Sunday, January 22, 2012

Brewday - West Coast Belgian Pale Ale

My last Belgian pale ale was a traditional, to-style, by-the-numbers kind of beer. I was definitely happy with the finished beer that was clean and easy drinking with a restrained Belgian character and a sweet maltiness that was enhanced by the yeast and the low hopping rate. With that beer behind me I wanted to try and experiment with the style a little, brewing something similar to the beer I made with Ron Bradley at Moon Under Water.


For this beer I wanted to keep the malt bill traditional but adding a little sugar to boost the gravity. The hops was where the West Coast would come in as I planned on using Cascade and Amarillos to give it a fruity Cascadian character. I was surprised how well the fruitiness of the yeast went with the citrusy hops in the Moon brew, so that was something I wanted to try to replicate.

As I side note, I can't really decide whether this should be bottle fermented or kegged. Many Belgian beers are refermented in the bottle and Cascadian beers are generally force carbonated. Any suggestions?

Ingredients
Locally malted pilsner malt
Caramunich malt
Biscuit malt
Wheat malt
Amarillo hops
Cascade hops
White Sugar

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