best ale ever for me!

[forcetwelve]

hey all. i just thought i'd share my latest brew - as it's turned ot the best ever that ive made (brew number 15).

coopers pale ale kit
1kg LDME
200g amber crystal
40g amarillo
40g cascade
safale 56

steeped the crystal for 30min at 70C.
in the meantime brought 3l. water to the boil, in with the LDME for 5 min. added 20g of each hop variety for 30min.
then added the remaining hops for another 10min before flameout.

added the hot stuff to the fermenter with the kit in the bottom and stirred like mad. let cool then pitched yeast. product is a beautiful light amber ale - very easy drinking and fruity.

a friend that brews all grain told me with ales that if you leave them too long the freshness will go from them. i agree - i've almost polished off half the brew and its only been in bottles 3 weeks.

hope this helps someone!

[timmy]

Looks very nice....

If I was to attempt it I'd probably leave the hop additions to later in the boil so you get more aroma and less bitterness, but that's just me. I made an all-extract APA with the same grain/hops as this and it was fantastic except for the excessive bitterness. I'll have to get to brewing APA's again - I have no ales with amarillo left and am having withdrawals....

Cheers,

Tim

[forcetwelve]

ah ok... nice one. this isnt bitter at all... it's only slightly more bitter than a coopers pale ale from the bottle.

next time i might experiment with hopping it later in the boil.
bloody nice!

[rwh]

I'm guessing that the concentrated boil helped reduce the hop utilisation. Hey, I've never heard of amber crystal. Do you know what brand it was?

[forcetwelve]

i got it at grain and grape melbourne. i just asked for amber grain - i'm not sure of the exact name/terminology. gee it smelt good though at steep...

[rwh]

In that case there are three things it could be: Bairds Amber, JW Amber and Weyermann Cara Amber. The first two are base malts and need mashing, the last is amber crystal, as we've been discussing.

[forcetwelve]

update to this recipe that i have been tweaking over the last few months.

i've now got it to:

coopers pale or sparkling ale kit
1kg LDME
250g JW crystal
20g amarillo
20g cascade
safale 05

have now started to only use 20g of both hops and only add them to the boil for 5min. (as advisd by chris at grain and grape). the last one turned out a little bitter, so hoping the next will be good.

this recipe in my opinion is close to a hightail - slightly more mellow. a great winter ale indeed. hope someone will like it also.

[pixelboy]

a friend that brews all grain told me with ales that if you leave them too long the freshness will go from them. i agree - i've almost polished off half the brew and its only been in bottles 3 weeks.

Ive found my ales are best after about 2 months in the bottle.. loses the "green" flavour and the bitterness mellows...

[corks]

my oft-repeated coopers pale kit-based wonder is over the hill after two months, the grassiness of the hops (amarillo or cascade) comes to the fore. it's a good one to do though, if my stores are getting low and i need something to be ready quickly. my stouts and bitters tend to take 3 months to reach their optimum.

[warra48]

my oft-repeated coopers pale kit-based wonder is over the hill after two months, the grassiness of the hops (amarillo or cascade) comes to the fore. it's a good one to do though, if my stores are getting low and i need something to be ready quickly. my stouts and bitters tend to take 3 months to reach their optimum.

And I'll lay odds it's the Amarillo giving you the grassiness, rather than the Cascade. I won't use Amarillo anymore for that reason, after my last lawnmower (it smells like I've just mowed the lawn) disaster, an AG Amarillo Pale Ale.
However, I do love Cascade, one of my favourite hops.

[scanman]

I think amarillo is one of those hops that you either like them or you don't. It sure does have that grassy smell and taste at first, but after a few you get used to it and it becomes quite nice.