Columbus Pale Ale

Football season is upon us (well, those of us in the South) and I need a quaff-able, tasty beer to tailgate with.  I also have about 6 oz of 2011 crop CTZ hops, so when I was putting together a recipe, I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone.  

Since it will still be hot here for the next 3 months, I didn't want anything that I couldn't put back easily, and I also wanted to keep the ABV down.  I read a little on hoppy, low ABV pale ales (Session IPAs if you will, but please don't) and used a few techniques to keep the beer simple and drinkable without being bland or too hop forward.  I've combined flavorful malts with a high mash temp and oats to get some more body and flavor.  I've also backloaded my hopping schedule to keep it flavorful and hoppy without too much lingering bitterness.

Batch size 2.5 gallon

OG 1.055

FG 1.202

ABV 4.7%

IBU 39.9

3 lb Maris Otter

2.5 lb Vienna

4 oz Flaked oats

0.5 oz Columbus (15 min)

0.5 oz Columbus (5 min)

1 oz Columbus (Flamout)

2 oz Columbus (Dry hop)

Mash at 156F for 60 min (7.19 qt) sparge with 2.25 gal water at 168F.

WLP002