The French Nevada Pale Ale Recipe
- Color: Golden (17.5 EBC)
- Alcohol: ~5.6% (depending on efficiency)
- Volume : 20L
- Bitterness: Moderate (38 IBU)
- Difficulty: Easy
- Brew time: 5 hours
Ingredients :
- 4,6 kg Pale Ale Malt
- 0,4 kg Caramel Ambré Malt
- 20 g Mistral Hops (First Wort)
- 20 g de Mistral Hops (Ébullition : 10 min)
- 60 g de Mistral Hops (Hors flamme : 20 min à 90°C)
- 1 pouch Lovures – Boudig Ar Breser (200 ml)
- Total water volume: 33 L (Ideally Sulfate > Chloride = 1.5)
Step 1:
In your mash tun, heat 17 liters of water to 72°C and pour in the crushed grains.
Stir well to fully wet the malt and break up any clumps against the sides of the vessel.
Mix until the temperature drops to 67°C, then hold it there for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, heat 16 liters of water to 75°C for sparging.
Step 2:
If possible, perform a 10‑minute mash‑out at 75°C.
Step 3:
Proceed with lautering and sparging.
For a softer bitterness and a slight aromatic boost, add 20 g of Mistral at this stage.
Step 4:
Bring your wort to a boil for 60 minutes.
At 10 minutes before the end, add 20 g of Mistral.
Once the boil is finished, let the wort cool down to 90°C, then add:
- 60 g of Mistral and let steep for 20 minutes.
If you are using an immersion chiller, don’t forget to sterilize it by placing it in the boiling wort during the last 15 minutes of the boil.
Step 5:
Cool the wort to 18°C, transfer it to the fermenter, and pitch the yeast.
The original gravity should be around 1.053 (depending on efficiency).
Ferment at 18–20°C for 4 weeks.
Rolling Beers Tip: If you have temperature control, ferment at 18°C for the first 3 days. Raise to 21°C for the next 3 days, then increase once more to 24°C. This approach ensures a stress‑free start to fermentation. Increasing the temperature after primary fermentation keeps the yeast active and helps it finish cleanly.
The final gravity should be around 1.010.
Depending on your equipment, perform a cold crash for 4–5 days at 3°C.
Step 6:
Sterilize 7 g/L of sugar (in a bit of water) for bottling. For the pressure‑control team, carbonate to 2.4 volumes of CO₂.
Conclusion :
This Pale Ale recipe is our French tribute to one of the most iconic beers in the American craft scene: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Same philosophy, same balance between malt and hops… but with a deliberate twist: everything is French. The malts, the hops, and above all… the Boudig Ar Breser yeast from our Breton friends at “Lovures”.
The result: a toasty, aromatic, resinous, lightly caramelized Pale Ale — perfectly balanced and incredibly easy to drink. A true American‑style Pale Ale recipe, but brewed with the best of French terroir.
French Nevada Pale Ale develops a floral, slightly fruity aroma with a resinous touch that immediately evokes old‑school American Pale Ales. Mistral hops bring notes of white fruit, fresh flowers and a hint of citrus, while maintaining a clean yet moderate bitterness.
On the malt side, the Pale Ale + Caramel Amber duo builds a soft, biscuit‑like, lightly toffee base, perfectly aligned with the Sierra Nevada spirit.
The Boudig Ar Breser yeast, close to a Chico‑type strain, ensures a clean, dry and neutral fermentation, allowing the malt/hop duo to fully express itself.
An ideal recipe to discover Lovures yeast, to brew a balanced Pale Ale, or simply to rediscover the charm of the “old school” beers that shaped the American craft movement.
Rolling Beers Tip: To enhance the malt character and give the beer more depth, you can use 17.5 L of sparge water and extend the boil to 90 minutes, without changing the hopping schedule.