Extra pale hopburst ale

[foxbat]

Here's one for those that like their beers pale, dry, fruity and bitter. This is the palest beer I've done yet, the first with the Crisp 'clear choice' extra pale ale malt from geterbrewed and the first to use a hopburst style (no hops before 20 minutes).

The results have been very pleasing. The finished beer is so clear you can read the paper through it and there's a big, big hoppy grapefruit bitterness that I really enjoy.

When brewing a beer this pale be careful with your choice of water and management of pH. In the recipe below the whole volume of water has the salts added then 5l is saved back for a sparge and the 4.2ml lactic acid is added to the remaining mash water.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 6.2 EBC
Estimated IBU: 49.2 IBUs
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                Type         %/IBU         
29.11 l     Tesco Ashbeck                                 Water                   
5.82 g      Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins      Water Agent              
2.91 g      Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins)             Water Agent             
2.91 g      Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 mins)           Water Agent             
4.20 ml     Lactic Acid (Ritchies 60%)                    Water Agent

3.34 kg     Crisp Clear Choice Extra Pale Malt (4.0 EBC)  Grain        90.0 %        
0.19 kg     Wheat Malt (4.8 EBC)                          Grain         5.0 %         
0.19 kg     Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC)                  Grain         5.0 %         
25.00 g     Centennial [9.80 %] - Boil 20.0 min           Hop          18.3 IBUs     
1.00 Items  Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)             Fining                  
16.00 g     Cascade [5.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min              Hop          5.4 IBUs      
10.00 g     Chinook [10.10 %] - Boil 15.0 min             Hop          6.8 IBUs      
18.00 g     Cascade [5.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min              Hop          4.4 IBUs      
12.00 g     Chinook [10.10 %] - Boil 10.0 min             Hop          6.0 IBUs      
26.00 g     Cascade [5.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min               Hop          3.5 IBUs      
18.00 g     Chinook [10.10 %] - Boil 5.0 min              Hop          4.9 IBUs      
1.0 pkg     Dry English Ale (White Labs #WLP007)          Yeast                   

Mash Schedule: BIAB, Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 3.71 kg
----------------------------
Name              Description                             Step Temperat Step Time     
Mash In           Add 24.11 l of water at 69.3 C          66.7 C        60 min        

Sparge: Batch sparge with 1 step of 5l 75.6C water

I added a couple of images to show the clarity and colour of a post-boil sample and the finished pint. The lighting has made the finished pint look darker than it is. It's a pale straw yellow and perfectly clear.

 

[Saisonator]

Can I ask how hard is your water, as I see you have gone down the 100% Ashbeck route?

 

[BeerCat]

Lovely looking beer and i really like chinook and cascade. Did you crash it to get it that clear?

 

[MmmmCitra]

Another question, I also use the Tesco Ashbeck water but with nothing else as I believed it was good for beer, are all the water additions needed, I find the whole 'best water for homebrew' thing really confusing..........??

 

[Saisonator]

Another question, I also use the Tesco Ashbeck water but with nothing else as I believed it was good for beer, are all the water additions needed, I find the whole 'best water for homebrew' thing really confusing..........??

The calcium content in Ashbeck is only about 10 ppm, when it should be an absolute minimum of 50.

 

[MmmmCitra]

The calcium content in Ashbeck is only about 10 ppm, when it should be an absolute minimum of 50.

Aaaahh, ok, so I need to add some gypsum then ???

 

[foxbat]

Can I ask how hard is your water, as I see you have gone down the 100% Ashbeck route?

Very hard. I don't remember the exact ppm, it was well over 200ppm alkalinity. When doing the Salifert test I emptied the whole of the 1ml syringe and had to add more. Basically I was off the scale.

 

[foxbat]

Another question, I also use the Tesco Ashbeck water but with nothing else as I believed it was good for beer, are all the water additions needed, I find the whole 'best water for homebrew' thing really confusing..........??

As already said, Ashbeck is soft water and low in minerals giving a good base for adjustment. You do at least need to bump up the Calcium.

Beersmith calculated the additions to give me the following profile. I was aiming for a 'bitter' SO4:Cl balance.

Ca: 84
SO4: 160
Cl: 60
Mg: 12
Na: 9
HCO3: 25

 

[foxbat]

Lovely looking beer and i really like chinook and cascade. Did you crash it to get it that clear?

No, not in the fermenter anyway and no gelatin. It did get an accidental cold crash in bottles by being out conditioning on my garage shelf during the recent cold snap.

 

[Sandimas]

That looks great. We have a Pale Ale round here that's almost clear, HPA by Wye Valley Brewery.

Maybe a stupid question, but why boil for 60mins when you only add hops in for the last 20mins: why not just boil for 20mins?

 

[foxbat]

That looks great. We have a Pale Ale round here that's almost clear, HPA by Wye Valley Brewery.

I've not had HPA but Wye Valley made one of my favourite ales ever - "Water of Forgetfulness" that I had in a pub in Derbyshire a few years back. I think it was a special because I've never seen it since.

Maybe a stupid question, but why boil for 60mins when you only add hops in for the last 20mins: why not just boil for 20mins?

All my recipes are formulated for 60 mins with regards to target gravity and volume etc. Also the internet seems to say that 60 minutes is needed to drive off DMS from pale malt. I don't know whether that's true or not but better safe than sorry.