For some time now lots of pubs and customers have been asking for us to bring back a mid-4% abv amber ale into the Moon Gazer family.
It seems that plenty of you fondly remember our 4.5% Norfolk Pale Ale which was really well received when we introduced it as a guest beer a couple of years ago. So, we figured that the time was right to give you what you wanted.
In fairness it would have been here sooner but, Ostara – our Spring ale – seemingly had no respect for the seasons and we kept brewing it all the way through spring and right into summer.
But, enough is enough. Time to introduce what we’ll call our Indian summer amber ale – Skipper.
Now, much as you enjoyed the aforementioned Norfolk Pale Ale we felt that it was time for an all new recipe.
We wanted Skipper to have a nice pale ale feel to it, plenty of hoppiness and flavour but to be a soft easy drinking ale as well – a pale ale meets a session IPA you could say.
We also wanted the beer to have quite a complex mouthfeel and malt profile, so joining Maris Otter in the mash tun was a healthy dose of torrified wheat, brown malt, crystal malt and a sprinkling of oats.
As for the hops, a combination of American, British and Slovenian hops are used to give the beer a floral and citrus flavour and aroma.
Starting with the American hops we turned to two modern day classics; Mosaic and Cascade – with plenty of citrus and floral notes from this pairing.
Backing up the US duo is a hop called Admiral – a British hop we are increasingly fond of due to the smooth orange character it can bring to a beer.
Completing the hop line up is Savinjski Golding, the classic Slovenian hop which actually originates from the Fuggles hop not the Godling – so a bit of an identity crisis going on there but it does offer a lovely lemon aroma and flavour to a beer when it is allowed to shine in a recipe.
Pop them altogether and you get a good clean, fruity flavour.
As a nice summer beer don’t expect a hop explosion – think subtle flavours and balance, but certainly and easy drinking ale for summer – albeit an Indian Summer.
Enjoy