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

Yakima 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Transferred to secondary this week. Tastes fantastic! I used the wlp051 and I really like the results. Finally found a yeast I like.
 
BierMuncher said:
I’m not one to pat myself on the back but this is one spot-on clone of Kona’s Fire Rock Pale Ale.

As APA’s go, it’s still malty enough to really stand out as a very flavorful beer without overdoing the bitterness. I substituted Centennial for the Galena and dry hopped this batch with 1/2 Oz of Centennial for 7 days. That really gave it a nice “Whoosh” I was looking for.

This is maltier and more robust in flavor than SNPA in my opinion. If you love the hop flavor / aroma without the high bitterness, this is perfect.

Anyway, whether you like or don’t like Kona Pale Ale, this clone will get you dangerously close.


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 14.40 gal
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 6.7 SRM
View attachment 4170
Estimated IBU: 35.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount
18.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
2.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)

1.00 oz Centennial [9.50%] (60 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [7.80%] (40 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [7.80%] (30 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [7.80%] (20 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [7.80%] (10 min)
0.50 oz Mt Hood [3.70%] (5 min)

1 Pkgs German Ale/Kolsch (White Labs #WLP029) Yeast-Ale

Dry hop with ½ Oz of Centennial per 5-gallons for 5-7 days.

Mashed at 154.

Primary for two weeks then straight to keg.
Cold conditioned keg (in garage) for 10 days, then to gas
Crystal clear right out of the tap.

View attachment 4171
Click to expand...

BM, do you continue to use the German Ale/Kolsch yeast?
 
I brewed this recipe about 1.5 months ago... tapped the keg about three weeks ago, started drinking about two weeks ago, polished keg of last night. Turned out very good, and I will agree that it is very similar to Fire Rock Pale Ale. Needless to say it will be brewed again, very soon. I'm currently getting equipment together to step up to 10-15 gallon batches, this will probably be my first double...

FYI, my only edit to the recipe was yeast... I used SafAle 04 on this batch.


Home_Brew_043.JPG


Home_Brew_046.JPG
 
Best beer I've made to date. It tasted so good moving it from primary to secondary that I went ahead and made it again. Now that the first batch is ready, I'm glad I made the second!


On the second batch I had to sub Amarillo for Centennial on the bittering. Interested if I can pick out any difference. The WLP051 is my new go to yeast.
 
IMO a lot of the character of the Kona original is the unique fruitiness of the Kolsch strain... if you use another yeast I'm sure it'll be good, but it won't be exactly the same as the original.
 
Today I'm doing a brew-over of this one. Had a sixer of the real thing last night and now I want more!!! I'm tired of this break from brewing that I've taken to work on the single tier. It's not 100% done yet but I just installed one of the burners to do this brew.
 
I was going to brew this today, but i'm not sure about my starter. My yeast was two months past it's best by date and i think it smelled a little different than most other yeasts i've used. I've never used kolsch yeast before, but it was more carmel and less yeasty. Plus, it's been in my starter for 36 hours and while it may not have been at 70 degrees the entire time, there hasn't seemed to be any activity. I"m trying to decide whether to order my yeast and put this on hold or go ahead and make it and see what happens with this yeast.

Any suggestions?
 
Brewed my second batch last night... only did a 5 gal since I don't have all of my 10 gal equipment yet. Made the same yeast substitution as last time, other then that exactly the same. Can't wait to kill this batch!
 
I going to give this recipie a shot tomorrow, I picked up a WY1056 to use, and I'm going to do the partial mash.
My big question is does interchanging a malt change anything, i.e. flavor, body, head, much if it on the same lovibond scale. The reason why I ask is because they didn't have honey malt at my homebrew store. The owner directed me to use a vienna malt at the same 20-25deg. L scale instead.
 
I just kegged this one tonight. Now this my new least greenest beer Iv ever made. The Orange Cascade is a close second.

I used a slurry from a local Micro Brewery. It was almost a full quart of yeast. It began working hard a half hour after I pitched. It has great mouth feel and a great taste. It is green a little but not much. Cool er down with some carbonation. Let er age a few more weeks and wow.
 
Can you explain the Honey Malt? I'm looking forward to trying this. I'm gonna use Wyeast 2565 I think.
 
Sorry, I saw it on their site. I really meant to ask what it lends to the beer but I've read a bit and it seems to be a unique sweet flavor with no substitute so I'll try it. I played with the recipe a little bit but I think it's still the same in spirit, I'll report back when I try some.
 
Honey malt is similar to Belgian Aromatic or German Melanoidin. They all lend a sweetness that comes through in the finished beer. Melanoidin tastes a bit like candied apples to me, honey malt tastes a bit like honey, and aromatic is like a sweet bread.
 
Quick question on the extract version. Would you still dryhop with centennial. I notice it's in the AG but not listed under the extract. I transferred to secondary last night and it is already excellent. I don't want to mess it up. Thank you very much for posting the recipe.
 
Forbein11 said:
Quick question on the extract version. Would you still dryhop with centennial. I notice it's in the AG but not listed under the extract. I transferred to secondary last night and it is already excellent. I don't want to mess it up. Thank you very much for posting the recipe.
Click to expand...

Yes, go a head and dry hop.

I'd give it five days.
 
Thanks for posting this recipe and the advice on the dryhopping. This beer is great! It is only 9 days in the bottle and its already a favorite. It will be in the rotation for a long time. Thanks again. :rockin:

Jamie
 
Never actually had one, but it looks great. I'm gonna brew tomorrow, with a few sub's:

S-04 for the yeast
I don't have any Mt Hood, so I was thinking about Saaz or Hallertauer. Not identical, just looking for something grassy, and as BM said "some complexity away from the american citrus hops"

Edit: What about fuggles in place of the mt hood?
 
davebl said:
Never actually had one, but it looks great. I'm gonna brew tomorrow, with a few sub's:

S-04 for the yeast
I don't have any Mt Hood, so I was thinking about Saaz or Hallertauer. Not identical, just looking for something grassy, and as BM said "some complexity away from the american citrus hops"

Edit: What about fuggles in place of the mt hood?
Click to expand...
Fuggles would work well, but I am a fan of the Hallertau. :rockin:
 
Alright, 11 gallons, in the fermenters. I swapped the Marris Otter for 2-row (forgot I was out of MO), and mt hood for US Hallertau, and used S-04.

Finished at 1.060 with 85% eff... normally I run about 75%. I started a new fly sparging method that REALLY seems to be working.

The OG sample tasted great. Normally I make my pale ales and IPA's more on the dry side, so I am excited to see what the higher mash and S-04 does.

Looks like another winning brew from BM!
 
Sun Devil said:
What change did you make that took you from 75% to 85%? I'm continuously hitting 73-75% fly sparging, wouldn't mind a boost if it was as consistent.
Click to expand...

I did two things:

1) Thinned my mash from 1.25qts/gal to 1.5qts/gal. This is a lot better for my system anyway because I use a RIMS and recirculate the mash.. seemed to go better.

2) I slowed my sparge way down. 4.5 minutes per gallon.

After mashing I drained the wort until it was just about at the grain bed, then started fly sparging, keeping the level in the mash tun at about an inch above the grain bed.

Seems to have worked, so far.
 

Similar threads

H
Citrusy Pale Ale to clean out the freezer
Replies
7
Views
779
lumpher
lumpher
S
Autumn Wheat Ale
Replies
5
Views
1K
kwilson16
kwilson16
3 Dawg Night
Pliny the Elder American Pale Ale
Replies
14
Views
2K
redrocker652002
R
Zippy123
Feedback on recipe to split mash for two different beers
Replies
2
Views
421
Zippy123
Zippy123
R
Pliny the Elder to an APA
Replies
14
Views
1K
redrocker652002
R

Latest posts

Back
Top