sad little blue ghost pale ale
brewed: 20/07/15
pitched: 20/07/15
bottled/kegged: 09/08/15
subsequent batch info: was supposed to be an ipa, but due to grain crush and milling issues, it became a pale ale. will be brewed again soon as an ipa.
ingredients:
78% joe white traditional ale
10% muntons vienna
6% joe white crystal
4% best cara-pils
2% dextrose
15 ibu centennial - 60 mins
18 ibu amarillo - 20 mins
7.2 ibu centennial - 15 mins
7 ibu amarillo - 10 mins
2 ibu centennial - 5 mins
1g/l amarillo - dry hopped for 4 days
1g/l centennial - dry hopped for 4 days
0.5 teaspoon yeast nutrient - 15 mins
1 tablet whirlfloc - 15 mins
11.5gm pack - safale us-05 american ale yeast
process:
batch size: 20l
steps: 2
mash: 67c - 80 mins, 78c - 10 mins
boil: 60 mins
chill method: plate chilled
ferment temp: 17.5c
d-rest: no
chilled: 1c
estimated OG: 1.049
actual OG: 1.049 after dextrose additions
estimated FG: 1.010
actual FG: 1.011
estimated %abv: 5.1
actual %abv: 5.0
ibu: 48
brewing notes:
20/07/15 - well this brew day was a little disappointing. even after using the grainfather, which has really good efficiency, thanks to the same damn reasons (the mill in the shop), my beer was EXTREMELY under-gravity. this meant that rather than making an ipa, i made something more along the lines of a light-ish pale ale. even then, the mash efficiency was terrible so i had to add a bit of dextrose. not bad, but not what i'd hoped. we'll be getting a new mill in the shop soon which should see these issues dealt with. in any case, it should be a lovely and hoppy, citrus-y and fruity pale ale; just the kind i like.
the name comes from some street art i've seen around marrickville, and also links with the ghosts in the pacman video games. for some reason, i tend to use old video games and characters a lot for my beer names!
tasting notes:
03/08/15 - tasted this one over the last few days and so far so good! centennial's piney-ness pars well with the sweeter, fruity notes of amarillo. there is a firm upfront bitterness which subsides into a lovely amarillo flavour. it's just now been dry hopped and will be kegged in coming days. i've removed the nelson sauvin dry hop after using too much of it in a beer in the shop. while i enjoy it, nelson can be a little strong for me when dry hopping.
05/09/15 - so there was always going to be an issue with the sheer amount of crystal malt in this beer when converting it to a pale ale. sadly, it was always a little too sweet for me to consider it too sessionable, but apart from that, it came out quite nice nonetheless. it has just been finished though as it was needed in the shop to make up the kegs for brew classes. many people enjoyed it so i'm pleased. i'll re-brew it soon as an actual ipa.
brew day / beer pictures:
pitched: 20/07/15
bottled/kegged: 09/08/15
subsequent batch info: was supposed to be an ipa, but due to grain crush and milling issues, it became a pale ale. will be brewed again soon as an ipa.
ingredients:
78% joe white traditional ale
10% muntons vienna
6% joe white crystal
4% best cara-pils
2% dextrose
15 ibu centennial - 60 mins
18 ibu amarillo - 20 mins
7.2 ibu centennial - 15 mins
7 ibu amarillo - 10 mins
2 ibu centennial - 5 mins
1g/l amarillo - dry hopped for 4 days
1g/l centennial - dry hopped for 4 days
0.5 teaspoon yeast nutrient - 15 mins
1 tablet whirlfloc - 15 mins
11.5gm pack - safale us-05 american ale yeast
process:
batch size: 20l
steps: 2
mash: 67c - 80 mins, 78c - 10 mins
boil: 60 mins
chill method: plate chilled
ferment temp: 17.5c
d-rest: no
chilled: 1c
estimated OG: 1.049
actual OG: 1.049 after dextrose additions
estimated FG: 1.010
actual FG: 1.011
estimated %abv: 5.1
actual %abv: 5.0
ibu: 48
brewing notes:
20/07/15 - well this brew day was a little disappointing. even after using the grainfather, which has really good efficiency, thanks to the same damn reasons (the mill in the shop), my beer was EXTREMELY under-gravity. this meant that rather than making an ipa, i made something more along the lines of a light-ish pale ale. even then, the mash efficiency was terrible so i had to add a bit of dextrose. not bad, but not what i'd hoped. we'll be getting a new mill in the shop soon which should see these issues dealt with. in any case, it should be a lovely and hoppy, citrus-y and fruity pale ale; just the kind i like.
the name comes from some street art i've seen around marrickville, and also links with the ghosts in the pacman video games. for some reason, i tend to use old video games and characters a lot for my beer names!
tasting notes:
03/08/15 - tasted this one over the last few days and so far so good! centennial's piney-ness pars well with the sweeter, fruity notes of amarillo. there is a firm upfront bitterness which subsides into a lovely amarillo flavour. it's just now been dry hopped and will be kegged in coming days. i've removed the nelson sauvin dry hop after using too much of it in a beer in the shop. while i enjoy it, nelson can be a little strong for me when dry hopping.
05/09/15 - so there was always going to be an issue with the sheer amount of crystal malt in this beer when converting it to a pale ale. sadly, it was always a little too sweet for me to consider it too sessionable, but apart from that, it came out quite nice nonetheless. it has just been finished though as it was needed in the shop to make up the kegs for brew classes. many people enjoyed it so i'm pleased. i'll re-brew it soon as an actual ipa.
brew day / beer pictures: