Beginner’s Luck Pale Ale

Beginner’s Luck Pale Ale

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.054  FG = 1.012
IBU = 32  SRM = 10  ABV = 5.5%

Ingredients
10 lbs. (4.5 kg) pale 2-row malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
6 oz. (170 g) acidulated malt (optional)
7.5 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 15% alpha acids)
7.5 AAU Centennial hops (10 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 10% alpha acids)
1 oz. (28 g) Amarillo® hops (0 min.)
1 Whirlfloc tablet (10 min.)
LalBrew BRY-97 (West Coast Ale), SafAle US-05, or Mangrove Jack’s M44 (US West Coast) yeast
4.7 oz. table sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Mash in with 4 gallons (15 L) of water at 163 °F (73 °C). Rest one hour at 152 °F (67 °C). For simplicity, this recipe uses a batch sparge: Start by running off all the wort into your kettle. Then add 4.5 gallons (17 L) of water at 170 °F (77 °C) to the mash tun, stir, rest 10 minutes, drain the wort. Bring to boil and add hops per schedule while doing a 60-minute boil. After the boil is complete, add the Amarillo® hops and give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Chill to 68 °F (20 °C), run off to a sanitized fermenter, add yeast (aeration or rehydration not required). Ferment at or near 68 °F (20 °C) for two weeks. At bottling, make a syrup of two cups of water and table sugar, boil, stir gently into wort in bottling bucket to prime. Keep bottles in a warm-ish (room temperature) but dark place for at least 10 days to carbonate. Alternately, if you use 16-oz. (470-mL) PET bottles, you may prime the beer with one standard (3 g) sugar cube per bottle.

Beginner’s Luck Pale Ale

(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.054  FG = 1.014
IBU = 32  SRM = 13  ABV = 5.3%

Ingredients
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) light dried malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) crystal malt(60 °L)
6.5 gallons (24.5 L) reverse osmosis or distilled water
7.5 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 15% alpha acids)
7.5 AAU Centennial hops (10 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 10% alpha acids)
1 oz. (28 g) Amarillo® hops (0 min.)
1 Whirlfloc tablet (10 min.)
LalBrew BRY-97 (West Coast Ale), SafAle US-05, or Mangrove Jack’s M44 (US West Coast) yeast
4.7 oz. table sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
This recipe uses the extract and steep method to produce a concentrated wort. Rehydrate malt extract in 3.5 gallons (13.2 L) of reverse osmosis (RO) or distilled water, bring to a boil, and add Magnum hops at the beginning of the boil. While the reconstituted extract is heating, place the crushed crystal malt in a grain bag and separately steep in 2 quarts (2 L) cool RO or distilled water, which you want to heat to 170 °F (77 °C) and hold for 30 minutes. At 15 minutes remaining in the main boil, remove the grain bag from the steep and drain the liquid from the bag. At 10 minutes remaining, pour the liquid from the steep into the main boil, return to a boil, add the Whirlfloc and Centennial hops, and boil for 10 more minutes. Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe instructions, being sure to top up the fermenter to 5.5 gallons (21 L) with RO or distilled water prior to pitching yeast.