@mazzle reviews... (drumroll)... Boatrocker Brewery! (and tells you how to make a Pale Ale)

Hi Steemians! @mazzle here. I'm here to give you another post for #beersaturday!

Today I visited Boatrocker Brewery, which is located in Braeside, Melbourne, on my way home from the office (work on a Saturday... ergh...). Boatrocker Brewery is one of our well known local small breweries. This is what they say about themselves on their Facebook Page:

Boatrocker Brewery are a small, family owned and run microbrewery in Melbourne's south-east. We make world class, international award winning beers, without compromising on the quality of the ingredients. Hopefully you can join us on the journey that is craft beer.

_{This is the only way I was able to find this place while driving around industrial Braeside, Melbourne}

_{You have to love the classy entrance, good thing the beer is good and cold}

The brewery has a small tasting area in part of their warehouse. They offer tastings as well as providing an area to sit and reflect on your choice of pot or pint. I was able to try 3 beers before choosing one to sit and drink.

_{You can see that Boatrocker favours either a heavy, dark beer or a fruity/sour beer by their selection available}

The beers I tried were:

• Lil’ RIPA
  A mid-strength IPA that is hoppy, with only mild fruity overtones. A decent beer but nothing to rave about.
• California Dremin’
  This was an interesting US Pale Ale. It had an intense fruity aroma and was actually quite sweet on the palate. This beer simply had too much fruit for my liking.
• The final beer that I actually chose to sit and drink was the Alpha Queen US Pale Ale.

This beer also has a mild to strong fruity aroma which is subtle enough to be enjoyable. It is a nice, dark amber colour in the glass with well balanced carbonation.

_{mmm beeeer}

The beer was brewed with a combination of US and UK hops. The fruitiness comes from the US ( California) hops. So it was a smart choice to balance this beer with some UK (or more traditional) hops. There are definite citrus notes both on the palate and on the nose. This is new to me in a Pale Ale (as someone who grew up drinking Coopers Pale Ale) but not unpleasant.

Would I drink this beer again? Absolutely. Is Boatrocker worth a visit? Yes and no. If you enjoy fruity or sour beers then this is the place for you. Boatrocker also do some decent strong ales and stouts (I've had their Strong Ale which was excellent and quite similar to Chimay Blue), such as their well known Oatmeal Stout. So if you're a fan of a heavier beer, then absolutely pay them a visit.

This is a good brewery however not my favourite. I’d rate the brewery 3 out of 5 steins and their Alpha Queen US Pale Ale 3.5 our of 5 steins.

Has anyone else tried Boatrocker beers? I'd love to hear your feedback in the comments.

How to Make a Citrus Pale Ale
Today, I'll give you a recipe for a Citrus Pale Ale. A pale ale is a great beer to try making if you're new to home brewing. Funnily enough, I'll be putting one of these on to brew tomorrow so can give some feedback about my success/ failure in the near future. Pale Ale recipes are generally fairly simple, which is why they are perfect when starting out with home-brew.

As always, if you can't source any of the ingredients below, speak with someone at your local brew shop. They'll know what ingredients to replace any of the ones listed below with.

The Data
Batch size: 6 gallons (22.71 litres)
Original Gravity: 1.056
Final Gravity: 1.011
ABV: 5.9%
IBU: 35

Malt
11 lbs. 2-Row (90%)
.75 lbs Crystal 40L (6%)
.5 lbs CaraPils (4%)

Hops
Citra AA% = 12
Cascade AA% = 6
.5 oz Citra (60 min) (14g)
.5 oz Citra (15 min) (14g)
.5 oz Cascade (15 min) (14g)
.5 oz Citra (0 min) (14g)
.5 oz Cascade (0 min) (14g)
.5 oz Citra (dry hop) (14g)
1 oz Cascade (dry hop) (28g)

Yeast
WLP001 California Ale yeast with 2 liter yeast starter.

Extract Option:
Replace the 2-Row with 8.25 lbs (3.78kg) light liquid malt extract. Add half of the extract in the beginning and half with 15 minutes left in the boil to preserve the lighter color of this beer.

Method
Mash at 154F (68 degrees celsius). Cool to 66F (19 degrees celsius) and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68F (20 degrees celsius) until fermentation stops, then transfer to secondary and dry hop for 7 days. Carbonate to 2.2 volumes.
_{recipe source}

Have you made your own pale ale before? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this recipe!

As always, if you like my content, please upvote, resteem and follow @mazzle!