Day 18: Fat Christmas Angel

[jadixon]

This is a clone of Magic Hat's no-longer-produced Fat Angel, with a few additions to make it more festive for the holidays. Our Clone Brews book calls it an American Amber Ale, while BeerAdvocate calls it an English Pale Ale. We typically brew 10-gallon batches, and this was our first 5-gallon batch using our equipment. There was more boil-off than expected, but the gravity was spot-on; since we only needed 24 bottles, we didn't top-off with additional water (maybe a mistake?). We also typically keg, so this is one of the few times we've dealt with priming sugar and bottling. I find it to be over-carbonated and a tad malty, but still enjoyable; my girlfriend likes it a lot. Anyway, here's the recipe:

Steeping Grains
10oz 80°L American crystal malt
6oz German dark Munich malt

Extract
5.75lb Muntons extra-light DME

Hops
.75oz Columbus @ 8%AA (60 min)
1oz Styrian Goldings (15 min)
.5oz Styrian Goldings (2 min)
.5oz Styrian Goldings (after primary)

Extras
1tsp Irish moss (15 min)
1oz Bitter orange peel (10 min)
1tsp Paradise seeds (5 min)

Yeast
Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale

OG: 1.051
FG: 1.012

Note: I can't remember for sure, but I think we couldn't find Styrian Goldings hops, and substituted with Fuggles. Also, we only found Columbus hops at 16%AA (I think), so we reduced the amount accordingly.

[Greg M]

Real tasty! Ours was a little over-carbed, like you mentioned. It didn't seem too malty at all though. I think I may be borrowing this recipe, seems like you could drink it year round.