A Galaxy of Diamonds

After a decade of saying I wouldn't get married I finally came around to the idea and the thought of supplying beer to my own wedding had nothing to do with it at all! So to celebrate the fact that we made it this far I decided, as most normal people would, to brew a celebratory beverage. Since Galaxy hops have been so good to me ( see award winning beer post), and the fact that they are in the only home brewed beer Jenny will drink I decided they would be the back drop for a pale ale containing 4 flavour and aroma hops all from the southern hemisphere. The name is a play on the diamond I got Jenny, the fact that all these hops are gems all on their own and the idea that if I told Jenny there is Galaxy hops in it she may drink it!

The hops I had in mind were:

Galaxy

Nelson Sauvin

Citra

Rakau

The crushed grain

Filling my only free fermenter

After a little time in secondary I kegged the beer and now she is sitting pretty in the kegerator in my shed.

Beer review to follow soon if the GBBF doesn't kill me first....

Here is the recipe.

A Galaxy of Diamonds 4 hops beer

10-A American Pale Ale

Author: rossa

Date: 03/07/2011

Size: 25 L

Original Gravity: 1.051 (1.045 - 1.060)

Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.010 - 1.015)

Color: 11.43 (5.0 - 14.0)

Alcohol: 5.03% (4.5% - 6.2%)

Bitterness: 61.7 (30.0 - 45.0)

Ingredients:

3 kg Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt

2 kg Munich TYPE I

.500 kg Carapils®/Carafoam®

.200 kg Crystal 55

1.0 tsp 5.2 pH Stabilizer - added during mash

1.0 tsp Protofloc - added during boil, boiled 15 min

20 g Magnum-PLMG (12.6%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min

20 g Galaxy (13.7%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min

20 g Nelson Sauvin (14.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min

28.0 g Rakau (12.0%) - added during boil, boiled 5 min

20 g Citra (13.8%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min

Yeast : Fermentis Safale US-05

Notes

5g gypsum, 2 table salt, 8 epsom salts for boil

mash @66 for 60 mins.