Homebrew Recipe: Sandy Toes Pale Ale

This delicious, summery, easy-to-drink Sandy Toes Pale Ale recipe was made in late spring with the goal of creating an easy drinking beer that could be enjoyed while sunning on the Wilmington beaches.  As evidences by the name, it did not disappoint!

Recipe

Grain Bill

6.6 lbs Briess Golden Light LME

½ lb Carapils

½ lb Crystal 40L

¼ lb Vienna

Hop Schedule

(60) 1 oz Centennial

(15) 1 oz Cascade

(1) 1 oz Cascade

1 packet SafeAle US-05

Boil Volume

2.5 gallons

Fermentor Volume

5 gallons

OG – 1.050

FG – 1.011

ABV – 5.1%

Procedure

Heat 2.5 gallons of water to 160 degrees and steep your specialty grains for 30 minutes. (The temperature was not held perfectly at 160 degrees due to my inexpensive stock pot and an electric stove top.) After the steeping is completed, bring the mixture to a boil and add all 6.6 lbs of liquid malt extract. Follow the hop schedule and then use an ice bath to cool the wort bath down to 80 degrees. Then transfer the wort to your primary fermentor and add water to bring the total volume up to 5 gallons. Aerate the wort by shaking the bucket and pitch yeast without rehydration.

Fermentation/ Packaging

This beer was fermented for a little over 2 weeks in the primary fermentor and was then racked to a secondary for 2 weeks. The full batch was bottled and 5/8 cup of table sugar was dissolved into 2 cups boiling water to create carbonation.

Tasting Notes

This Pale Ale is darker in color than originally expected which is likely due to adding all of the LME at the beginning. This beer has a medium to light mouth feel but is very easy to drink. The cascade hops come through and give this beer the signature citrus and slight grapefruit notes in the flavor and to a lesser degree, the aroma.

Improvement/ Tweak Ideas

Color could be lightened by adding some of the LME later in the boil. The malt bill could be a little more complex to support the cascade hops.

If you’re looking for a Pale Ale to sip in the sun, this is the one!

--Ben