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Sturgeon River Pale Ale

This time I am doing a full wort boil and decreasing the early addition hop schedule to compensate. I also decreased the overall bitterness from the first recipe by 25%. For the malts, I added an extra pound of Belgian Munich and changed the LME to 6 lbs. I am hoping to get some extra grain flavor to balance the hops a bit better.

Brewer: Don Email: kuitula@vrapc.com
Beer: Sturgeon River Pale Ale Style: American Pale Ale
Type: Partial mash Size: 5 gallons
Color:
17 HCU (~10 SRM)
Bitterness: 57 IBU
OG: 1.061 FG: 1.012
Alcohol: 6.3% v/v (5.0% w/w)
Water: Tap water for now (Kentwood, MI), then water from a well on our family property along the Sturgeon River in the U.P. of Michigan once I get the recipe nailed down.
Grain: 3 lb. Belgian Munich
1 lb. Belgian aromatic
Mash: 55% efficiency
Single mash. Brought water to 170 degrees then added grain (in bag), covered pot and removed from heat. I also covered the pot with two towels for 45 minutes.
** mash temp after 45 minutes was 140 degrees (need to improve this)

*This time mash temp was 152 degrees after 45 minutes so that certainly improved.
Boil: 60 minutes SG 1.051 6 gallons
6 lb. Light malt extract
1 tsp Irish Moss with 15 minutes left in boil
1/2 tsp Calcium Carbonate (lowers acidity by 15%)
Hops: .5 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 60 min.)
.5 oz. Centennial (10.5% AA, 60 min.)
.5 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 30 min.)
.75 oz. Centennial (10.5% AA, 15 min.)
.75 oz. Centennial (10.5% AA, 2 min.)
1 oz. Centennial (aroma)
Yeast: California WLP001. I will use a yeast starter this time and hopefully will get good results.

*Starter definitely helped the fermentation - it was very active compared to before.
Log: Last hop addition was the dry hop:
1 oz. Centennial Leaf in secondary for 2 weeks

Carbonation: 2.3 volumes Corn Sugar: 3.93 oz. for 5 gallons @ 70°F
I like to use less than the recommended 5 oz. of corn sugar for bottling since I like less carbonation.
Tasting: I tasted the sample from the final gravity reading and it still tasted bitter, but also had more body due to the increased grains. I think this will actually end up as an IPA when I'm finished with the recipe.

Recipe posted 05/12/05.