Wow, ten years! Even though I've only been here the last two years of Franklin's first decade in the brewing industry, I'm extremely happy to be a part of this celebration. Ten years is a great feat for any business and obviously it would have never happened if it wasn't for the loyal friends of Franklin's who grace our front doors on a regular basis. Many people were surprised when I announced that our 10th Anniversary Ale was not some exotic alcohol bomb of a beer. A pale ale may not seem exciting to some, but I felt it was the perfect way to acknowledge what Franklin's is and what we represent. Our roots began with a general store and then snowballed into a brew pub, something that no one could have predicted would happen twenty years ago, let alone become a success and undoubtedly a keystone of the Hyattsville community. Pale ales are meant to be solid easier drinking ales for a wide variety of palates and I feel that sums who many of our supporters are. The difference with this pale ale is that we made it unique, just like a brew pub with a general store attached. This is not an American nor an English pale ale, its a true hybrid, just like we are.
The grist bill started with Weyermann Pilsner and Munich malts,honey malt and biscuit malt. Combining German Tettnang and American Cascade at a equal ration and making hop additions at 90,30 and 0 minutes to provide about 25 IBUs in a 5.3% ABV beer. We used a unique blend of two ale yeasts including a European strain that mellowed the beer out by minimizing the amount of fruity esters, leaving behind a clean beer. After fermentation we dry hopped it with Tettnang and Cascade to complete the circle. Left unfiltered of course despite a lowly flocculant yeast left this beer with a haze from the first to last glass of this batch. The aroma was a combination of earthy spiciness and piney citrus. Medium bodied with touches of bread, sweet malt and balanced by a firm hop bitterness and medium dry finish made this beer an extremely session-able pale ale. Here's to everyone who helped get us here and to another ten years of success.
