Centennial Pale Ale

This is inspired by Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and is almost a clone recipe of that beer. However, I’ve swapped out the Cascade hops, and substituted in Centennial, for a more punchy grapefruit citrus taste. This beer is delicious, and so easy to drink, with strong notes of caramel and pink grapefruit. Read on for how to brew a Centennial Pale Ale.

The Basic Concept

This beer is unashamedly a very close copy, and almost a clone of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Now Sierra Nevada Brewery don’t hide their recipe, and in fact they publish a home brew version of the recipe on their website. This is the basis of my recipe, and I’ve included a link to their website below.

Follow this link to the Sierra Nevada website for their Homebrew Recipe

The big difference is that I’ve swapped out the Cascade hops, and substituted in Centennial hops. I’ve also used the hops in a different way, by mash hopping heavily, and then leaving out the early boil hop additions. I find this gives a softer bitterness, and also helps to extract Thiol precursors. These precursors then provide for a more fruit forward taste being developed by the yeast during fermentation.

So, here’s the recipe.

Centennial Pale Ale Ingredients

The Mash

As I’m using an electric all-in-one brewing system, I’ve doughed-in at 40°c / 104°f with all the grains and also my 40 grams of mash hops.

The temperature is then raised to 67°c / 152°f and held for 60 minutes. On completion of the mash, it’s mashed out at 77°c / 171°f for 5 minutes.

The Boil

The wort is then brought to the boil, and boiled for 60 minutes. The only hop addition here is at 10 minutes to run.

Whirlpool

Whirlpool the wort at 74°c / 165°f for 15 minutes with the final 60 grams of hops. Then cool to yeast pitching temperature of 16°c / 61°f

Fermentation

Start fermentation at 16°c / 61°f for a few days, then slowly ramp up the temperature to 20°c / 68°f and hold until fermentation is complete.

The Results

This beer clears brilliantly, especially with the help of some finings. The colour is a beautiful gold, and the aromas are of strong pink grapefruit and caramel.

The colour and shade is pretty much identical to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, the aroma is of a good bit deeper and fresher citrus.

Taste

The taste of this ale is immediately of both caramel and grapefruit. Both tastes are quite forward, but neither overpowers the other. In fact, they very much compliment each other. Without the citrus and grapefruit, the caramel from the crystal malt would be too cloying and sweet. Without the caramel, the grapefruit would be too sour and deeply cutting. Both together, they work beautifully.

The level of bitterness is high, but once again, the level of crystal malt requires this. It offsets the sweetness, and leaves enough bitterness at the end of the mouthful to make you want to take another sip.

All in all, this is a surprisingly balance beer, and one that has since been brewed again and again by myself. This will continue to be on the house regular list and I’ll continue to brew this Centennial Pale Ale.