 45
.5 oz citra @ 15
.5 oz citra @ 10
.5 oz citra @ 5
.5 oz citra @ 0

Maybe dry hop with cascade???

Whirfloc @ 15
Yeast - Wyeast 1272

Topped off to 5.5 gallons, about 35 IBU and 5.2% ABV. I'm going to be doing the late addition of LME method to get better hop utilization out of my partial boil. I'll add the LME at flameout and let it sit for 10 minutes before ice bath.

EDIT: Sorry wrong forum, meant to put this in the beginners forum

 

[cuttsjp]

Honestly, a 5.2% ABV Pale Ale should be drunk fresh (although 8# LME might yield more than just 5.2%), that way you get the freshest hop flavor from it. I would recommend a week or so of primary and two weeks of secondary with dry hopping. Then transfer it to the keg, condition for 7-10 days, and enjoy. That way, you get the freshest hop flavor/aroma possible. At that point, it will have been 4-5 weeks and you should really notice any harsh flavors at all. And if you're worried about clarity, first of all, the whirlfloc will do you well. Second, chilling your beer will help to drop a lot of the yeast out of suspension.

Basically, you could make a batch of this, drink it, and then have time to make another batch for the baby shower.

Good luck!

 

[tmurph6]

I was afraid of this. My problem is, I only have 1 keg which is currently full and I won't be able drink 2 full kegs of beer in time to have a 3rd keg fresh for the baby shower. I'll just drink on the full keg and brew this up in April. I have my lme already, can I shove it in the fridge to keep it fresh?