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

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I've never had the original Fire Rock, but it sounded good and this one has since become a staple in my little operation. Awesome example of an APA, thanks BM!
 
Ahoy hoy,
I have been planning on brewing this beer solely based on this thread. Until last night. As I walked through the Safeway beer store, there it was. The real thing. 9.95 a sixer. I grabbed one and took it home. The wife got one of them. I got the other 5. The bomb. The bomb. How tasty. Smooth and just drinkable. I was guzzling it. :drunk:
It was so good. First store bought in a month or so. Im just about to free up a couple carboys, but this might end up being a 10 galloner going in the fermenator. mmm mmm good.....
 
BM, is this some thing that would be drinkable in 4 weeks five days? I am a little pushed for time but this recipe looks great.
 
Ahoy hoy,
well I just brewed up a 10 gallonish batch. The ferminator is chugging nicely. I cannot wait to see how this one turns out! mmm mmm good....:eek:
 
is this some thing that would be drinkable in 4 weeks five days? I am a little pushed for time but this recipe looks great.

When I've made it the taste wasn't quite there until about 7-8 weeks total, so I wouldn't count on it for that time frame. A hefeweizen is the best bet for 4-5 weeks IMO.
 
Having planted a cascade hop rhizome a few weeks ago, I've been fantasizing about which beer I'm going to brew this fall using my harvested hops. I'm pretty much settled on this recipe, it sounds excellent.
 
AND..... 10 more gallons into fermenters. I used the WL German Kolsch this time.

I tried some of this, although quite green, and it's really amazing.
 
Just to add an update: I have brewed two batches of this beer, one pitched with S-04 and one pitched with WLP029 German Kolsch Yeast. There is a difference.

The first batch (S-04) doesn't have the fruiter, crisper finish that kolsch has. Now, the S-04 batch has been chilled and on gas for a week and is still a great beer. The WLP029 batch was racked to secondary to dry hop today, and that's when I had a sample taste.

As of now, I would say the Kolsch yeast is key for getting the fruitier, crispier notes in the finish.

I think this could be a house ale.
 
Naturally carbing this batch in the keg.

Kona_Dry_Hop.jpg
 
Just compared the real fire rock with the BM Kona clone I brewed 10 weeks ago. Extremely close. The real fire rock was a little darker and a little bit more roastiness to the malt - but that could have been due to my overshooting the FG by a little bit.

In all- a dam close clone. Thanks again BM!

what with all these recipes and threads on (no stinking) beer guns and what not- I don't think I would be half the brewer i am now without Biermuncher.
 
I recently 'devised' a recipe for 5.75 gal. that went:
9# Maris Otter
1# Lt. Munich
1/2# Honey Malt
1/4# Carapils

And then used Centennial throughout...but no dry hop.

I kind of felt I had seen the recipe before but couldn't find it. Now I found it again. I must have subliminally conjured up the recipe from my memory or something.

I used a slurry of Pacman yeast and gassed it a week and a half ago. It's good green but I think I shoulda dry hopped it. Always next time.:)
 
BM, is this some thing that would be drinkable in 4 weeks five days? I am a little pushed for time but this recipe looks great.

According to the quote below from BM on page one of this thread I would say yes.

If it's any indication, all 10-gallons of this beer are now gone.

Brewed on December 27th.
Kegged on January 11th.
Tapped on January 20th.
Floated on February 13th.

Talk about drinkability.

Thankfully I bottled off a 12-pack.

This beer had the smoothest, chewiest taste and a rocky head that wouldn't go away.

I know what I'm doing next weekend.
 
Mine was brewed 5/23 and it's decent already. But I'm still gonna give it a couple more weeks before I really start drinking it. My efficiency was higher so my OG was 1.057 but my FG was still 1.014.
 
Brewed this about 2 months ago but I did cut the honey malt in half. I had tried a Fire Rock right before brewing as it had been a while since I had it but recalled liking it. It was a bit too sweet on the finish for me which is why I reduced the honey malt. The beer turned out great and has been a hit with everyone I have given bottles to. I think I may cut out the honey malt completely on the next one and increase the Centennial dry-hop. Won't really be a Kona clone at that point but oh well......
 
Brewed this about 2 months ago but I did cut the honey malt in half. I had tried a Fire Rock right before brewing as it had been a while since I had it but recalled liking it. It was a bit too sweet on the finish for me which is why I reduced the honey malt. The beer turned out great and has been a hit with everyone I have given bottles to. I think I may cut out the honey malt completely on the next one and increase the Centennial dry-hop. Won't really be a Kona clone at that point but oh well......

As long as you're spreading the HB goodness...tweaking is a homebrewers right.
 
I put a 2 week old, 5G batch of this on gas last Sunday before leaving on a business trip. Sampled it last night and was very impressed. My wife and BIL had a taste and both said this may be the best one yet for their tastes. I am going to have to hide this one from the company coming over tonight so it can age a couple more weeks, I am going to be stingy. They can drink the Belgian Wit and sample the 2 Hearted clone, this one's all for me. Reminds me, I have six taps but only 3 beers to flow out of em. I think kegs are like celebrities, when one dies, two more will quickly follow. Time to repair that busted pipeline now that 2nd quarter results are in and my wings are clipped for awhile.

Thanks for sharing BM and without this site I would probably be knee deep in a case of Natty light right now :)
 
BierMuncher, thanks for posting this. Fire Rock is in my top three favorites. I have never brewed before but finding this has me committed to learning.

I am going to visit a home brew shop next week and dive in. Hopefully this recipe isn't too complex for a beginner. Thanks again.
 
I like mine (BierMuncher's) way better. Kona's tastes like it's feremented too warm. Slight fusels and funky off flavors.

beer62.jpg
 
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.

I notice you don't have the Cara-Pils/Dextrine in the Partial Mash recipe ... since thats used for body and head retention, shouldn't it still be used? I'm a total newbie to PM brewing so please excuse if the answer is obvious :mug:
 
I kegged mine this weekend, stuck to the PM recipe except I had to use Simcoe for dry hopping, was all my LHBS had on hand in leaf/plug form.

The beer tastes like orange tang with an mild earthy hop finish, seriously .... I don't know where I went wrong. Of course it was warm and flat, hopefully carb and cool will help it out ... otherwise I may have to drink this for breakfast, its that orangy ...
 
I notice you don't have the Cara-Pils/Dextrine in the Partial Mash recipe ... since thats used for body and head retention, shouldn't it still be used? I'm a total newbie to PM brewing so please excuse if the answer is obvious :mug:

The DME will have carapils in it.

Old post but I was just reading looking for my next batch to brew.
 
For the extract recipe, if I want to do a 5-gal batch, is it as simple as dividing all the amounts by 11.5/5 = 2.3, or is it more complicated than that?

For example, use 5 lb light DME, 1 lb amber, etc. etc.

Thanks!
 
I'm going to brew the 5-gal partial mash recipe on Monday. I just plugged the numbers into beer alchemy and the OG is 1.058, as opposed to the AG OG of 1.054...

Just wondering if anyone here as done the PM recipe and adjusted the amount of DME to be a little lighter, or if the 1.058 came out just fine.

Since this is my first PM, maybe my efficiency will be off anyway, and so I might not hit 1.058 regardless..
 
Please post your results. I'm a big fan of this beer and as soon as I get back to the States, this is probably the first AG recipe I'll be trying to make.
 
Just finished brewing this, the partial mash version, my first partial mash. ended up at 1.054 @ 73 degrees. I'd say it tasted good but I really don't think I have the experience to judge the taste of unfermented beer.

Probably primary for 2-3 weeks, then 1 week in secondary with dry hopping, then bottle.
 
Just tasted my partial mash version for the first time when taking a gravity reading. It's in the primary after 16 days. It tastes AWESOME. Going to transfer to secondary and start dry hopping this weekend, and bottle next weekend.
 
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I think I may brew some up this weekend.

We were at Kona in November, and they had a specialty ginger blond that I'd like to try to brew later this year.
 
Ok - just cracked mine (partial mash) open after 3 weeks in the bottles. It's pretty good. Unfortunately it's my 2nd beer of the evening and the first one was an IPA, so I don't have a fresh palette, but seems pretty decent to me.

I don't remember what Fire Rock tastes like, so I can't compare. I'll have to track some down.

I'm usually not a pale ale fan, so the fact I like it is a good sign :)
 
not sure if anyone has mentioned this but beersmith is estimating an OG of 1.110 and an ABV of over 11.

with a 21.5 lb grain bill, this seems like it could be a big beer, almost a barleywine.

any insight?
 
not sure if anyone has mentioned this but beersmith is estimating an OG of 1.110 and an ABV of over 11.

with a 21.5 lb grain bill, this seems like it could be a big beer, almost a barleywine.

any insight?

Perhaps a closer read of the OP's recipe? It's an 11 gal batch.
 
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