Photo HOPortunity – American Pale Ale

This week, we’re tasting and sharing the recipe for Rick’s latest brew.

For those who would like to brew this beer it is available below, as well as on Brewer’s Friend.

This was the first beer done on the new 1800W induction burner in our dedicated brewing space in the basement. It should be a slightly bitter pale ale with a significant berry and melon aroma.

It ended up being a little more bitter than anticipated, and less fruit than expected, but it’s a refreshing and delicious American Pale Ale.

Recipe – All Grain Method

1. 1. Grind grains, mash in at 153ºF (67ºC) and hold for 60 mins.
   2. Sparge using 170ºF (77ºC) water. In our case this was fly sparging.
   3. Collect 6.5 gallons (~24 liters) of wort and bring to a boil.
   4. Add kettle hops as scheduled in the recipe below.
   5. Chill approximately 5.5 gallons (20 liters) to around 68ºF (20ºC), transfer to fermenting unit, pitch yeast, and add airlock.
   6. Ferment for 1 week, rack to secondary, and add remaining hops.
   7. Let stand in secondary for 2 weeks before transferring to keg or bottles.

About Photo HOPortunity

The day Rick sat down to plan his first brew recipe using Brewer’s Friend’s recipe creation website, was the day that we learned of a friend’s passing. The name of the beer is a promise kept to the memory of that friend, even though the name doesn’t nearly paint a clear enough picture of the person it recalls. He was a supporter, a giver, a listener. He was there to fave all your photos on Flickr, or your tweets on Twitter. He was everybody’s grandpa, and even though he was a grandfather, he left us all too soon, and too young.

Join me in a toast to Phil, who always looked for opportunities in life.