Taken Liberties Ale

Classification: pale ale, extract, India pale ale, I.P.A., Liberty Ale

Source: Frank Tutzauer (comfrank@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu) Issue #969, 9/15/92

This recipe is an extract version of Rick Larson's "Taking Liberty Ale" (see page 1-35).

Two weeks after priming, I did a side-by-side with a bottle of Liberty Ale. The beers were of a similar clarity and hue, although Liberty Ale is slightly lighter in color. Liberty is also more aggressively carbonated, but the heads are similar. Liberty Ale is slightly more bitter, but, paradoxically, it also has a slightly maltier taste. (Incidentally, my Anchor Steam clone has the same difference in malt taste. I use M&F for it, too.) The Cascade aroma of the two beers is similar, but Liberty Ale has a more pronounced Cascade flavor, and definitely a more pronounced Cascade aftertaste. My beer is smoother and has more body. The brews are similar enough that if you served mine to someone who was expecting Liberty Ale, they probably would not be able to tell the difference, although a side-by-side comparison would reveal the imposter. Next time, I'm going to decrease the lovibond of the crystal a little bit (to get a lighter color), and also use a little more Cascades for finishing and dry hopping (say on the order of a quarter ounce).

Ingredients:

1/2 pound, crystal malt (60L)
1 cup, English 2--row pale malt
7 pounds, light Munton & Fison dry malt extract
1/2 ounce, Galena pellets (12% alpha), 60 minute boil
1/2 ounce, Irish moss, 15 minute boil
1 ounce, Cascade pellets (5.5% alpha), 12 minute boil
Wyeast American ale #1056
1 ounce, Cascade pellets, dry hop
1/2 cup, corn sugar (priming)

Procedure:

Cracked grains and steeped in 2 (U.S.) quarts 150-155F water for 45 minutes. Collected runoff and sparged with an additional 1--1/2 gallons 170F water. Added to brew kettle with enough additional water to make 5- -1/2 gallons. Dissolved extract and boiled 65 minutes, adding hops and Irish Moss as shown. Chilled with an immersion chiller down to 70F. Racked off break and pitched onto dregs of the secondary of a previous batch, a la Father Barleywine. Active fermentation in under 12 hours. O.G. = 1.056; IBU = approximately 33 (not counting the dry hopping which would have added a point or two). Single-stage blowoff fermentation in the low 70's. Primary was 4 days, after which I attached a fermentation lock and dumped in the dry-hopping hops. After another 19 days of secondary, I racked to a Cornelius keg primed with 1/2 cup of corn sugar. After waiting a week or so, I tapped, keeping 20 psi on the keg at all other times.