Rayface Ale

Originally, I was shooting for a hophead's IPA. Although this isn't
quite that, it is an excellent beer in its own right. If I call it
an American Amber, then it's an absolute success! Definitely the
best beer I've done so far, and the recipe is simple.

Brewer:	Marc Rehfuss		Email:	myr3838@ksu.edu
Beer:	Rayface Ale		Style:	India Pale Ale
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	5 gallons
Color:	27 HCU (~14 SRM)		Bitterness:	66 IBU
OG:	1.064		FG:	1.011
Alcohol:	6.9% v/v (5.4% w/w)
Water:	2 tsp of gypsum was added to the boil to add crispness and accentuate the hop character. All the water used is bottled spring water, which tends to be fairly soft and a great base to build on.
Grain:	.5 lb. Toasted 2-row pale malt 1.00 lb. American crystal 20L
Steep:	I toasted the 2-row pale malt at 350° for 12 minutes. The cracked crystal 20°L and toasted 2-row were steeped at 158° for 40 minutes in a grain bag in 2 gallons of water.
Boil:	60 minutes	SG 1.107	3 gallons
	6.60 lb. Amber malt extract 1 lb. 4 oz. Light dry malt extract
	After steeping the grains, I added 1.5 gallons of spring water then mixed in the extracts. Munton's amber liquid extract plus a bit of Muntons dry light DME was used. The total initial boil volume was 3.5 gallons. All the hops used except the aroma hops added at the end (1 oz. Willamette) were placed in hop bags.
Hops:	2.0 oz. Chinook (13% AA, 60 min.) 2 oz. Kent Goldings (6% AA, 15 min.) 2 oz. Willamette (aroma)
Yeast:	Wyeast 1056 works beautifully for this recipe, since it attentuates highly and finishes fairly dry. I used a starter of just shy of a quart, and pitched at high krausen (about 14 hours)
Log:	Primary fermentation (in glass): 13 days at 62-66°; Secondary fermentation (in glass): 14 days at 62-66° w/ 1 oz. Willamette pellet hops in hop bag weighed down w/ a few marbles. The hop bag and marbles were boiled to sanitize them.
Carbonation:	3/4 cup corn sugar for priming, and the bottles were left at 65-68° for 10 days to develop carbonation, then were moved to 52-55° for conditioning on July 14.
Tasting:	From tasting a bottle on July 21: Malty, smooth, slightly sweet w/ a slight toasted aroma and flavor from the toasted 2-row. The flavoring hops come through nicely, and the Willamette floral nose is discernable. Great! I'd rather call this an amber ale than an IPA. The color is a deep garnet red-- HmmmI could call this a Red Ale as well. I love having that freedom! If you're shooting for a hoppy IPA, I suggest you don't use hop bags since that may have lowered my utilization. However, this beer is great in it's own right and I won't change a thing. The hop bitterness is very well balanced w/ the malt character. By the way- the actual hydrometer readings I got were OG 1.055 and FG 1.009 at 60° for an ABV of 6.04%

Recipe posted 07/22/00.