American IPA All Amarillo IPA

Steeping my grains as I write. The reports have been so good, I had to try it.

CAN'T WAIT!!

Just had a pint from batch #3. This one didn't clear as it usually does, but it still tastes awesome!

Just bottled this morn, TASTES AWESOME!!! Can't wait til I can crack one open!!

I've been wanting to make an all Amarillo Ale since seeing the Basic Brewing Video "15 minute Amarillo Ale". I noticed that James Spencer used 6 lb of DME and a full pound of Crystal 60. Anyone make that variant and can compare and contrast to this one (seems like slightly lower ABV (~5.6 vs. ~6.5) and more color and sweetness).

With a 15 min boil, the IBU in the Spencer recipe via Tasty Brew is 52 for a full boil, 35 for a 2 gal boil.

Interesting that the recipe in this thread shows 46 IBU, but when I plug it into the Tasty Brew calculator with a 5 gal batch, 2 gal boil it comes up with 63 IBU!

Also checked Hopsdirect.com and their Amarillo is around 9% AA these days which should give a little hop boost even without the extra oz.

Just racked mine into secondary after about 10 days in primary. I'm dry hopping with another ounce of Amarillo 7.5% AA. Can't wait to give this a try though, it already smells great.

This looks like a great recipe for me to try as I just made the True Brew IPA kit and it came with Muntons Amber LME which made the beer really dark. Next time I was going to swap that out for Light DME because I feel the color affects the way you look at you IPA and dried is easier to measure. Awesome recipe, Ill let you know how it turns out when I make it.

If I wanted to do this as a partial mash, could I just use 3 pounds of DME and then make up for the rest of the sugars by using Marris Otter or two row? I assume I could just input the recipe into a calculator until I got close to the original SG and FG. Sound right?

crawfman said:

If I wanted to do this as a partial mash, could I just use 3 pounds of DME and then make up for the rest of the sugars by using Marris Otter or two row? I assume I could just input the recipe into a calculator until I got close to the original SG and FG. Sound right?

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Absolutely! Just make sure you adjust the hops to account for your boil size if you make any changes to that. You shouldn't need to adjust the grain bill on the specialty grains at all though.

Edit: A special thanks to Rick500 for answering questions in this thread, I have been derelict in my duties as recipe creator. I've been somewhat afk from HBT for many moons due to RL issues, but I am hoping to be back. Really glad this beer has seen such a tremendous response, thanks gang!

should my OG be the same as stated in the recipe or a bit different... how would I calculate the difference?

3 gal boil

7lbs Extra light LME
0.58lbs Crystal 40 (steeped in 3 gal)

1.75 oz Amarillo 8.6%AA for 60 Min
1.25 oz Amarillo 8.6%AA for for 15 Min
1.25 oz Amarillo 8.6%AA for for 5 Min
.75 oz Amarillo 8.6%AA for at flameout

Thanks

It should be the same, but here's a brewing calculator. Just plug in your information to get all the info on your beer. Estimated OG, FG, SRMs, IBUs, and ABV.

Blueberryspies said:

It should be the same, but here's a brewing calculator. Just plug in your information to get all the info on your beer. Estimated OG, FG, SRMs, IBUs, and ABV.

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That calculator give me an OG of 1.055. Is this from using LME instead of DME? What effects will this have on the final beer? Lower ABV?
Thanks

Is there any reason why this needs to be in the secondary for 3 weeks? Is it because it takes a month to ferment or just for clarity?

I've had mine in the secondary for 3 weeks now and the FG is at 1.030.

I've noticed other people had a hard time getting theirs down as well.

Should I bottle this or do a stir and wait a few more days?

Once you've taken your batch off the yeast cake and out of the primary it's not going to ferment anymore. Secondary is really just used to clean the beer up.

You're probably going to want to make a starter and repitch some yeast, because if you bottle that now you might have some bottle bombs.

Blueberryspies said:

Once you've taken your batch off the yeast cake and out of the primary it's not going to ferment anymore. Secondary is really just used to clean the beer up.

You're probably going to want to make a starter and repitch some yeast, because if you bottle that now you might have some bottle bombs.

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ok sounds good. ill try that out.

.

Blueberryspies said:

Once you've taken your batch off the yeast cake and out of the primary it's not going to ferment anymore. Secondary is really just used to clean the beer up.

You're probably going to want to make a starter and repitch some yeast, because if you bottle that now you might have some bottle bombs.

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would it be ok if i used some dry nottingham yeast for this? or should i purchase another wyeast activator pack?

Nottingham will be fine.

Just for reference for those brewing this recipe, I used a Wyeast 1056 activator pack, fermented at 66F and am at 1.011 after 15 days.

Note: I don't know my original gravity as I broke my hydrometer during the brew session. I now have a backup.

cameronsto said:

Just for reference for those brewing this recipe, I used a Wyeast 1056 activator pack, fermented at 66F and am at 1.011 after 15 days.

Note: I don't know my original gravity as I broke my hydrometer during the brew session. I now have a backup.

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I went with 1056 too. Maybe that's why it is taking so long to ferment.

Blueberryspies said:

Once you've taken your batch off the yeast cake and out of the primary it's not going to ferment anymore. Secondary is really just used to clean the beer up.

You're probably going to want to make a starter and repitch some yeast, because if you bottle that now you might have some bottle bombs.

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Just passing through, but I am wondering why you say this? Bottle bombs? The very most I have ever left any of my IPAs in the secondary (or primary even) is 3 weeks. Why would you think he is going to get bottle bombs?

EDIT: Sorry I did not see the part about the 1.030 FG. I agree if he is trying to lower the FG the starter is a good idea, and you will want to wait at least a few weeks to be safe.

jjones17 said:

Just passing through, but I am wondering why you say this? Bottle bombs? The very most I have ever left any of my IPAs in the secondary (or primary even) is 3 weeks. Why would you think he is going to get bottle bombs?

EDIT: Sorry I did not see the part about the 1.030 FG. I agree if he is trying to lower the FG the starter is a good idea, and you will want to wait at least a few weeks to be safe.

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I pitched a packet of nottingham into the secondary a few days ago (didn't use a yeast starter). No visible signs of fermentation happening in the air lock.

Measured the FG and it is still at 1.032.
Every second day I give it a good shake, but still nothing.

I should also mention I didn't use Extra Light DME, but rather Light DME. I also added more hops but that shouldn't change the FG.

7lbs Muntons Extra Light DME
1/2lb Crystal 40

Steeped in 1.5 gallons of 160 deg water for 20 minutes.

1.5 oz Amarillo 8%AA for 60 Min
1 oz Amarillo 8%AA for for 15 Min
1 oz Amarillo 8%AA for for 5 Min
.5 oz Amarillo 8%AA for at flameout

Should I pitch some Safale 05 to see what happens or should I keep waiting?
If I do pitch more yeast should I make it a yeast starter? if so how much DME should I add?

Worse case scenario is I bottle it (having a lower ABV), make another batch and do a FG before racking to the secondary. im a *******!





.

anyone have any suggestions on my previous post?

much thanks!

When I have a worry that I'm making some bombs, I bottle in plastic PET bottles from the local HBS. When firm they are carbed, when firmer it's time to drink a bit faster!!

Enjoying the first of my new run of single hop APA's - I imported several hops in from the USA. Tonight it's all Amarillo - hints of grapefruit, just like breakfast, but needs a bit more up front dry-hoppping.

Tomorrow it's the all Cascade, Tuesday is all Willamette.

Each brew was made to the same recipe, just the hops were changed, and the amount of bittering hop adjusted to produce similar IBU's at the end. None were dry hopped. That's for the second round!!

Cheers!

Brewed this tonight and made a rookie mistake. Used only 7lbs of LME. Should have used about 20% more to adjust for the conversion between LME and DME. Ended up with a 1.05 OG. I will have an American Pale Ale instead of an IPA. Oh well. Still looking forward to it.

I want to make this kit again however the DME that I purchase from my LHBS is $11 / kg + 15% tax making this kit quite expensive (and any kit using DME for that matter). How would I go about converting this to all grain?

Cheers,

Jamie

I made this over the weekend. It is happily fermenting away as I type this. My pops is retiring at the end of April and we are throwing him a giant crawfish boil in which this beer should pair nicely. I think I am going to keg it.

I am excited to try it.

had to chime in! made this one last month, utilizing an extra lb of malt, a full boil, and six ounces of amarillo! came out great and is being ravenously consumed by all, even swmbo!

Good to hear that it was ok with 6 oz of Amarillo. I mistakenly over-hopped mine (never leave the recipe at work when brewing over the weekend).

Made a 4 gal batch (actually closer to 3.75 in the end)
2 gallon boil with late extract addition (2 lb DME at start, 3 lb DME at 45 min of a 60 min boil, added along with 4 oz brown sugar)

(also steeped ~12 oz of mixed Crystal 40L/60L)

1 Pkg Nottingham yeast which took off like a shot... ~7 hours pitch to Krausen formation!

OG=1.065

Amarillo @7.5% AA

1.5 oz 60 min
1 oz 30 min
0.5 oz 15 min
0.5 oz 5 min
0.5 oz flameout

I intended the 1.5 oz to be 1 oz and the 30 min addition to be 0.5 oz. According to my custom built spreadsheet for late extract addition using Tinseth equations, I end up with a whopping 81 IBU (was shooting for around 50). Tasted pretty bitter going into primary. Hoping it will even out.

A recent episode of Basic Brewing Radio indicated that the whole increased hop utilization by late extract addition might be somewhat mythical, in which case, maybe I will be OK. Calculations for the equivalent hop addition in a single extract addition yields 46 IBU.

Still... I wonder if it is possible to dilute with more water in secondary to cut down on the bitterness, or would this just result in WATERY bitter beer?

don't cut it with water! this will mellow out the beer and ruin it! my recipe, utilizing a full boil and much more hops, has really settled and the flavors are balancing extremely well. I'm sure yours will do the same given enough time (I fermented mine for 4 weeks, racking to a secondary after 4 days & dry hopping).

Yeah, I need a bigger brewpot so I can do full boils. Much less guesswork that way.
Airlock activity in Primary has pretty much stopped (4 days) but I think I will leave it in Primary to clear a little more and then secondary. Not sure I will dry hop, but I'll sneak a taste during gravity checks and decide.

OK, racked to secondary after 7 days in primary. FG=1.013 Down from 1.065, so about 6.8% ABV.

Hydro sample was pretty good. Not as bitter as I feared, though quite bitter enough for me. Some Amarillo-style grapefruity flavors. Trying to decide whether or not to dry-hop. Will give it another taste after a week in secondary and decide.

I highly recommend dry-hopping it. The Amarillo aroma is outstanding!

I'm looking for a cheaper way to make this kit....so far I got 48+shipping from northern brewer and 44+shipping from AHS....any other places to look?

indeedproceed said:

I'm looking for a cheaper way to make this kit....so far I got 48+shipping from northern brewer and 44+shipping from AHS....any other places to look?

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Morebeer.com has free shipping for orders over $60, so I recommend buying from there and getting enough for two batches instead of one.

For hops I usually use hopsdirect.com and buy in bulk.

kuips said:

I highly recommend dry-hopping it. The Amarillo aroma is outstanding!

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I took your advice and threw in 1/4 oz of Amarillo Pellets (in ~4 gal). My intention was to dry hop for only 4-5 days, but those disintegrated pellets are taking their sweet time sinking... Is some extra dry hop time going to hurt? I purposely used a relatively small amount.

I always use whole hops for dry hopping and they never seem to drop to the bottom, I just rack from between the hops and the trub.

I typically dry hop for 7 days, but have have left them in for nearly 3 weeks without any ill-effects.

kuips said:

I always use whole hops for dry hopping and they never seem to drop to the bottom, I just rack from between the hops and the trub.

I typically dry hop for 7 days, but have have left them in for nearly 3 weeks without any ill-effects.

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Thanks! Whole hops probably don't fragment like pellets.. I think there is enough suspended hop material to make it impossible to get between the hops and the trub without picking up some particulates. Will give it more settling time...

Recluse said:

Thanks! Whole hops probably don't fragment like pellets.. I think there is enough suspended hop material to make it impossible to get between the hops and the trub without picking up some particulates. Will give it more settling time...

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Yeah, I would give it a few more days to see. If that does not settle it you could try cold crashing it, or place a hop/grain bag over the end of your racking cane to act like a filter... I have never been too careful about it, I always heard if you get hops in the bottle its good luck

I made this recipe and dry-hopped with 1oz of Aramarillo and 0.5oz Cascade. At 14 days is if fantastic.

kuips said:

Yeah, I would give it a few more days to see. If that does not settle it you could try cold crashing it, or place a hop/grain bag over the end of your racking cane to act like a filter... I have never been too careful about it, I always heard if you get hops in the bottle its good luck

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The grain bag on the racking cane worked fine. Dry hopped with a relatively small amount (0.25 oz) for 10 days. When I bottled it was apparent that I only had 3 gal instead of the 4 I thought I started with. I THOUGHT the carboy looked a little too empty. I cannot quite figure this out as I hit the gravity I had calculated for a 4 gallon batch. Pretty much use the OG as a guide more than calibrating my carboy volumes. I guess I have to recheck my spreadsheet for errors..

I may have over-primed somewhat for an IPA, as I calculated for 4 gal (3 oz by weight of Dextrose) but it should be OK. Hydro sample tasted pretty good...not overly bitter as I feared.

Looking forward to cracking open a bottle when the yeasties finish their work on the priming sugar!