18B American Pale Ale
Resurgence Pale Ale
Grain bill
| Gladfield American Ale Malt | 4.74 kg | 71.4% |
| Gladfield Vienna Malt | 1.12 kg | 16.9% |
| Gladfield Aurora Malt | 0.8 kg | 12.1% |
Adjuncts
| Yeast nutrient | half tsp @ 10 min |
| Whirlfloc | half tablet @ 10 min |
Hop schedule
| Hop | 60 min | 10 min | WP | DH#1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nectaron | 15g | · | 25g | 60g |
| Riwaka | · | 40g | 40g | 120g |
Yeast
| LalBrew BRY-97 | 2 packets |
Water additions
| Calcium Sulphate | 1 tsp in mash |
| Calcium Chloride | half tsp in mash |
| Lactic acid (88%) | 4 drops in sparge |
Tasting notes
About This Beer
Owen’s second pressure fermentation brew, and the first one built around NZ hop varieties as the star. The grain bill is clean: American Ale Malt, Vienna for depth, and Aurora for a hint of colour and light crystal character. Riwaka takes the lead with 200g total across three additions; Nectaron contributes 100g for bittering and late-stage support.
The whirlpool technique carries over from the RIPA Under Pressure: heat off at the flameout addition, rapid cool to 80°C for the Riwaka addition, then hold at 80°C through to the end of the whirlpool stand before resuming cooling. This approach preserves more volatile hop compounds than pitching directly into hot wort.
Pressure fermentation ran at 18°C and 5–6 psi for the first 4 days (OG 1.058 → 1.029). Day 5 Hop Bong dry hop, then spunding valve closed and pressure allowed to build to 22.5 psi by Day 9. Gradual cool to 5°C over Days 10–14 maintained 2.7 vol CO2 throughout.
Bottling required a slow pressure reduction from 15 psi to 3 psi — at 7 psi a trub disturbance required 4 hours to settle before bottling could proceed. 20 litres bottled, carbonation good.
OG 1.058, FG 1.012, ABV 6.3%.