Saturday, September 4, 2010

Put a CAP in it

Classic American Pilsner, that is.

As part of my ongoing lawnmower ale phase, I’ve been brewing low alcohol, easy going ales.  This one comes from a Cream of 3 Crops Ale recipe.

Here’s the recipe:

2.72Kgs Pale Malt (from SA Maltsters)
0.5Kgs Gelatinized maizie
0.1Kgs Gelatinized rice
0.54Kgs sugar
20gm Southern Promise (11.6%) @ 60 minutes

This is a very light, slightly bitter recipe which really lends itself to a clean appearance and flavour profile.  The use of adjuncts helps make the beer lighter in colour, and helps to dry it out nicely.(FYI, not my image: thanks BierMuncher)

clearestbeer

This particular style of beer was introduced into america by german immigrants. The germans brewed it in the same style as the traditioanl pilsen lagers, but had to make do with locally available ingredients. Hence the heavy adjunct usage and simple recipe style.

We’re looking for something a little light in intensity but with a little sweetness from the maize.  I’m using a rice and sugar based version so it’s expected to be light, dry and crisp.  Colour should be extremely light with a light yellow gold and (hopefully) pretty clear.

The expectations are to have a dry, clear, flavourless (ish) but still slightly bitter beer.  I am, however, really just using this as an excuse to practice my technique and M.O. until I can guarantee I’m not ruining my beer through stupid mistakes or bad ingredients or techniques.

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