Brew Day: Peabody Pale Ale (American Pale Ale)

The latest installment in my experimentation within the broad category that is the American Pale Ale is a recipe that I threw together in a matter of minutes. While assembling the ingredients for Curly’s Milk Stout I realized I had a lot of odds and ends lying around. Half-full bags of specialty grains, zip-locked bags of hops. None of this stuff is getting better with age.

The recipe for Curly’s Milk Stout called for one pound of light dry malt extract. However I only had a three pound bag. It made perfect sense to use the rest of that extract for a one gallon batch. I stepped some crystal malt I had lying around for color, flavor, body, and hopefully a bit of freshness.

In this beer the malt is only there to provide balance to the hops. Having less control over the wort from using the extract is not much of a concern. I used a blend of Centennial, Chinook, and Amarillo hops with additions at 45 minutes, ten minutes, and flameout. The idea being to have plenty of hop aroma, bitterness, and flavor.

As opposed to the Essex Extra Pale Ale which was envisioned as a lighter, more drinkable interpretation, the Peabody Pale Ale will hopefully have a bit more attitude. While not hoppy like an IPA, the idea is to have a beer where hop flavor is at the forefront. I haven’t made the trip to Trillium Brewing yet, but Fort Point Pale Ale is an excellent example of a pale ale where the hop flavor is paramount but does not effect drinkability. That’s the goal here.

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