AG #2 - APA

[WelshPaul]

With 50l bottled off last weekend I thought I'd do a small 15 litre run of an American Pale Ale as an experiment. Here's what I used:

Malts:
4,000g Pale Malt
250g Munich
250g wheat malt
454g honey

Hops:
20g Amarillo (60mins)
20g Cascade (15 mins)
20g Cascade (dry hop)

Yeast:
S-05

OG = 1.056

It all pitched nicely and is happily brewing away. It's only 24 hours old but if the S-5 does its thing I'm expecting primary to be over in a couple of days. :drink:

 

[MikeB]

It's only 24 hours old but if the S-5 does its thing I'm expecting primary to be over in a couple of days. :drink:

Yes - it has a habit of doing that Awesome yeast...

 

[WelshPaul]

It's been in the FV for 4 days and has dropped to 1.010 already. It does have a nice disctinctive hoppy flavour but is still a bit on the sweet side due to being so young.
My main concern is the colour:

It is a lot cloudier than I would have liked. Is this due to the 250g of wheat malt that I added or is it simply that the yeasts are still very much active in suspension? Will it settle out after a few weeks?

 

[Cussword]

Give it time, it should drop clear-ish in a week or so :thumb:

 

[oz11]

In my experience US05 does hang around for a long time in suspension....patience is what's needed!

 

[WelshPaul]

Damn, patience is not a virtue that I am known for. Especially when beer is involved!

Thanks guys, looks like my side project of breeding a 24-hour-ready yeast needs to pick up some pace.

 

[Darcey]

US-05 is an awesome yeast, its just that I have not got awesome waiting skills. I did my last APA (10% Wheat) for a week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, 4 days @1C and kegged/bottled, still cloudy in both bottles and keg, bottles appear to have a MASSIVE sediment, hopefully the keg wont get blocked...

However, the beer tastes brilliant.. I think i'll tell my friends its a APA/wheat beer.

 

[phettebs]

My standard go-to malt based for APAs is pale malt and a small amount of medium crystal. Why? The hops dominate everything else as they should in an APA. The wheat and honey malt will get lost in there, IMO.

Do you have the ability to put the whole FV or secondary into a refrigerator? I will often do that at the end of primary to my US05 beers. It helps to drop the yeast. They do eventually clear on their own but this helps speed it up.

 

[WelshPaul]

I live in a shared house so I don't think I'd be popular for monopolising the fridge. The only reason I added the wheat was to assist in head retention; I may forgo it next time.

 

[WelshPaul]

Finally done! It cleared BEAUTIFULLY after a week or two in the fridge and the late hopped flavour is superb! I will definitely be making another batch of this baby. Cheers!

 

[Darcey]

looks good mate :clap:

My AG 2 only had a taste for the drain!

Now.. its all hail STARSAN :pray:

 

[MikeB]

Finally done! It cleared BEAUTIFULLY after a week or two in the fridge and the late hopped flavour is superb! I will definitely be making another batch of this baby. Cheers!

That looks very similar to mine... I have become completely hooked on the APA style and have brewed almost nothing else this summer (except for a cheeky little Christmas number which is dark and 6%, and packed away where I can't get at for a few months ) - whilst I love classic British ales, my head has really been turned by the hop aromas of Amarillo, Cascade etc...

I'll be setting up a fermentation fridge very soon so that I can have a crack at making lager. I wonder - has anyone on here made a lager using some of these American hops?

 

[phettebs]

I'm about to make an American amber lager with Cascade. I have not yet built a recipe so I haven't decided how "hop-forward" it will be. I'm harvesting my Cascade this weekend so maybe I'll use some fresh ones!

 

[MikeB]

I'm about to make an American amber lager with Cascade. I have not yet built a recipe so I haven't decided how "hop-forward" it will be. I'm harvesting my Cascade this weekend so maybe I'll use some fresh ones!

Lordy, that sounds delicious :) Share the recipe when you make it? (Can't believe I'm planning next summer's lagers already... )

 

[Equinox101]

Great final pic to show the difference at the end, looks great cheers!

 

[Darcey]

What bottles are you using?

 

[WelshPaul]

They're just a number of 330ml bottles that I have been collecting. San Miguel are the best ones I've found: no embossing on the glass and the labels come off nice and easily.