Finback's Tail Cape Ale by erik
A nutty pale ale styled after Cisco Brewery's Whale's Tail
Brew History
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Brewed Oct 02, 2009 |
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Racked Oct 06, 2009 |
This will be an interesting one, it's bitter and hoppy and dark like a stout, but not too sweet from the pale malt. I think it will probably need some time for the carafa to mellow out after bottling... (gravity: 1.018) | |
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Bottled Oct 11, 2009 |
This is still pretty sweet, but it's done fermenting. I'm going to let it sit for a couple of weeks, even in the pig, before going for it. The sweetness reminds me a bit of the oktoberfests that are coming out now, even though this is an ale and isn't quite as crisp. Bottled with the "Lott" brewery caps | |
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Tasted Jan 18, 2010 |
I sipped this periodically from the pig all throughout November and December - It was quite refreshing and drinkable, although not altogether remarkable. I remember the Whale's Tail being bigger somehow, but I'm not sure how. The bitterness was right on - the whole-leaf Zeus hops from my garden were done just right. Oh well, I've still got half the batch left in bottles that I will keep in the fridge for guests. |
Mash Style: Extract
Brew Style: English IPA
Ingredients for 5 gallons (19 L):
- 1 lb Carafa II Malt, adjunct steeping grain, very dark color and roasted smell
- 7 lbs Pale Malt
- 1.5 oz Zeus Hops, Bittering, from eagle heights!
- 1 oz Zeus Hops, Flavoring
Instructions:
I added the carafa adjunct malt into a partial boil as it reached a boil, then added the pale malt. The carafa is very dark, but it's not supposed to add too much body; this could be an interesting one.
I grew hops in the garden again this year, and my Zeus plant outproduced all 5 of my other hops combined, so I'm using it primarily. Papazian calls it an aggressive bittering hop with alpha acid around 10-14 percent, but I want this to be a pretty hop-heavy kick in the pants, so I put in around 1 1/2 ozs of fresh hops right at the start.
I boiled that for 45 minutes, then added the last once of Zeus for flavor. I'm not sure how hoppy of a flavor it will have, but the hops are very fresh (I pulled them out of the garden last week) and still smell quite hoppy, so I think it should be fine for what I want. We'll see how it goes!
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.018
Percent Alcohol: 4.07%
Inspiration: Inspired by Cisco Brewery's Whale's Tail Pale Ale, but without the English noble hops and with darker adjunct steeping grains.
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