American Pale Ale Kona, Fire Rock Pale Ale (AG Clone)

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Brewed this one up with the following changes:
  • Used pilsner malt instead of pale malt (I had the maris otter, but thought I'd save it)
  • Replaced 60-min Centennial with Magnum
  • Replaced 5-min Mt. Hood with Amarillo
  • Replaced dry hop addition with Amarillo

It was not near cloned. It's tasty tho.

The hop aroma is far too strong, although I minded the AA's. And the flavor hops also kill the sweet honey malt taste and aroma that the commercial beer has.

No doubt that if I had followed the recipe to the letter it would have been closer. But who does that?
 


Followed the extract recipe. This is one tasty brew. Unfortunately, the original isn't available locally for comparison, but it tastes pretty close to what I remember. I'll definitely be making this one again. Thanks for sharing the recipe. :mug:
 
i have never had the original but im looking for a malty amber ale to drink for the summer untill i try your oktoberFAST. Could anyone give me a nice tasting note of this beer so I can compare my results as the original is not available anywhere around here.

As a side note. Does anyone remember the previews to the movie about the chick that is going to do all the reciepes in julie childs cook book? well I see myself working through biermunchers reciepes. Someone should make that into a movie...keep up the good work
 
As a side note. Does anyone remember the previews to the movie about the chick that is going to do all the reciepes in julie childs cook book? well I see myself working through biermunchers reciepes. Someone should make that into a movie...keep up the good work

Julia & Julia. Funny, I've had the same thought as I work my way through Jamil's Brewing Classic Styles.

Here are more reviews than you probably want to read.

FWIW, although it was not a clone (the way I made it, anyway), I am just in love with this beer (the way I made it anyway). My first Amarillo beer. Mmmm.
 
Brewed this beer with this modified recipe:


8.5# maris otter
1# munich
.75# melanoidin
.5 # Cara-pils

Hops

.5 Centennial---60 min
.25 Cascade----40 min
.25 Cascade----30 min
dry hop secondary with
.5 Mt. Hood

followed the original recipe other than these changes

REALLY NICE BREW!--wish i could get the honey malt to see the difference it would make!
 
Finally getting to the point of tasting... I made this almost verbatim to the original recipe, except dry-hopped too long (couldn't bottle when I wanted due to roofing our house), for 10 days.

Used S-04 in one carboy, WLP029 in the other. Here's what I found:


WLP029 - Cleaner malt taste with some bitterness - overall good balance. Nice lacing. Minor hop aroma and some hop taste. Chill haze.

S-04 - Definitive fruit taste and the hops more pronounced in taste than WLP029. Some hop aroma. Very close in all aspects to Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale, and closer than WLP029. Chill haze.
 
Brewed this up over the weekend. I halved the ingredients since I only have equipment for 5.5gal batches. I actually did 10lbs of Maris Otter to try and increase my efficiency.

I also had to use Wyeast American Wheat 1010 since my LHBS was out of the Kolsch. Hope it doesn't make too much difference. Got 69.34% efficiency per BeerSmith, OG 1.050 so i'm close! Using the swamp cooler method on the fermenter this time around too, so we'll see how it turns out.
 
WOW! i just brewed this using Wyeast 2565.. delicious.. might have to bump some other planned brews so i can brew this again. i havent compared it to fire rock yet but damn its good...
 
Good to hear! Mine has been bottled for 1.5-2 weeks. I tested a bottle and it didn't taste at all like it did at bottling time. I'm hoping it gets back to how the samples tasted. Just need to wait it out.
 
I really liked my version of this beer, but unfortunately I'm pretty sure it had a small infection. It was highly over carbed, but not quite a gusher... It still tasted decent, but there was something not quite right about it. I'll have to remake it again some day.
 
well im planning on making two more 5 gallon batches this weekend.. its the best pale ale ive ever made, mine turned out a tad different than the true fire rock but i like the version i made better and so do my neighbors!
 
I have a bag of RAHR 2-row that I plan to use for the base malt instead of the Maris Otter pale malt. I'm reading that the Maris Otter has a bit more "biscuit" character to it compared to a generic 2-row.

Any thoughts on adding anything else to make up for the difference in these base malts? Maybe a 1/4-1/2# of biscuit malt (for the 18# of base malt)?
 
This is going to be my next batch. It'll be the 3rd time I've brewed it. I have yet to decide if I'm going to use up some 1272 yeast or go buy the 2565.

I like the recipe "as is" so well I'd rather not mess with it.
 
This is going to be my next batch. It'll be the 3rd time I've brewed it. I have yet to decide if I'm going to use up some 1272 yeast or go buy the 2565.

I like the recipe "as is" so well I'd rather not mess with it.

I decided to get some wlp029 & brew it as is. Can't wait.
 
this is the best beer ive ever made... everyone loves it.. im addicted to it.. and now im addicted to using honey malt..!!!!!! im hoisting my 7th one tonight... damn good beer!

ive dont 5 batches of this and i prefer the 2565 but 1272 aint bad... i have to hit the 2565 with gelatin to get it clear.
 
I wanna do an all grain 5G batch of this on Mon. Beer tools, etc. isn't fired up yet. Would you help me with batch sparge volume, preboil gravity, and preboil volume. Mash in is at 154 right? This would really help.
 
im going to be brewing ten gallons of this beer tomorrow. I just made two yeast starters for tomorrows brew session. but, im going to use wlp001 yeast. and instead of mt hood hops at the end of the boil, im going to use one oz of some simcoe hops that i have. i will let you guys know how this goes.
 
Brew done. Subbed Willamette for Mt. Hood.
It was -25 degrees Celsius outside.. had a hard time keeping the boil going, so I missed my OG a bit. 1.051 instead of 1.053.
Also first time trying to strain the wort with a paint strainer, and I made the mistake of using bare unsanitized hands to squeeze out the 2 gallons of wort that got picked up in the strainer (NEVER AGAIN).
All in all, not my smoothest brew day, hopefully it will turn out ok.



I've heard you should ferment this Kolsch yeast at 60 degrees.. any danger in doing it at your recommended 68?
 
Brew done. Subbed Willamette for Mt. Hood.
It was -25 degrees Celsius outside.. had a hard time keeping the boil going, so I missed my OG a bit. 1.051 instead of 1.053.
Also first time trying to strain the wort with a paint strainer, and I made the mistake of using bare unsanitized hands to squeeze out the 2 gallons of wort that got picked up in the strainer (NEVER AGAIN).
All in all, not my smoothest brew day, hopefully it will turn out ok.



I've heard you should ferment this Kolsch yeast at 60 degrees.. any danger in doing it at your recommended 68?

68 degrees will be just fine. :mug:
 
I've had this in the fermenter for about 8 days now. My temp has been going up & down between 58-68 degrees. Normally, being in SoCal, I only have to worry about the high end of the temp and keeping it cool, but recently we've had some chilly nights and it's caused the temp to drop over night.

I used two WLP029's in a 3L starter and it took off pretty quick (pitched at 68). I'm sure fermentation is fine, but was more concerned about whether the up & down of the temp will cause any stress on the yeast and possibly add any odd flavors.
 
Up till a month ago I used a swamp cooler and being in the midwest my temps would swing alot. I noticed that my beers that would constantly swing from 64-68 would come out with a very strong almost asprine yeasty taste so it is def. a possibility. Once I got a temp controller on a mini fridge these flavors went away without any big change in my brewing
 
I just kegged a variation of this yesterday, and it's great!

I subbed the middle hop additions for Perle, since I have a huge stockpile of it.

I wasn't sure what to brew, so I looked this recipe up from my Driod right in the home brew shop while I was buying specialty grains.

The malt back bone in this one is just what I've been looking for. I'm thinking of brewing this one again next weekend, because I'm sure this 5 gallons won't last long.. ;)
 
Holy crap, the suspense is killing me. I cannot wait to drink this! My kegging gear is arriving tomorrow, and it's going to be my first kegged beer. Waiting for this to carb is going to be torture!
 
This is my first time using 2565 yeast, and my beer is super cloudy.. even after 3 weeks and cold crashing. What's up?

EDIT- I just realized it only fermented down to 1.018, from 1.051. It's in the keg.. is there anything I can do to save it?
 
This is my first time using 2565 yeast, and my beer is super cloudy.. even after 3 weeks and cold crashing. What's up?

EDIT- I just realized it only fermented down to 1.018, from 1.051. It's in the keg.. is there anything I can do to save it?

How long has it been chilled in the keg?
Did you use Irish Moss or any other finings in the boil?

Dry hopped beers can take a bit longer to clear than non...

You may consider shortening your dip tube by about 1/4 inch. If it is a stock dip tube, it could very well be resting in the yeast cake at the bottom of the keg.
 
I used Whirlfloc in the boil as I normally do. I'm so used to US-05 which is totally clear. It's been chilled in the keg for 24 hours. I pulled another pint this morning, just to see if it had cleared.. and it's absolutely cloudy.. almost milky.
 
Brewed this last week and moved it to the secondary for the dry hops after 6 days. Everything is going great. I was amazed at how much the hydrometer sample tasted like the original. The only difference was that I used Summit instead of Mt. Hood. I cant wait till this is bottled...
 
Ok.. passed with flying colors. My kegged batch is pretty well carbed, about 80% I'd say. My brother in law was over (BMC'er), and we killed about 10 pints of it! he loved it... my only concern is it's still very cloudy.
 
brewing this tommorow, but with pils instead of 2row....and using the no chill hop schedule since im letting naturally cool down
 
Update.. you really need to be patient with this beer if you use the Kolsch yeast. I'm so used to my Pale Ales being drinkable in 3 weeks. I did the 3 weeks in Primary, and it's been in the keg for a month, and is finally clear.

Very yummy, even my Corono drinking MIL liked it!
 
I've brewed this twice in 5 gallon batches now, each time with 1056 rather than Kolsch yeast, and a slightly different hop schedule based on what I had on hand.

I'm going to brew it next weekend following the real recipe, with maybe a bit more initial bittering hop.

Good recipe! I highly recommend it!
 
This should get you close

4.5# Extra Light DME
2# Marris Otter
1.5# Munich
.75# Honey Malt

.50 Oz Centennial (60)
.25 Oz Cascade (40)
.25 Oz Cascade (30)
.25 Oz Cascade (20)
.25 Oz Cascade (10)
.25 Oz Mt Hood or Hallertau (5)

Dry hop secondary with .5 Oz Centennial for 7 days.

Hello, I have read a lot on the forums and appreciate all the knowledge and recipes that many have posted. Its amazing how long you can wait before the need arises to make a post. Biermuncher..I think your recipes are great and have made 2-3 of your extract recommendations so far.

I used the above recipe and I added the dry hops using a nylon grain bad immediately after cooling and adding yeast. Was this appropriate or should I have waited 7 days to add the hops like I have read? Basically i think i am asking a technique for adding the dry hops to this beer appropriately? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for the recipe!
 
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