APA and American Red hints and tips please

[TheMumbler]

I am thinking about a double brew day to make an APA for the Saltaire comp and an american Red or Amber using one mash and some steeped grain for the red/amber.

I have some oldish (2011 harvest) Simcoe and Chinook in the freezer so I am wondering whether to go with that or get something nice and fresh (cascade seems the obvious choice) for late additions. Amarillo is currently available and nice though and I quite fancy making Dark Young again since it was good and I should really have a go at brewing the same beer twice just to see what happens.

I am out of base malt but would probably look at MO or similar. I am thinking that the basic grain bill should be something simple, say:

90-95% MO
5-10% Pale Crystal

So any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[cwiseman77]

I used Apollo for a nice APA back in November

 

[Franklin]

I've not considered my recipe at all yet, I'm just telling everyone else to!!! oops! :)

 

[TheMumbler]

I used Apollo for a nice APA back in November

I have heard a couple of people say apollo is nice.

I've not considered my recipe at all yet, I'm just telling everyone else to!!! oops! :)

Have you made a move into management Ade? :P

I am mainly just wanting to brew something and the APA competition seemed like a good target to motivate me.

 

[cwiseman77]

I used Apollo for a nice APA back in November

I have heard a couple of people say apollo is nice.

Yeah I really liked it :thumb:

 

[unclepumble]

I am thinking about a double brew day to make an APA for the Saltaire comp and an american Red or Amber using one mash and some steeped grain for the red/amber.

I have some oldish (2011 harvest) Simcoe and Chinook in the freezer so I am wondering whether to go with that or get something nice and fresh (cascade seems the obvious choice) for late additions. Amarillo is currently available and nice though and I quite fancy making Dark Young again since it was good and I should really have a go at brewing the same beer twice just to see what happens.

I am out of base malt but would probably look at MO or similar. I am thinking that the basic grain bill should be something simple, say:

90-95% MO
5-10% Pale Crystal

So any thoughts or suggestions?

The Dry APA recipe in Brewing Classic Styles is a good start, Pale, a little munich & a hint of Carapils off the top of my head.
hops your choice, but any of the C's works & Ammarillo is a great late/dry hop, also Chinook gives you a nice durty beer, but for a classic APA I would Bitter with Magnum and add loads of cascade late & Dry hop with the same or some Centenial.

Happy Brewing

Shane

 

[Ceejay]

I really like the Centennial/Amarillo combination, although I have heard that a huge whack of Apollo and Bravo late in the boil comes out very similar to Citra, which I'm itching to try. Grain bill wise, Brewing Classic styles has two recipes. There's a dry, biscuity one, which is Pale Ale Malt (I use MO), 5% Munich, 5% wheat, 7.6% Victory (sub Biscuit) to 1056, 40 IBU. Use "C" hops or Amarillo etc, or maybe you could use a tropical style NZ hop for a slightly different dimension. Personally, I like a lot of late hop character in my APA, so I tend to hop burst these days. Less than half the IBU at 60 mins, and the rest all in 15,10 and 5 mins with a big charge of citrussy 0 minute hops.

The "APA with caramel" recipe is just Pale Ale malt, 5.5% Munich, 8.2% crystal 40 to 1052 and 40 IBU :thumb:

 

[TheMumbler]

Thanks for the replies. I seem to remember that the Munich in some of those american recipes is to give a bit of malt character which should be at least partly covered by using English malt.

I suppose the first thing I need to get straight in my mind is whether I want to go for dry clean APA like SNPA or something a bit maltier. I would normally prefer something maltier but since I am going for a red/amber alongside it might be nicer to have the variety...

Any thoughts on the steeped grains to get something along the lines of an american red/amber? I am leaning towards using Chinook for the red/amber but I'm not sure why.

 

[cwiseman77]

Thanks for the replies. I seem to remember that the Munich in some of those american recipes is to give a bit of malt character which should be at least partly covered by using English malt.

I suppose the first thing I need to get straight in my mind is whether I want to go for dry clean APA like SNPA or something a bit maltier. I would normally prefer something maltier but since I am going for a red/amber alongside it might be nicer to have the variety...

Any thoughts on the steeped grains to get something along the lines of an american red/amber? I am leaning towards using Chinook for the red/amber but I'm not sure why.

Medium caramalt or amber malt maybe

 

[Good Ed]

you could also listen to The Jamil Show podcast http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Jamil-Show/search/american+pale+ale I find these are a great source of info :thumb:

 

[TheMumbler]

you could also listen to The Jamil Show podcast http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Jamil-Show/search/american+pale+ale I find these are a great source of info :thumb:

Thanks Good Ed, I have already listened to some of the Jamil show on APAs. They are a great free resource. I sometimes find that I have trouble identifying a UK equivalent for some of the grains they use though. The US brewers seem to have an amazing array of crystal malts for example and I always have to go and check what the conversion of Lov to EBC is (roughly half or double, I always forget for some reason). Talking to UK brewers is often helpful in terms of identifying which local ingredients work well.

 

[Blackjack]

Here is my humble offering for a recipe. I recently spent a happy time in Glasgow and found the Brewdog bar and things like 5am Saint.

I came straight home and got inspired to brew a serious IPA in a US style.

For 9 gallons ( 42 lts.)

Maris Otter Pale Malt ( Warminster ) 9.5Kgs
to an OG of 1.054 mashed in the normal manner at approx 66C with two batch sparges.

90 Minute boil with...
Challenger 150gms ( 2011 and a bit tired)
Cascade 50gms

At flame out...
Cascade 100gms.

Live thwaites yeast, cooled after 4 days, racked on the 6th day.

Straight out of the FV it was mega good despite cloudiness, with no hint of undue sweetness or heaviness and although very bitter no undue harshness. naturally it was very pale straw colour. The hops appeared to have done the right thing and "cut" the normal body of a strong ale.

Currently "lagering" in a cask for a week or two before I rack it into two bag in boxes. this is an experimental brew and on the part way test so far I am hopeful. Not using any finings in the cask and hoping to test clarity flavour and longevity in a bag.

The only change I might make is a very modest addition of Crystal malt ( 200 gms)

Fingers Crossed for the final result :pray:

 

[cwiseman77]

I rack it into two bag in boxes. :

Rack into bag in boxes?? What kind of bag in boxes? When will you prime?

 

[TheMumbler]

thanks for the reply Blackjack I hope it goes well

I am after more of an APA than an American IPA

My current thought is a single mash split resulting in


APA
Brewlength 20 litres
OG1053
FG 1013
SRM 10 Lov
IBU 34 (tinseth)

4000g Maris Otter
250g Pale Crystal
250g Carapils

20g Simcoe (11.9) @ 30 mins
20g Simcoe (11.9) @ 15 mins
20g Simcoe (11.9) @ 0 mins
20g Amarillo (10.9) @ 0 mins
20g Amarillo (10.9) dry hop


yeast: US05 at around 18c

Amber
OG1060
FG 1015
SRM 10 Lov
IBU 37 (tinseth)

4000g Maris Otter
250g Pale Crystal
250g Carapils
500g Caramunich (steep)
500g Crystal (steep)

20g Simcoe (11.9) @ 60 mins
20g Chinook (12.5) @ 15 mins
20g Chinook(12.5) @ 0 mins
20g Simcoe (11.9) @ 0 mins

yeast not sure (maybe mauribrew ale), fermentation will be uncontrolled as not enough space in the temp control fridge

 

[Franklin]

Look good :)

 

[TheMumbler]

Brewday

 

[Stihler]

I really like Amarillo hops.

For both my APAs and American style IPAs I like to use only Amarillo hops.

When judging those styles one tends to look for citrus, particularly grapefruit, in the aroma and flavor. Amarillo kind of just smacks you upside the head with grapefruit on both counts.

This is not exactly subtle hop which is probably why I like it.

What can I say? I learned subtlety from my cats.

Oops! Just realized you had posted your final recipe.

It looks good.

I would probably replace the 15 minute boil of only Simcoe hops with using 10 grams Simcoe hops and 10 grams of Amarillo hops but....

- Scott

 

[TheMumbler]

Glad it looks OK Scott, as it turned out I only had 250g of crystal so subbed in 200g of amber, so I'm not sure what it will be any more. Always good to get some input from Americans on American styles.

As for judging, I'm not too bothered how the APA does in the competition. The Saltaire do is good fun and I'll mainly be going to catch up with people.