After asking for recipes and then announcing what we were going to do with them, we finally have a post that shows the brewing and the tasting of one of those recipes. This one was chosen at random and we’ll continue that way until we’re done (maybe next century). Check out this extract hoppy pale ale that was sent to us.

The Recipe That Was Submitted

We got this recipe sent to us from Charlie. It’s for an extract NEIPA (or NEPA but who’s counting?). He writes:

“This is a 5 gallon batch where the only time I worry about the 5 gallon amount is in the fermentor.”

Ingredients

5 US gallons (9 Liters) of store-bought RO water
6 pounds (2.72 kg) Pilsen DME (dry malt extract)
2 ounces (57 g) of Mosaic hops
2 ounces (57 g) of Citra hops
2 ounces (57 g) of Amarillo hops
1 package of Fermentis Safale S-04

Starting gravity: 1.050
Finished gravity: 1.011-1.014 (whatever the yeast finishes at)

Instructions

I heat the full 5 gallons of water to anywhere between 120 and 150° F and add the malt extract, then let it come to as rigorous of a boil as you can get for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I cut the heat source (I use a propane burner), and then I add 1 ounce each of Mosaic, Citra, and Amarillo hops and do a 10 minute hop stand. When the 10 minutes are up, I cool the wort. I cool it until I feel comfortable putting it into my PET plastic fermentor, which usually is sub-80 degrees F. At this point, I’m usually 1/4 to 1/2 a gallon short of of 5 gallons in the fermentor, so I’ll add cold filtered water we have here at home until I’m back up to 5 gallons. When the wort has reached between 68 F and 72 F, then I’ll add the packet of yeast (S-04).

The next day, anywhere between 12-24 hours into active fermentation (whenever I’m home and I notice high-krausen), I’ll add the remaining hops, which is 1 oz each of Mosaic, Citra, and Amarillo.

Once fermentation is done (4-6 days), I’ll rack the beer to a CO2 purged keg and carbonate the beer.

Our Tasting Notes and Other Thoughts

I wish I had remembered to say this point on camera, but these three hop varieties work wonderfully together. Here are the reported Alpha Acids on the hop pellets that I used.

Mosaic – 12.6%
Citra – 12.9%
Amarillo – 8.1%

I can tell you as the one who brewed this beer that effort to enjoyment ratio is tipped strongly to the enjoyment side. The brew day was quick and the turnaround was fast as well.

This beer is light in body so it made for quick pints. The hop flavor is tremendous and as Mike stated, only 6 ounces in the whole recipe. It does bring into question the need for 2 or 3 times the weight in hops called for in some recipes (cough, like my own).

Charlie wrote to us and asked if he should add maltodextrin to add more mouthfeel. The beer is great as is. It is certainly something he could experiment and try in his next brewing.

Thanks for the recipe. Hope you enjoyed the post. More to come.

BREW ON!