Panorama Heights Pale Ale

Time for a Pale Ale, summer is on the door steps! This recipe is for a medium body pale ale with a nice hoppy finish. I used only high alpha/beta leaf hops (Cascade with 7.9% alpha / 6.6% beta), with a special kick from the super strong alpha Chinook (13.3% alpha, 3.7% beta) for dry hopping. The red wheat addition is an experiment to see if I can get it a little on the mellow side at the same time. Looking forward to see how that balances out! Also, a little wheat helps somewhat with head retention, however you gotta be careful not to overdue it, otherwise the beer gets cloudy. Red wheat is harder and has more protein than white wheat. Supposedly, it results in a rounder flavor, where white wheat can come across as a little tangy and dry if used as an adjunct.

BREW DATE: 04/05/2015

BOTTLING DATE: 05/16/2015

GRAIN BILL: 11lbs total

-6lbs Briess Brewers Malt

-4lbs Munich Malt

-1lbs Red Wheat Malt

MASH-IN: 1 hr at 153F, Mash-out 10 min at 165F. Fly sparked with 175F water.

HOP SCHEDULE:

-60min 1oz Cascade leafs

-30min 1oz Cascade leafs

-10min 1oz Cascade leafs

Dry Hop after 7days in primary: 1oz Chinook leaf hops

OG: 14.8 brix for 15l wort filled up to 23l => alcohol content should come out at 5.4%.

YEAST: Wyeast American Ale 1056

Pale Ale ready to go

TASTE NOTES: wow, this one really hits home! A fresh, citrusy pale ale, exactly right for some warm summer evenings. Much clearer in the bottle due to 2stage fermentation. The usual trub at the bottom is almost completely missing. Still some haziness but with really no taste side effects. The Chinook hops adds nice lingering piney after tones. Head retention is the one thing that could be improved, overall 4.5 stars I would say.

Super fresh and hoppy, Panorama Pale Ale with a view!