Homebrew recipe: Mystery Beer
This one started off as a Little Creatures Bright Ale (LCBA) clone then I realised that the Saaz B hops in LCBA are nothing like Saaz hops which were the only Saazl I had so I decided to explore a little. This batch will be my first real mini-mash with over a kilo worth of grains being used, plus I’ll use late extract addition again in an attempt to make a very pale ale. It follows no known style but maybe this could be the start of a new one.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kilogram tin of pale malt
- 1.5 kilogram tin of wheat malt (approx 40% wheat/60% pale malt)
- 1 kilogram of Vienna malt
- 150 grams of Carapils
- Cascade and Chinook hop pellets
- Salt, gypsum and irish moss
- US05 yeast
Process
Heated 3.5 litres of water to 80 degrees C for the mash water. Added grains in a grain bag which brought the temperature down to just under 70c. Mashed in warm oven (to retain temperature) for sixty minutes. Heated 4 litres of sparge water to 70c and after pouring off the initial wort sparged the grains with the sparge water and soaked for a further ten minutes. Added another two litres of boiling water and brought to the boil. A quarter of a tin of malt extract was added to boost the isomerisation of the hops.
Hops and additives were thrown in as per schedule below:
- 60 minutes – 45 grams of Chinook (AA 11.4%)
- 20 minutes – 30 grams of Cascade (AA 8.7%), 1 teaspoon irish moss, 1.5 teaspoons gypsum, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Flame-out – 30 grams of Cascade (mainly AA 8.7% but mixed in a slightly weaker batch)
After flame-out the remaining extract was added and the fermenter filled up to 22 litres. The yeast used was scooped from the trub of the India Black Ale brewed four weeks earlier. The trub had been stored in the fridge and is hopefully very viable.
Original gravity came in at a very pleasant 1064 and with 77% efficiency (around what’s expected from US05) it should come out at 1015 or a shade under 7% alcohol.
The colour of this brew has turned out exactly as hoped and it looks like it will give LCBA a run for its money in the bright and clear stakes.
Secondary Fermentation
After exactly a week in the primary the SG has dropped to 1014, bang on target. At this point there’s still a lot of suspended yeast but the colour is very bright and it has a slightly malty, a very citrusy grapefruit tang with a slight spice taste at the back of the mouth. I added another 15 grams of Cacade (AA 8.7%) to a hop bag and threw it in the secondary a couple of days after transferring it. It should be in the bottle by next weekend.
One week in the secondary has done little to reduce the suspended yeast chunks. SG has dropped to 1012 so ABV should be 7.3%. The small quantity of dry hops really haven’t affected the subtle nose of this beer but the taste is still very promising. I thought I was drinking something like a Little Creatures Bright Ale so I’m happy as the spirit of the brew was maintained.
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