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recipe

Oskar Blues Brewery’s Dale’s Pale Ale clone

By Jonathan Shikes | Add to Favorites

Dale’s Pale Ale is an iconic American pale ale, balancing caramel and biscuit malt and fruity, citrusy, piney hops. The first craft beer in a can comes with a little extra oompf at 6.5% ABV — just enough to cap off a solid day in the mountains!

Oskar Blues Brewery’s Dale’s Pale Ale clone, All-Grain

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.061 FG = 1.012
IBU = 65 SRM = 8 ABV = 6.5%

Ingredients

11 lbs. (5 kg) North American 2-row pale malt (1.8 °L)
11.5 oz. (326 g) Munich malt (10 °L)
13.1 oz. (372 g) Simpsons Premium English Caramalt (25 °L)
2.3 oz. (64 g) Simpsons dark crystal malt (80 °L)
13 AAU Columbus hops (80 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 13% alpha acids)
2.3 AAU Cascade hops (25 min.) (0.4 oz./11.2 g at 7.2% alpha acids)
7.2 AAU Columbus hops (10 min.) (0.55 oz./15.4 g at 13% alpha acids)
15.2 AAU Centennial hops (0 min.) (1.6 oz./45 g at 9.5% alpha acids)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by step

Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 1.3 quarts of water to 1 pound of grain (2.7 L/kg) and a temperature of 155 °F (68 °C). Hold the mash at 155 °F (68 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Sparge slowly with 168 °F (76 °C) water, collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is 6.5 gallons (24.6 L).

Fermentis

Total boil time is 90 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. Add Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient with 5 minutes remaining in the boil.

After the boil is complete, give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool, add the flameout hops and let settle for 10 minutes. Chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Pitch rate is 1 million cells per mL per degree Plato.

Regulate the fermentation temperature at 68 °F (20 °C). At the end of fermentation activity, ~5 days, rack the beer into a secondary vessel and let rest for 7 more days at 68 °F (20 °C). Then lower temperature to 32 °F (0 °C). Once beer is clarified, rack the beer and carbonate to around 2.55 volumes of CO2. If bottling conditioning, you may consider pitching fresh yeast at bottling.

 

Oskar Blues Brewery’s Dale’s Pale Ale clone, Extract with Grains

(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.061 FG = 1.012
IBU = 65 SRM = 8 ABV = 6.5%

Ingredients

6.6 lbs. (3 kg) golden liquid malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 g) Munich dried malt extract
13.1 oz. (372 g) Simpsons Premium English Caramalt (25 °L)
2.3 oz. (64 g) Simpsons dark crystal malt (80 °L)
13 AAU Columbus hops (80 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 13% alpha acids)
2.3 AAU Cascade hops (25 min.) (0.4 oz./11.2 g at 7.2% alpha acids)
7.2 AAU Columbus hops (10 min.) (0.55 oz./15.4 g at 13% alpha acids)
15.2 AAU Centennial hops (0 min.) (1.6 oz./45 g at 9.5% alpha acids)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by step

Place the crushed grains in a muslin bag and submerge bag in 5 gallons (19 L) water as it heats up to 160 °F (71 °C). Remove the grain bag and allow to drip back into the kettle. Add the liquid and dried malt extract as well as the first wort hops and stir until extracts are fully dissolved. Bring wort to a boil.

Total boil time is 60 minutes adding hops according to the schedule. Add Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient with 5 minutes left in the boil.

After the boil is complete, give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool, add the flameout hops and let settle for 10 minutes. Chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Pitch rate is 1 million cells per mL per degree Plato.

Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). At the end of fermentation activity, ~5 days, rack the beer into a secondary vessel and let rest for 7 more days at 68 °F (20 °C). Then lower temperature to 32 °F (0 °C). Once beer is clarified, rack the beer and carbonate to around 2.55 volumes of CO2. If bottle conditioning, you may consider pitching fresh yeast at bottling.

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