Long Trail Ale

We've got an all day poker match in a couple of months so I wanted a beer that would be easy drinking and in some way, remotely match the theme. I would have preferred a lager, but it's really the wrong time of year for them, and I have no way of lagering so I settled on the recipe for Long Trail Ale. 


It's a northern German alt-bier, and a motivating factor was the California ale yeast it uses. I've been wanting to make a few recipes that utilise that yeast, so I can reclaim some at the end to reuse.


It uses 4 different hops, and a touch of Wheat DME along with British Crystal malt as the specialty grain.

Frothy!

Gravity: Original Gravity: 1.046 (target 1.047-1.048) Final Gravity: 1.016 (target 1.011-1.012) ABV: 4.4% (target 4.6%)

Yield: 23 litres

Brew method: Extract with US batch sparging for the specialty grain.

Notes: It hasn't reached the recommended final gravity which, after reading a few books, I'm thinking might be down to the makeup of the DME that I'm using. A quick taste before bottling reveals a full mouth feel, almost oily, and a quick bitter finish. I think this will be a good session ale for the Poker match.

Shakemantle Ginger Ale

I like the idea of Ginger Beer, but I wouldn't want to brew a whole batch as I find them a bit too sweet after the first glass. This recipe is for a Wheat Beer, lightly hopped and flavoured with fresh grated ginger.

I decided to amend the recipe a little to make it a single hop beer (Fuggles all the way) as I'm entertaining the idea of taking it along to my first BrewShare at the Local Taphouse in May (the theme being single hop).

It's a simple recipe - possibly the simplest I've made so far as there are no specialty grains - just Wheat DME, Fuggles and grated ginger. I'm very interested to see how it turns out.

Fuggles.
I also find an IPA helps the process

Grated ginger

Gravity: ABV target 5.0%

Yield: 23 litres

Brew method: Extract 

Notes: This beer gets dry hopped with more fresh grated ginger, so I'm expecting it to a full fresh ginger aroma and taste.