Recipe

Pacific Coast’s Blue Whale clone

Pacific Brewing Co.’s Blue Whale Ale clone

(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.070  FG = 1.016
IBU = 70  SRM = 14  ABV = 7.1%

Ingredients
9.5 lbs. (4.3 kg) pale liquid malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) crystal malt (40° L)
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) crystal malt (120° L)
8 AAU Nugget hops (70 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g of 12% alpha acids)
8 AAU Chinook hops (70 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g of 12% alpha acids)
3.75 AAU Willamette hops (10 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g of 5% alpha acids)
6.6 AAU Centennial hops (10 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g of 8.8% alpha acids)
2.0 AAU Perle hops (10 min.) (0.25 oz./7 g of 8.25% alpha acids)
3.25 AAU Chinook hops (10 min.) (0.25 oz./7 g of 13% alpha acids)
1.75 oz. (50 g) Centennial hops (dry hop)
1 tsp. Irish moss (15 min.)
1/2 tsp. yeast nutrient
1.75 oz. (50 g) French oak chips
British Ale yeast (White Labs WLP005 or Wyeast 1098)
3/4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Steep crushed crystal malts in 3 gallons (11 L) of water at 150 ºF (66 ºC) for 30 min. Remove grains, add malt syrup and bring to a boil. Add Nugget and Chinook hops and boil for 60 min. Add flavor hops for the last 10 min. of the boil. Strain out hops, add wort to 2 gallons cool water in a fermenter and top off with cool water to 5.5 gallons (21 L). Cool to 80 ºF (27 ºC), aerate heavily and pitch yeast starter (2 L/0.5 gal.). Allow the wort to cool to 68 to 70 ºF (20 to 21 ºC), and ferment for 10 to 14 days. Transfer wort to a secondary fermenter, and add the oak chips and Centennial hops for dry hopping. After a week, prime and bottle, then age for 4 weeks.

All-grain options: Replace the malt extract with 12.75 lbs. (5.8 kg) pale malt and mash your grains at 152 °F (67 °C) for 60 minutes. Use 18.5 qts. (17.5 L) of mash water and collect 8 gallons (30 L) of wort and boil to reduce to 5.25 gallons (20 L). This should take 2-3 hours. Follow hopping schedule as presented in the the ingredients list. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C)

Issue: November 2001

Pacific Coast Brewing Co. has closed its doors in its Oakland location in 2017. An Oakland icon for 29 years, many residents of the area are hoping for its return. For the time being, you can still recreate their strong Amber Ale, Blue Whale Ale with this recipe.