CS8 - Kennedy Street Pale Ale

[JR]

I got some Firestone Walker Pale 31 from the beer store and loved it.  Still my favourite beer.  Then all the Firestone beers were on "can you brew it" at thebrewingnetwork.com.  Pale 31 is a blend of 80% Mission street pale ale and 20% Double barrel ale.  After making 2 beers and blending a couple of times I figured out that most of the goodness comes from the Mission Street Pale Ale so its not really worth brewing the other beer and messing around with oak chips etc.. so now I just make the Mission Street.

This time I brewed a big batch and fermented with 3 different yeasts.  WY1968 (as per the proper recipe), SO4 and WY Dennys Favourite 50 (It was at the shop at the time)

This is the SO4 version which is more hop forward than the other 2 beers.  The 1968 had a bigger sweeter maltyness through it and the Dennys had less hops and less malt - making a fairly plain beer.  Because we changed the yeast and the basemalt from the original recipe we renamed it to Kennedy St Pale Ale.

10.18 kg	Golden Promise (Bairds) (5.3 EBC)	Grain	80.32 %
1.87 kg	Munich Malt (15.0 EBC)	Grain	14.76 %
0.62 kg	Cara-Pils (4.0 EBC)	Grain	4.92 %
62.40 gm	US Cascade [7.00 %] dry	Hops	-
62.40 gm	US Centennial [8.60 %] dry	Hops	-
28.30 gm	US Fuggles [3.60 %] (90 min)	Hops	5.2 IBU
20.00 gm	US Chinook [12.50 %] (30 min)	Hops	6.5 IBU
62.40 gm	Centennial [8.60 %] (0 min)	Hops	-
62.40 gm	Cascade [7.00 %] (0 min)	Hops	-
2.60 tbsp	PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min)	Misc
	S04	Yeast-Ale

[Martin Bridges]

Here we go, firs beer of the swap for me. Chosen by the meticulous method of it being the first one my hand touched in the fridge!

As I'm the first one to comment I don't need to worry about carefully avoiding seeing other people's comments! I've glanced at the recipe but not in detail. I tend to make notes as I drink so this will be a bit stream-of-consciousness...

Pours a deep gold, heading towards amber. Looks good in the glass - tiny bit of haze but nothing to complain about. Small head which persists well.

Fruity hops on the nose, with a bit of juicy malt lurking behind. Definitely hop prominent, though not overly powerful.

Medium-bodied. Hops turning a bit more citrussy in the mouth. Slightly odd lingering aftertaste, can't quite pick it. As it warms I'm getting a hint of diacetyl on the nose, but I'm not getting the normal "textural" diacetyl in the mouth. That aftertaste is resolving itself into a grainy astringency. Other than that this is a really nice beer. Highly drinkable.

Most of my own brews lately have been malt- or yeast-driven so I'm glad of a bit of hoppy zing. Thanks a lot mate!

[Andrew]

This was first up for me as well. I found a definitely diacetyl aroma and flavour but it wasn't over the top and the carbonation was a little low on my bottle. Had a really nice copper/amber colour with slight haze. Aroma was quite citrus driven for me with a hint of passionfruit and some orangey aromas. Had a quite an astringent bitterness but I didn't find it offensive and overall I liked the beer. Cheers

[Matt Smith]

Big fruity esters on the nose. I think I picked up a little diacetyl, but I'm not entirely versed on it yet, I need someone to give me a hard and fast example of it. Hop flavours came across to me as mildly citrusy but also woody and slightly minty, reminiscent of a steam ale. A nice chewy maltyness, with a lingering bitterness which was nice.

Thanks JR, I enjoyed this !

[John H]

Quite liked this one. Nice bold hops with a decent malt backbone. Could have drunk another, and another...

If I didnt know this was S04 I wouldn't have picked it - great beer - thanks for sharing.

[SR]

Really want to drink our beer again to compare with the reviews so far, but only have one bottle left for drinking after all the reviews are in...

[Stu H]

For me it poured amber, with virtually no head, despite how hard I tried. A hint of haze for me, but nothing out of the ordinary for a pale ale.

I got peaches and apricots in the nose, along with "hops", damn it made me wanna start drinking! Flavourwise the aroma took a back seat, to be replaced with chewy caramel, and some toffee. Medium body.

Good strong bitterness, which lingered around, making me want to drink more!

I really enjoyed drinking this, thanks very much!

[Adrian Tayler]

Very nice drop this one, perfectly balanced.. could have used more head though... but then again, cant we all.

[Richard Jack]

Knocking this one off watching the cheifs and clearing the decks for a brew tomorrow.

Saw it was bottle conditioned so I've kept it cold in the fridge for a few days, but still quite swirly yeast in the bottom of the bottle as I move the bottle slightly and pour - Any gelatin in there or other finings? Still, my first glass pours clean so I'll review that one, and it's clear with a minimal head which vanishes but spot on carb for my tastes.

Beautiful balanced nose, kinda melon-ish hop notes in with the expected citrus. Bit of malt sweetness too and a mild blend of esters and a bit of diactyl which actually adds to it for me.

Really liked that bitterness on the palate, soft up front and bordering on astingent as it fades but not quite there. I've got basil as an aftertaste? Go figure. Anyway, exactly what I wanted right now.

Overall, loving it, a great reminder that you shouldn't hate on so4 :)

Cheers mate

[Richard Jack]

cheeky addendum - by the end of the last glass the diacetyl has come up a bit. still, not taking too much away and I'm still enjoying it. Thanks again.

[Tilt]

I'd been looking forward to this one all day as I was in the mood for hoppy PA.  And this one delivered.

Golden copper in colour with a moderate white head that falls down to a lingering thin layer.  The aroma is fruity mandarin and sweet malt with a wisp of butterscotch.  Plenty of citrus bitterness balances the sweetness and it slides down nicely.  The bitterness lingers around, with a stronger diacetyl butteriness as part of the aftertaste thats slightly distracting for me.  Nice beer JR and SR - enjoyed this one and thanks for sharing.

[Dan]

I saved this beer for last - and then lost the notes! Dumbass - haha.

It was a fantastic beer too and I wish I could give it the fullest review possible. My overall impression was of a well made, hoppy ale. Great balance. I think it was spot on with carb levels too - my notes would have told me!

Big up's to you both for a great beer!

Cheers!