Hazy Pale Ale's are the latest trending beer style, with craft beer lovers craving heavily hopped and flavour-packed beers, without all the alcohol and heaviness you usually get with styles like Hazy IPA.
The Hazy Pale Ale is the craft beer industries solution to this problem - a beer you can have more than a couple of and not fall asleep, or still be able to legally drive a car home. Think of it as a Session Hazy IPA. There's a bit to consider when designing a Hazy Pale Ale recipe so read on to find out what you should (and should not) be doing when designing and brewing your own.
Although the Hazy Pale Ale is not (yet) a recognized BJCP beer style so we're going to outline how the style would be outlined if it were to be a BJCP style.
Appearance
Colour should range from light straw to a very light amber or even an orange hue. It should appear hazy or opaque but not cloudy or murky. There should be no visible matter such as hop debris, yeast clumps or any other particulates. Thick white head with high retention is desirable.
Aroma
Hop aroma should be high to very high. Expect notes of stone, tropical and/or citrus fruits. Should not have grassy or herbal notes. Clean, neutral, grainy or light bready malt in the background, but no caramel or toast. Total absence of malt character is a fault. Neutral to fruity fermentation character is acceptable but esters from yeast and hops should not clash. A creamy, buttery or acidic aroma is a fault.
Flavour
High to very high fruity hop flavour with notes of stone, tropical and/or citrus fruits. Low to medium perceived bitterness with a soft, medium finish. Hop character should be strong but not harsh or sharp, particularly in the aftertaste. Fruity esters from the yeast are acceptable and should complement the hop flavours. No strong/notable alcohol flavours.
Mouthfeel
Body and mouthfeel should be medium with a supporting level of carbonation. No harshness. Should not have a creamy or viscous mouthfeel and should not have an acidic twang or raw starch texture.
Vital Statistics
ABV: 4.5% - 6%
IBU: 20 - 40
SRM: 3 - 7
OG: 1.046 - 1.060
FG: 1.011 - 1.015
Malts/Grains
American Two Row/Pilsner/Extra Pale Malt - 70 - 75%
Combination of Malted Wheat and Malted/Unmalted Oats - 20 - 25%
Low Colour Dextrin/Crystal Malt (eg. Carahell) - 5-8%
The majority of the grain bill should be two row, pilsner or extra pale malt or any combination of these. This will provide most of the fermentable sugars in the wort.
Next we want to include somewhere between 20-25% malted wheat and either malted or unmalted oats. You can experiment with the ratios to get different flavours, but these will impart lots of proteins and contribute to the desirable haze that we're after for this beer which is why it's important to have at least 20% of the grist made up of these.
This beer will be loaded with hops so we need a little something extra to help support them, so a low colour dextrin malt like carahell should be included in 5-8% to help provide a little extra residual sweetness. Go for a low colour option here as we're not after caramel or toasty flavours, just a little bit of sweetness to hide behind the hops and prop them up a bit.
Hops
For your Hazy Pale Ale you're looking to use new world hops and lots of them. Also look for hop varieties with high levels of "survivable compounds" to ensure maximun aromas and flavours preserved within the finished beer after active fermentation. Examples include citra, mosaic, galaxy and sabro. When determining/researching hop combinations, any combination that works well in a Hazy IPA (or any IPA for that matter) will likely yield good results in a Hazy Pale.
The following article from Yakima Valley Hops on Top Hops for Hazy IPAs is a good place to start for some hop suggestions.
Whirlpool Hop Additions
Whirlpool hop additions are a requirement for this particular style. Utilise a large whirlpool hop addition to extract more of the desirable fruit characteristics from the hops whilst minimising the harsh bittering compounds that are typically extracted when added at boiling temperatures. You can even opt to get all of your IBU's for your Hazy Pale Ale from a whirlpool hop addition - aim for around 80-85°C and 15-20 minutes to get into the 20-40 IBU range.
Dry Hopping
Dry hopping is essentially mandatory to help promote the hop flavours and aromas that are desirable for this style. You can dry hop during active fermentation to leverage the effects of biotransformation, or wait until active fermentation has finished before adding your dry hop charge.
Aim for a dry hop rate of at least 5g/L, but don't exceed more than 8g/L or you'll risk putting things out of balance as you may not have the IBU's or alcohol content to back it up, and you'll start creeping into Hazy IPA territory.
Mash (Temperature & Time)
Mash @ 67-68°C to help create a slightly less fermentable wort to achive a slightly higher final gravity (FG)
Mashout @ 75°C for 10 minutes
Yeast
Use an ale yeast with medium flocculation. Some examples are below;
Dry Yeast:
- Lallemand Verdant IPA
- Lallemand New England American East Coast Ale
- Fermentis Safale S-04
- Fermentis Safale S-33
- Wyeast 1318 London Ale III
- White Labs WLP066 London Fog
- GigaYeast GY054 Vermont IPA
- Imperial Yeast A38 Juice
Water Profile
Similar to the NEIPA/Hazy IPA style, leverage a water profile with high levels of chloride and reduced levels of sulfate. Aim for a minimum 2:1 chloride to sulfate ratio. 100ppm or less of calcium.
Fermentation Temperature
Ferment within the upper range of the yeasts recommended temperature range to help promote some slight ester formations, though a clean, neutral yeast flavour profile is also acceptable.
Pressure Fermentation
If you're going for a clean and ester-free flavour profile then pressure fermentation can be beneficial here, but if leveraging a yeast that can impart some esters and desirable characteristics then avoid using pressure for the first few days of active fermentation which is when these esters are typically formed.
Cold Crashing
Cold crashing can be beneficial to this style of beer as it can help the hop debris settle to the bottom of the fermenter with the rest of the trub.
Sample Recipe
Hazy Pale Ale Recipe (All Grain)
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