The regular pale ale of the household (Oh Mama Pale Ale) has indeed became a must have in the fridge, especially in the summer – my wife loves
it and I find it very refreshing. The big problem of late as far as beer drinking is concerned is that we found out that my wife is pregnant! We are expecting another child in the Minimalist household, and that means no more big beers for my wife. She has been taking sips from my beers, feeling frustrated about not
having her own beer while I have been a little annoyed to share mine. A solution was needed.
In our house we don’t believe that alcohol is bad, and even pregnant women can drink as long as the quantities are small and the alcohol unit consumption on a daily and weekly basis are very low. So from making a 3-4 unit beer, I decided to make my wife a 1-2 unit beer (this is all in 500ml glasses) so she can have her very own beer once or twice a week without the need to “steal” some of mine. From here the new addition to the family was born: “Pregnant Oh Mama!” Pale Ale. The name is a mouthful but it is what it is: a light (on alcohol) version of the Oh Mama! Pale Ale.
This is the first time I started making a beer with a specific target of any kind, with a target OG of 1026, low enough so I can reach a drop of only 15 gravity units, making it a 2% ABV beer.
Mash
A shorter mash this time, only 60 minutes compared with my regular 90 minutes. Only 1kg of Pale Malt in 4 litres of boiled filtered Brita water.
The mash was kept at 66-68°c for the whole hour, resulting in a mash gravity of 1042 (at 64°c). The grains were drained and squeezed to maximize starch extraction.
Yeast
6g Safale US-05 dissolved in 500ml Brita filtered tap water along with 10g of dextrose.
Left to activate for an hour and a half through the boil process.
Wort (boil)
The mash water was roughly 3.5L and to that I added another 1L of boiled Brita filtered water.
60 minutes: 20g Target hops (12.7%)
30 minutes: 30g Challenger hops (6.98%)
15 minutes: 10 Marynka hops (7.6%)
0 minutes: 10g Citra hops (12.7%) in the ice bath
After 35 minutes the wort reached 27°c and was filtered into the ferementer, only 2 litres left after the boil, with a gravity of 1061.
Fermentation
2L of the cooled wort along with the 500ml yeast mix were added to 4l Brita filtered London tap water.
Total of 6.5l with OG=1027 at 24.5°c.
Drinking while making
My accidental mild (Brown Ale) that is the result of a failed experiment in making a black ale.
Dry hop (a week after brewing)
Gravity is 1008 (fermentation stopped)
Added 20g Citra hops and 5g Celesia hops
Bottling (2 weeks after brewing)
FG=1008, making it a 2.55% ABV beer.
30g dextrose added for priming to achieve a CO2 volumes of 1.8.
Rested for one week and then transferred to a fridge for storage.
Tasting notes
Straw colour with a white light head, slightly hazy with a clear strong carbonation. The head disappeared within a few minutes, leaving
a very thin foam.
Very fruity aroma, slightly green, with a clear citrusy grapefruit smell. The aroma is very light and refreshing.
The flavour is clearly dry and bitter, I’m starting to think it is too bitter. You can really feel the lack of alcohol compared to the original recipe. Could use slightly more maltiness to compensate for the lower alcohol level. Juicy mouthful but very crisp and refreshing with a bitter after taste.
It is a nice beer that has the refreshing feeling of a lager, but it is clearly missing some body and it is way too bitter. I’ll be making it again, but next time less bitter with a bit more time in a lower mashing temperature to try and increase the maltiness slightly.