December 13, 2006
Kegging a pale ale
I recently spent some $$ on a CO2 cylinder, regulator, and cornelius kegs so that I can keg homebrew instead of bottling it. It's been an interesting experiment. The first brew I have kegged is from Terry Foster's Pale Ale book. I used the "Classic Pale Ale" recipe, and the only change I made was to dry-hop the brew after boiling it.
The beer is good, but not what I would call an IPA. The color is too yellow, despite it's appearance in this photograph.
Here's the recipe:
9.2lb. Pale Malt
2 Oz 60°L Crystal malt
2 tsp gypsum added to the mash
2.5 Oz 4.5% Alpha acid Kent Goldings Hops ( added at the beginning for bittering)
1.5 Oz 4.5% Kent Goldings at end of the boil for aroma
1 OZ Kent Goldings added to fermenter - Dry hopping
Yeast: White Labs London Ale Yeast
O.G. 1.043
F.G. 1.010
Racked off of primary fermenter after one week, kegged after two weeks.
I've been playing around with the CO2 canister trying to not over-carbonate the brew. I inflicted it on some good friends(trusting that they will forgive me) last weekend. I regret it was a bit new, and a lot foamy.
After a few days, I've figured the CO2 thing out. It takes very little pressure. Just enough to push the beer out of the keg without any foam.
I think it's a good beer, but I would say that it is more along the lines of something like Boddington's ale than an IPA, but perhaps a little more hoppy.
Posted by Bob at December 13, 2006 09:18 PM