buzzer label by natural320, on Flickr

2.8 gallon post boil - 2.4ish to the fermenter
- Malturop 2-Row: 4 lbs
- Weyermann Vienna: 2 lbs
- Caravienne: 8 oz
- Cascade pellets: 1 oz (.25 @ FWH, .25 @ 20, .25 @ 12, .25 @ 7)
- Centennial pellets: 1 oz (same hop schedule)
- Safale S-04

estimated @ 72% efficiency: OG 1.064 - IBU 42 - ABV 6.1% (just slightly over APA guidelines, but I personally wouldn't call this an IPA!)

okay, I don't necessarily want to blame the crush...but I might have to. actual: 67% eff - OG 1.058 - IBU 43 - ABV 5.7% (now it is officially a pale ale!)

this is called "buzzer beater" because the lhbs I was in only sold grains in 1 pound increments, so I figured that this would work out okay.

brewed it on 1/21, and kegged it on 2/5. kicked my festbier keg tuesday, so for the sake of pale ale freshness, I put this on the gas and skipped over my not-so-red ale (that keg can wait another week or 2)

the sample I took at kegging was awesome! for being a spur of the moment recipe, I am honestly quite excited for this beer. the malts and hops seemed to have balanced each other perfectly, and the citrusy nose and finish to the sip was all that I could have hoped for.

should have the first pour and some more/better notes next weekend

looks good. i need to get my cascade pale ale into the fridge to try it.

Mmmmm, pale ale.

So you like the S-04 as an APA yeast?

1st time trying it...and honestly, I used it just because I had a half pack just sitting there left over from my red ale that I had brewed a few days prior. a quick googling showed that a whole bunch of people had used this yeast for this type of recipe, I figured why not? worst case is that it finishes a bit higher and tosses some fruity esters.

the sample at kegging didn't display very much of either of those potentially "bad" characteristics though. which made me happy for sure. this stuff absolutely cranked through the 2 beers I have used it in though!

is it gonna be my house pale ale strain? nah! I've got S-05 just waiting there in the fridge for my next 2 brew days, but my "waste not want not" mentality seems to have worked out ok this time

however, I would not hesitate a second to use S-04 in future reds ales (unless my sample at kegging THAT batch takes some dramatic turn; because that brew tasted great) or bitter/ESB recipes

so I don't know if the hop levels are too low, or if the yeast suppressed them a bit, but anyway...from my notes:

poured a nice gold with a touch or orange, bright white head that left lacing down the glass. the nose is faint citrus and peel/rind, leaning more towards grapefruit than orange. the taste follows the aroma and is like a combo grapefruit and a splash of orange juice with just a hint of orange peel and a bit of candy (caramel) sweetness. easy to drink for sure! very pleasant pale ale, and I don't have anything offhand that I can complain about with this beer...it is just a nice brew.

~update~ I think I made alcoholic orange juice! holy crap has the flavor profile changed. it is dramatically orange rind into orange juice with an ever so slight touch of candy sweet at the finish. maybe I am mistaking orange rind for grapefruit, but I don't think I am. the fact that this is over 5.5% ABV is downright scary at this point because it goes down so easy.

if I were to tweak this, I actually think I would mix in some chinook or columbus to get either an earthy or piney note in here to add a bit more depth of flavor.

Did you dry hop it at all?

nope. that is why the aroma aspect is lacking. I am now convinced that the "7 minutes left in the boil to add hop aroma" is bunk. going forward on my next pale ale, I am gonna just do a FWH, 20 minute, and a dry hop...see how that compares.

as of now, the 20, 12, 7 additions I did here gave a great flavor, and a dry hop added to that schedule would work most definitely. but for the sake of science (okay, maybe I'm just cheap!) I am definitely gonna try the other way and see how that works out