Pale Ale

Classification: pale ale, extract

Source: Alan P Van Dyke, (llapv@utxdp.dp.utexas.edu), HBD Issue #1622, 1/4/95

I finally, after a 3 month absence, got to brew a batch of beer on Saturday. Usually, I use liquid yeast, following the manufacturer's instructions & popped the yeast the day before. Unfortunately, that was Thursday, being as that I thought I would get to brew on Friday. Well, I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to do a proper starter. So, following my local homebrew shop propietor's suggestions, I boiled up a pint of H2O with a couple of tablespoons of priming malt in the microwave, put a clean lid on it, & after it cooled, I added the already puffed up package of WYeast British Ale (sorry, don't recall the number). This foamed up nicely, & I pitched it in the wort on the actual brewing day, Saturday.
It's supposed to be a pale ale. Anyway, the problem is that it started to ferment rather nicely, but the head never got more than 3/4 of an inch thick. The fermentation has been very active (it slowed down on Monday night some), & the yeast on top looks healthy, but it's just not thick. I did use a filter on the funnel when I put the wort into the carboy, & I had to top it off with about a gallon of preboiled water. I'm not worried about it, but I am curious as to what's going on. Usually I get this head that's 2 inches thick & looks alive. The temp has been sitting at 68, BTW.

A couple of observations unrelated to the above:
Sam Adams Triple Bock tastes good on vanilla ice cream.
Baptists don't believe in drinking because most of them drink real cheap beer.

Ingredients:

3/4# American Crystal malt
1/2# Aromatic grains
7# Alexander's pale malt extract
1/2# malto-dextrin
1/4# turbinado
2 tbsp Irish moss
hops galore (pellets)
the yeast