Rockit Cup Belgian Pale Ale Brewday

So since this is a last minute thing, some sacrifices had to be made: I subbed Dingemans Cara 8 for the Weyermann CaraMunich and had to condescend to use American Saaz. And pellets, too! As with all things last minute that are unavailable, I blame Darren.

139. Rockit Cup Belgian Pale Ale

Mash:

7 lbs. Dingemans

2 lbs. Weyermann Vienna

10 oz. Dingemans Cara 8

8 oz. Dingemans Aromatic

6 oz. Dingemans Biscuit

Mash @ 152° F for 60 minutes w/ 3 ½ gallons of RO water, ½ tsp. gypsum, & ½ tsp. CaCl2; collected 2 ¼ gallons @ 1.080
Batch sparge @ 170° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 gallons @ 1.026

Collected 6 ¼ gallons; topped off with ½ gallon RO water, added ¼ tsp. gypsum & ¼ tsp. CaCl2, brought to a boil (90 minutes), & added:

w/60 to go: 1 oz. U.S. Saaz pellet 8.1% AA

w/15 to go: ½ oz. U.S. Saaz pellet 8.1% AA

w/5 to go: ½ oz. U.S. Saaz pellet 8.1% AA

Chilled, racked to carboy, and pitched White Labs 570 Belgian Golden 

Brewed: 2/17/2013
Secondary: 2/28/2013 @ 1.014; bottled 1 gallon w/ .6 oz table sugar
Bottled: 4/6/2013 w/ 2.4 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.054 @ 73° F
FG: 1.008

Tasting Notes (4/28/2013): Rockit Cup BPA pours a hazy orange copper with a thin white head that has moderate staying power. The nose is soft bread dough mixed with creamy banana; as it opens there is some toast and bread crust and plenty of Belgian esters—in addition to the banana, I get orange and floral brightness. Flavors start with toast, bread crust, and a touch of brown sugar; the smooth banana creaminess comes in the middle, and the finish is orange and bread dough. I get a touch of bitterness in the finish, but not much elsewhere in the profile—the contributions from the yeast cover over quite a bit here—the is certainly more Belgian that Pale Ale, even as a BPA. The carbonation is bright but not quite spritzy, and the beer has more body than I expected for a beer finishing at 1.008: both contribute to a silky and rounded mouthfeel that is quite delightful. I think the basic beer is good, but it does need to increase the hop additions. I do think the White Labs 570 yeast is outstanding; it is certainly something to return to and experiment with in more detail—the yeast contributions and intangibles provided are delightful and bring life and character to the beer.