"Alt, Who goes There?" Noerthern German Alt Bier Brew Session

Yesterday I brewed a northern German Alt beer loosely based on a recipe by Jamil Zainasheff. I chose to use Belgian pale as the base grain. His recipe calls for Pilsener malt. I have it fermenting in a plastic trash can with water and freezer packs to keep the temp at approximately 60 degrees. The shirt around the carboy protects the fermentation from light and allows the carboy to stay cool. I hit the target gravity right on the nose with a reading of 1.050. I brewed this to try and get a grasp on what the specific characteristics that an Alt beer has, and to get a point of reference so I can try and clone the Alaskan Amber.

"Alt Who Goes There"
a Northern German Alt Bier
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9.8 lbs Belgian Pale Malt
1 lb Organic Munich
1/4 lb Carafa Speacial II
1/4 lb CaraMunich
3 oz Pale Chocolate
1 oz Magnum (14.2% AA) 60 min
1 Wirlfoc tab 15 min
3 pks Wyeast 1007

I did a 90 min rest at 152, a 90 min boil and I pitched at 60 degrees. Prost!
Q.C.R. Grade = A

Rock Face Pale Ale V3.0 Brew Session

About 3 weeks ago I brewed a batch of my Rock Face Pale Ale using Amarillo, Centennial, and Cascades. I tried to keep it on the dry side with a background character that had more biscuit and toasty elements to it. So instead of using Munich, which I have always used in past Pale Ale batches, I used Vienna, which is a little lighter and crisper then the munich. I also used some Crisp Marris Otter in the grain bill, which is kilned to produce more biscuit like flavors then your average 2-Row. When I brewed this beer I only had a small amount of the 2-row and I wanted to use it up, so instead of using all CMO in the recipe I cut it with the 2-row. Its good to keep a good rotation of product to ensure freshness.

Rock Face Pale Ale V3.0
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7.2 lbs Crisp Marris Otter
4.75 lbs Canadian 2-Row
3/4 lb Vienna
1/2 lb Wheat
1/4 oz Crystal 60
1 oz Chinook (11.4% AA) 60 min
1/4 oz Cascade 10 min
1/4 oz Amarillo 10 min
3/4 oz Cascade 0 min
3/4 oz Amarillo 0 min
1 oz Amarillo dry hop
1 Wirlfloc tab 15 min
2 pks Wyeast 1056

O.G. 1.057
F.G.1.010
This is the first time I used Amarillo in a recipe. The beer is in the keg now and just about fully carbonated. It has a great citrus flavor. The combination of the cascade and Amarillo give the beer a little complexity. The malt background is very complementary to the beers overall character. Its has that light toasty essence with a little caramel. I would say that this recipe is a great one. Next time around I will use nothing but Marris Otter for the base grain, and I might change the hop schedule. Maybe I'll try the First Wort Hopping technique. Chin Chin!

Here is a short clip of the 60 min hop addition. Its about 15 degrees out, but it could be worse.