Session Gold Ale Recipe and Brew Day (5/12/12)

The idea for this beer came to me earlier this week.  It's not anything earth shattering.  It's just a beer I envisioned in my head without the guidance of any style or experiment in mind. It's the beer I wanted to be drinking at the moment.  It turns out the recipe is a standard English session ale, but I've never drank one in real life.  I just envisioned the flavors and aromas in my head, and then went ahead and made it.

Even though this single malt, single hop recipe is as simple as it gets, I was excited about this creative process.  It got me thinking of the deeper philosophical questions.  Like, is brewing an art?  My first instinct is to say no, but I'm not sure either way.  I'll probably ponder that more on a future post, but feel free to leave a comment on what you think.

Anyway, the beer I'm brewing is a golden session ale.  Something light and refreshing for the warmer months.  It uses my favorite English yeast, London ESB, along with Golden Promise malt and US Goldings for hops.  I mashed a bit thinner than usual so I didn't have to sparge as much.  This, along with a low sparge temp of 168 should keep all the harsher grain notes out.

 I expect this to be crystal clear and pale with a white head.  It should taste and smell fruity and leafy with a delicate, toasty malt note.  At about 3.5% ABV, it's a true session ale which means you could house like a hundred of them if you wanted to.  Here it is:

Recipe (6 gallons):

Planned O.G: 1.038

Planned F.G: 1.011

IBU: 32

ABV: 3.8%

Malt:

9# Golden Promise (100%)

Mash 152 degrees at 2 qt/lb for 30 minutes.  

Collect about 2 gallons of recirculated first runnings. 1.055 OG

Add 6 gallons of 180 degree water to mash, resting at 168 for 15 minutes.  Collect recirculated runnings to get to 8 gallons in the kettle.

 Boil wort for 90 minutes, adding the following hop schedule.  Cool to 65 degrees and pitch yeast.







Hops (32 IBU's):


1.25 oz. US Goldings (5.7% AA) at 90 minutes
1 oz. Goldings at 10 minutes
1 oz. Goldings at flameout
1 oz. Goldings dry hop

Yeast:


1L starter of Wyeast 1968 London ESB.  Pitching rate according to Mr. Malty.  Ferment at 65 for one week, add dry hops for a week, then keg.

Original gravity reading: 1.040. Slightly higher than expected.