Ishi pale ale

Like so many I see, I am looking for a clone of Bass pale ale. I have no idea if this is it, I have not bought Bass for awhile, I should do so for comparison. Why "Ishi pale ale"? Ishi was the last of the Yahi Indians, who walked out of the mountains of eastern Tehama County, CA, in the early 1900's, the last of his tribe. He lived In San Francisco until the end of his days, where he died of TB. I have no idea what this has to do with an English Pale Ale, I just liked the name and the story.

Brewer:	Rathole		Email:	rathole2331@yahoo.com
Beer:	Ishi pale ale		Style:	English Pale Ale
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	5 gallons
Color:	13 HCU (~9 SRM)		Bitterness:	26 IBU
OG:	1.052		FG:	1.009
Alcohol:	5.5% v/v (4.3% w/w)
Water:	Reverse-osmosis filtered water, with 2 teaspoons gypsum at start of boil.
Grain:	8 oz. American crystal 40L
Steep:	Steep grains in grain bag for 30 minutes at 155°
Boil:	60 minutes	SG 1.052	5 gallons
	6.6 lb. Light malt extract 4 oz. Brown sugar
	Add brown sugar (1/2 cup PACKED) at beginning of boil with malt extract. 1 teaspoon irish moss last 15 minutes.
Hops:	1 oz. Fuggles (5.4% AA, 60 min.) 1 oz. Kent Goldings (5.1% AA, 5 min.) 1 oz. Kent Goldings (5.1% AA, 2 min.)
Yeast:	Danstar "nottingham" dry yeast, rehydrated and given a breakfast of a couple of spoonfulls of wort to wake it up.
Log:	Three to four days in primary, 7 to 10 days in secondary. I don't use a fridge (yet) to ferment, so I just get blessed with whatever the A/C will let me ferment it at in the closet. Don't worry, have a homebrew.
Carbonation:	3/4 cup priming sugar
Tasting:	well, this batch seems to be sluggish in conditioning. Cooler weather maybe? No matter, it is tasty and better than my earlier version that used less malt and reversed the hops used for bittering and flavour/aroma. The bitterness and aroma are fine for the style. Light (for my taste) hop aroma. (but I tape an empty hop bag to my nose and think that is about right, so take that into account) I think the kent goldings are better for flavouring. I still have no idea if Bass is worried I stole their recipie. I like it. I get an OG of less than the recipator predicts, around 1.046 UPDATE: about 2 1/2 weeks after bottling, it is fully conditioned and the flavors have all come together. I think it could use just a little less on the bittering, about 2-4 IBU's to really balance the malt, but it is just wonderful as is. I usually like it either more bitter or more hops, but this is a wonderful, crisp, fresh tasting beer that is well balanced with a medium goldings aroma. I will definately make this again. 11/18 Next time, I am going to change to Danstar "windsor" yeast which their website says should have a fruity/estery character that is more appropriate to the style. I am also going to experiment with Burton water salts instead of gypsum.

Recipe posted 10/18/03.