Beer: Northern Pale Ale

Last year my friends and I were at the brew store. I don't quite remember how it happened but Phil got a whiff of a specific hop called Northern Brewer and his face lit up like a little kid in a candy store. "We must brew a beer with this hop" he says. So, I came up with an extract recipe and we brewed, transferred, and bottled. It was a very drinkable pale ale that was almost an IPA. People that didn't like IPA's seemed to like it because of how light it was.

I entered it into a competition and got some great feedback on it's flaws and weaknesses. Surprisingly it got a 27 out of a 50 which I thought was very modest.

With these improvements, which included adding more hops to balance the overall malt heaviness, I tweaked the recipe. This time it was an all-grain recipe. We were very excited to rebrew this one. 

The new one definitely had way more flavor and was more well rounded than the extract recipe. Success! It is a really good mild West Coast IPA. There is a great grapefruit taste and overall citrusy. But for some reason, I just wasn't satisfied. We're not on the West Coast. I feel like being over here, I wanted to brew the what I call it "New England IPA". This great wave of IPA's coming through here is incredible. 3 notable mentions include: Tree House Brewing Co. - Julius, Hill Farmstead Brewery - Abner, and The Alchemist - Heady Topper. Recipe and brew day coming soon for that one!

So, overall... GREAT IPA. Below will be the recipe so you can give it a shot! It's a solid 6% as well. Cheers, and good luck! 

Original Gravity:

1.065

Final Gravity:

1.018

ABV (standard):

6.19%

IBU (tinseth):

68.03

SRM (morey):

6.81

Fermentables

Amount	Fermentable	PPG	°L	Bill %
11 lb	American - Pale 2-Row	37	1.8	80%
1 lb	American - Vienna	35	4	7.3%
0.5 lb	German - Carapils	35	1.3	3.6%
1 lb	American - Caramel / Crystal 20L	35	20	7.3%
4 oz	American - Smoked Malt	37	5	1.8%
13.75 lb	Total

Hops

Amount	Variety	Type	AA	Use	Time	IBU
1 oz	Northern Brewer	Pellet	7.8	Boil	60 min	29.55
0.5 oz	Cascade	Pellet	7	Boil	30 min	10.19
1 oz	Northern Brewer	Pellet	7.8	Boil	30 min	22.71
0.5 oz	Cascade	Pellet	7	Boil	5 min	2.64
0.5 oz	Northern Brewer	Pellet	7.8	Boil	5 min	2.95
0.5 oz	Northern Brewer	Pellet	7.8	Dry Hop	7 days

Mash Guidelines

Amount	Description	Type	Temp	Time
5.2 gal	To bring up to 152F	Sparge	165 F	60 min
3.6 gal	To bring up to 175F	Sparge	212 F	10 min
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb

Other Ingredients

Amount	Name	Type	Use	Time
1 tsp	Gypsum	Water Agt	Boil	60 min
1 each	Whirfloc	Water Agt	Boil	15 min

Yeast

Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

Attenuation (avg): 72% Flocculation: Medium Optimum Temp: 59 - 75 °F Starter: No Fermentation Temp: 68 °F Pitch Rate: 0.35 (M cells / ml / ° P) 105 B cells required

Notes

$35.20

Bring first mashing in to 175F and let sit in tun to warm it up. Wait 10 minutes or so until it is at 165F and dough in.

Once cooled down, whirlpool wort to seperate hop particles and trub. Let sit for at least an hour COVERED. Let cold break.