2019-04-07

12B - Australian Sparkling Ale - SPARKLES!


With a name like "SPARKLES!!" one might think this beer contains glitter or some craziness. But it's pretty much an Australian take on a light English ale, or American Cream ale. I went the direction of a Helles grain bill with Australian hops and English dry yeast.

Full recipe is on BrewersFriend but here's the TL;DR
  • Brew day: 2019-4-6
  • Grains: Pilsner, Munich
  • Hops: [Magnum] (Pride of Ringwood)
  • Yeast: SafAle S-04 (dry English ale)
  • OG: 12.2°P, FG: 1.8°P, ABV: 5.5%
  • Kegged: 2019-4-26 (+20)
basic helles grains: Pilsner and Munich. But first: I summoned the Dark Arts in order to successfully open a sewn grain bag. Typically I end up using scissors - but NOT TODAY. 


Crushed

Mash temp

Floor Manager Steve. Sometimes he attacc

Brewday beer: Seedstock altbier

Pride of Ringwood is the traditional hop for the style

Bag out. on with the boil

Wort sample

OG: 12.2°P/75% efficiency

and away we go

2019-4-19 (+16): after a few days in the fridge with some gelatin it's starting to clear up. Now waiting for a keg to kick.

2019-4-26 (+20): hydrometer check - ~1.007/1.8 = 5.5% ABV

2018-4-26 (+20): into the keg

2019-4-27 (+21): carbonation check; almost there...

2019-5-7 (+31): still not clear. This was the last generation of a batch of S-04 I used for about 5 or 6 brews - looks like that's the limit before clarity starts to suffer. It will clear eventually but not nearly as fast as a fresh S-04 pitch.

2019-5-19 (+43): mostly clear - probably not much left in the keg. Once it cleared in both appearance and flavor this started going fast...

2019-6-2 (+57): last pour before the keg kicked. Cleaned up nice!