Recipe of the Week: Ken Lenard's Memory Lapse Pale Ale

My first entry is a recipe quietly gaining recognition in the homebrew forum world. This recipe comes from Ken Lenard who is a wealth of knowledge on the subject of homebrewing. Ken has been featured in Brew Your Own magazine with his ingenious yet easy DIY tap handle construction. All of Ken's recipe's and also great information can be found at his website.

This is a malty version of an American Pale Ale.  There is American malt, American hops, American yeast and presumably American water in this recipe.  Most brewers and beer geeks... ahem... beer enthusiasts may envision an American Pale Ale having more hop presence, but this is a smoother, maltier beer that is great any time of year and it compliments foods well.  Anyone from newbies to seasoned beer-heads can enjoy this refreshing, amber-colored ale.  It also works well as a springboard for just about any beer... the recipe can be tweaked to darken the color, boost the bitterness or change the profile by using different yeasts.  This is a beer I try to keep on tap or in bottles at all times. 


7.25 lbs American Pale Malt
1 lb Crystal 60°L
12 oz Malted Wheat         (mash temp 152°)
5 to 5.5 AAU Mt. Hood pellets for 60 minutes
White Labs 01 California Ale yeast
OG: 1.048, FG: 1.012, IBU: 24, SRM: 10, ABV: 4.8%

 The last few batches I have made of this beer used one ounce of Mt. Hood pellets at 5.2% and I think this is the perfect hopping rate for this beer.  I consider this to be the "flagship" beer of my brewery and it's the beer I have probably brewed the most times and tweaked to my tastebuds more than any other.  In my extract days, I entered this beer into a small competition in Colorado and took a 1st.  It's the kind of beer where I will have it on tap and drink a few glasses then say to myself, "I need to make this beer again, right now".  

 I have made this recipe many times and it always turns out great. As he explains it is also a great recipe to experiment with. I have subbed out the Mt. Hood hops for Santiam hops and turned out an outstanding beer. If you would like to see an in depth discussion of this beer and other homebrewers variations check this out.