Matilda Bay Alpha Ale

[scott_mckenzie]

Hi,

I recently tried the Alpha Ale at a food and wine show. I found the taste to be absolutely amazing and wish to replicate it with a home brew.

Does anyone have a receipe to replicate this beautiful beer?

Cheers - Scott

[Oliver]

Here's some edited information on the Alpha Pale Ale from the Matilda Bay website at http://www.matildabay.com.au

Alpha Pale Ale is a north-west pale ale, a style developed in the United States north-west.

It's based on India pale sles and pale ales from England, and has a unique character driven mostly by an assertive bitterness.

"An absolute symphony of herbaceous notes as zesty on the nose as they are on the tongue" - Nick Ryan and Angus Fontaine, Men's Style

"This American-styled Pale Ale is all about big cascade hopped flavour, well-balanced with a big citrus hop aroma, full malt character with a big bitter finish" - Charles Coll, National Liquor News

So, to make a copy, you might want to think about a recipe such as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

See this thread: http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... php?t=2998

Cheers,

Oliver

[James L]

do you think they use super alpha hops or centennial hops?

[Danzar]

Super Alpha.

The Alpha Pale is very similar to Matilda's Little Creatures to be honest.

[DJ]

I want to make this one also...

Looking at doing my first extract with some grain etc etc.. The website mentions...

The Cascade hops (which come from Washington State USA and are not to be confused with the Cascade Brewery in Tasmania) are added to the kettle late in the boil to develop aroma, giving the Alpha Pale Ale its intense and complex hop characters.

To achieve the right balance in the highly hopped Alpha Pale Ale we needed to round it off with a fuller malt character. To do this, we used pale malt with the addition of a small amount of dark crystal to add character and palate weight.

Alpha is fermented with specially selected ale yeast that complements the style, whilst adding another dimension to this big complex beer.


Alcohol: 5.2%
Bitterness: 35 IBU
Colour: 23EBC

Can someone help with an extract recipie?

[Kevnlis]

For a 23L batch I would go:

3 kilos LLME
1 kilo LDME
100g Drak Crystal
20g Super Alpha @ 60 min
20g Cascade @ 20 min

Ferment with US-05 @ 18C.

[DJ]

So thats light liquid and Dark Liquid is it?

Or light liquid and light dry?

I get so confused!!


and as for the dark crystal, what ecactly do I do with it?? I'm new at this bit as I said..

And I guess to get 35IBU's I will need to know the AA% of the hops aswell...

[Kevnlis]

Light Liquid and Light Dry. Those hop additions to a full 25L boil should give you around 35 IBUs if the Cascade is 5.5% and the Super Alpha is 13%.

[DJ]

Thankn Kev...

And do I just steep the crystal?

[Kevnlis]

Thankn Kev...

And do I just steep the crystal?

Yes sorry, add the grain to about 500ml of 72C water for 20-30 min. I usually use my thermos for these small steeps.

[James L]

do you think the NZ super alpha would be ok? or should we try to be a little more authentic and get our hands on the High Super Alpha varieties which are produced in the US such as columbus?

[Kevnlis]

I honestly don't think you will be able to tell the difference since the hop is being boiled for 60 min.

[DJ]

ordered some stuff from Ross yesterday so I'll be making this one soon...

The AA for the hops is a little different but pretty close so we should be ok...


CANT WAIT!

[DJ]

I got this reply from Matilday Bay...

Other than Cascade, Alpha also has Amarillo hops - that gives the fruity aroma!

So I have to throw some Amarillo in there somewhere... Might try a few different versions and see how I go...

[James L]

So after all that... alpha pale ale doesnt even contain super alpha hops? just cascade and amarillo?

[DJ]

seems that way but I'm gonna use the super alpha to get the IBU's up...

Not sure about the combination of Cascade and Amarillo though.. I'm guessing amarillo at about 20mins and a crap load of cascade a 0mins and maybe dry hopped aswell..

[Kevnlis]

My guess is that the beer is made with all late additions of Amarillo and Cascade. Usually within the last 15-20 minutes of the boil. This gives a huge amount of flavour and aroma and stays within an acceptable level of bitterness.

I have not actually had one of these beers, so this is just a guess.

[DJ]

I think this is gonna be my little pet project.. I'll mix it up and see how close I can get it..

Now I have to get a six pack to compare.. but at $20+ I may need to keep it on the quiet from the Minister for War and Finances..

[James L]

I'm picking up what your putting down......

[DJ]

Kegged and bottled this yesterday..


Used
3 kilos LLME
1 kilo LDME
100g Dark Crystal
20g Super Alpha @ 60 min
20g Amarillo @ 20 min
20g Cascade @ 0 mins
20g Cascade Dry hopped in Keg.