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

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Boy I forgot all about the nuances of the Wyeast Kolsch yeast. I mashed in the first effort way too high for whatever reason and I had to re-cock and try again (luckily Northern Brewer is only 5-6 blocks away). I nailed my numbers the second round and put 5 gallons in the fermenter. I broke my flask the night before making a starter so I ended up doing a 2 liter starter in a jug instead of on a stir plate. It didn't matter, fermenting at 68 degrees resulted in a volcano less than 24 hours later. I hooked up a blow-off tube and she's chugging away now. I really liked how this one smelled going in so I can't wait to give it a try in 5-6 weeks.
 
Wow! This one's a crowd-pleaser. Nicely toasty/malty but with a good hoppy zing. Definitely the best AG I've done to date. I love it, SWMBO loves it. Not going to last...sigh.
 
Tastes great. Starting dry hop after 2.5 weeks primary. Finished at 1.06.

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I haven't tried this from the store yet. I always go for the kona coconut brown instead.

Hey biermunch any chance you can created a clone for that?
 
SkyHighBrew88 said:
Brewing this tomorrow! Got my Wyeast 1007 starter stirring now...

<img src="https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58572"/>

How did you build your stir box?
 
Pretty simple pine box from Michael's, $2 90mm computer fan, & a pack rare earth magnets online. I also had a low voltage (7.5V) charger I stripped to power the fan. I get about a 3/4 inch dimple in the wort, agitates enough for me. I love not having to go by & shake the thing all day.


Screws were covered with JB Weld for wood and sanded. Needs paint I think...
image-2998631508.jpg


Simple inner guts
image-4151831902.jpg


Where the fan and magnets meet the underside lid of the box.
image-2649722496.jpg
 
Well BierMuncher, you've done it again. This and your Centennial Blonde recipes have been two of my very favorite ales to date and I'm going to put this one right back in rotation. I had some crush related efficiency issues and ended up with a bit lower gravity than I had hoped, but nonetheless the flavor and hops strike a perfect harmony and my batch has only been in the bottle for 10 days. Another week should really let this beer shine! :ban:

:tank:
 
Getting ready to brew this up today. I was wondering if the 90 minute boil is essential in the final flavor of this beer? I'd be streching the limits of my brewpot if I went for a 90 minute boil. I will be doing 60 minutes and I was just wondering.
 
I'm at work, so I can't read the entire thread (normally I'll read every post before asking a question).

BM, I'm new to kegging and have a question for you. I've noticed here, and in your SNPA clone recipe, that you seem to keg--tap in 9 days. What method do you use to achieve this? Burst carb?

I've got a porter on "set and forget", and we're about at 3 weeks and it still has no head and only light carbonation.

Bursting with 30 PSI for 36 hrs, a la Yooper, seems to work for me. But I get a pretty strong carbonic bite for a week and a half.

Thanks
 
I'm hoping to make a 5 gallon batch over the holiday. I plan to follow original recipe cut in half, but use Wyeast 2575.
 
Brewed this last month and this beer is very tasty! I crash cooled it to 40F then bottled in an attempt to get the clearest possible result.

image-1694739232.jpg

Not bad clarity-wise for only being in the bottle 7 days...
 
SkyHighBrew88 said:
Brewed this last month and this beer is very tasty! I crash cooled it to 40F then bottled in an attempt to get the clearest possible result.

Not bad clarity-wise for only being in the bottle 7 days...

Nice lacing...
 
My batch of this never really cleared up but boy, has it become delicious. I'm still not sure which is better tasting, BM's Centennial Blonde or this Kona Pale Ale Clone. I guess I'll have to brew another batch of the Centennial to find out... :mug:
 
Will dry hopping this for 9 days be okay? I'll be out of town when 7 days rolls around.
 
BierMuncher said:
Honey malt lends a nice sweetness to the beer.

Oh...and then there was this....:D

That picture makes me want to brew this beer! Never had the original and need to see if I can pick it up somewhere. I'm currently fermenting cream of three crops with Kolsch and this might be a great repitch beer off that cake.
 
Brewed this today as a 5 g batch and am very excited about it.

Store was out of honey malt so I did .25# CaraVienne and also Victory. And I had some galena left over so did .6 oz instead of Centennial.

Thanks for the great recipe!
 
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

Extract With Steeping Grains

11.5# Extra Light DME
2.5# Amber Liquid Extract
1.75# Caramel/Crystal #20 for steeping

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)

if i were to do a 5gal batch would i cut everything in half, including the hops?
thanks
 
Just brewed a batch of this today, but I forgot the Munich malt! Brewing otherwise went without a hitch. OG was 1.051. Looking forward to tasting in a month or so :mug:

It was my first time using WLP-029 Kolsch yeast. It was super thick...came out of the vial almost like pudding. Has anyone else experienced this?
 
I just bought a 6 pack of this over the weekend and I really like it. I have no doubt I'll brew this 'as is' but right now I'm looking to brew something that's a tad softer while the weather is still warm in SoCal, like something that straddles the line between a blond ale and an APA. Something that still retains the general character and balance of this beer, just lighter. My thought is to dial back the IBUs to 28-30 and replaced the MO with domestic 2-row. Would that give me something close to what I'm looking for (as best as I've been able to describe it), or is there some other way I should approach this?

I still I don't have much experience with creating/modifying recipes so any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated. And thank you BierMuncher for all of your contributions to this forum. I've learned a lot by reading through your posts.
 
I just bought a 6 pack of this over the weekend and I really like it. I have no doubt I'll brew this 'as is' but right now I'm looking to brew something that's a tad softer while the weather is still warm in SoCal, like something that straddles the line between a blond ale and an APA. Something that still retains the general character and balance of this beer, just lighter. My thought is to dial back the IBUs to 28-30 and replaced the MO with domestic 2-row. Would that give me something close to what I'm looking for (as best as I've been able to describe it), or is there some other way I should approach this?

I still I don't have much experience with creating/modifying recipes so any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated. And thank you BierMuncher for all of your contributions to this forum. I've learned a lot by reading through your posts.

I would cut the munich and honey malt in half and replace with base 2-row. Also maybe use a half pilsner/half pale malt as your base mix.

Mash down closer to 150 rather than 154.

Don't get your IBU's below 30 or the beer may become unbalanced.

Eliminate any hops additions shorter than 20 minutes and of course, eliminate the dry hopping.

This should give you a good Pale Ale that is not nearly so hoppy and has a lighter malt profile. :mug:
 
I got a batch of this just carbed up I am sampling today when I get home. Can't wait, I love the real thing.
 
Tasted great!! Only carbed for 7 days though. The hop aroma was a lot more than the real one but I bet it will mellow out some as time goes on. Not a bad thing, but right now it's different.


SHAME ON ME!! Forgot to say thank you to Biermuncher for posting this. Thank You!
 
More like yogurt... :p

But yeah... that's pretty normal.

Just an update:

I finished bottling this beer about two hours ago. Tastes great, and there were no apparent problems with fermentation. FG was 1.012. The beer was crystal clear and tasted great right out of primary:rockin:

Can't wait to try it in three weeks!
 
I'm going to brew this one up today- heating up the strike water as we speak. I'm going for 11 gallons as I just tried Fire Rock yesterday and wow this is good stuff.

I am going to ferment half with s04 and half with s05 as that's what I have on hand. This is sort of a spur of the moment brew.
 
Whew, all done- wort in both their carboys just waiting fro them to chill down those final degrees to pitching temp. First 10 gallon batch on my system and it took my 10g igloo cooler to the limit.
 
TRainH2o said:
Just curious, what was the cost of the ingredients for this recipe?

I just bought everything for this recipe as posted on page 1....$62. Hoping that is reasonable since this is my first AG brew on my new e-build.
 
NewBrewB said:
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.

Hilarious...reading through this...found my post from 2010 which said this would be my first AG...and now it is!
 
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