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Recipe: De Bekeerde Suster Cacao Pale Ale
From the historic heart of Amsterdam, De Bekeerde Suster brewer Jason Pellett shares this recipe for a hop-forward pale ale that makes use of cacao’s fruity pulp (and a few of the nibs).
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Jason Pellett started experimenting with cacao fruit at Orpheus Brewing in Atlanta. Orpheus closed last year, and Pellett now brews at the Bekeerde Suster brewpub in the heart of Amsterdam, while also launching his own project—a brand called the Hollows. The recipe below is a variation on the hop-forward, Belgo-American-style pale ale he brews at the Bekeerde Suster—and it includes the cacao seeds for extra spice.
“The fruity and spicy character from the blend of hops and yeasts provides a boost to the fruity melon-and-lychee character of the flesh, plus the spice-cake character of the seeds of the cacao fruit,” Pellett says. “It would be a shame to source the fruit and not use the fermented fruit to further process into cacao nibs for your next beer.”
For more on how to do that—and on brewing with this distinctive fruit—see Pulp Nonfiction: The True Story of Brewing with Cacao Fruit.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.051 (12.5°P)
FG: 1.011 (2.8°P)
IBUs: 52
ABV: 5.2%
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Jason Pellett started experimenting with cacao fruit at Orpheus Brewing in Atlanta. Orpheus closed last year, and Pellett now brews at the Bekeerde Suster brewpub in the heart of Amsterdam, while also launching his own project—a brand called the Hollows. The recipe below is a variation on the hop-forward, Belgo-American-style pale ale he brews at the Bekeerde Suster—and it includes the cacao seeds for extra spice.
“The fruity and spicy character from the blend of hops and yeasts provides a boost to the fruity melon-and-lychee character of the flesh, plus the spice-cake character of the seeds of the cacao fruit,” Pellett says. “It would be a shame to source the fruit and not use the fermented fruit to further process into cacao nibs for your next beer.”
For more on how to do that—and on brewing with this distinctive fruit—see Pulp Nonfiction: The True Story of Brewing with Cacao Fruit.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.051 (12.5°P)
FG: 1.011 (2.8°P)
IBUs: 52
ABV: 5.2%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
7.5 lb (3.4 kg) Weyermann Extra Pale Premium Pilsner
15 oz (425 g) Weyermann Vienna
15 oz (425 g) Weyermann Wheat Malt Pale
HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
0.7 oz (20 g) Saaz at 60 minutes [9 IBUs]
0.7 oz (20 g) Saaz at 15 minutes [5 IBUs]
0.35 oz (10 g) each Citra, Saaz, Styrian Wolf at 5 minutes [18 IBUs]
0.7 oz (20 g) each Citra and Styrian Wolf at flameout/whirlpool [20 IBUs]
4.4–6.6 lb (2–3 kg) cacao pulp with seeds at secondary
YEAST
Fermentis SafAle BE-256 and Lallemand LalBrew Verdant IPA, blended 50/50
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 149°F (65°C) for 45 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as needed to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 75 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. After the boil, do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, add the whirlpool hops, and allow 20 minutes to steep and settle. Chill to about 64°F (18°C), aerate the wort, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 66°F (19°C) for 2 days, then allow a free-rise as high as 73°F (23°C). Once fermentation is complete and gravity has stabilized—in about 5–7 days—rack onto the cacao fruit and macerate for 2 weeks. Rack, package, and carbonate to about 2.5 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Water profile: 75 ppm chloride, 50 ppm sulfate.
Yeast: I like the array of fruity esters from the blend of BE-256 and Verdant, but feel free to use a single 11.5 g pack of either.
Jason Pellett is the brewer at De Bekeerde Suster in Amsterdam.
