APA Input

My LHBS just got some whole leaf Cascade hops in (I assume fairly fresh). So I wanted to make an American Pale Ale using only Casade. I have decided to do this to get a good feel for what this specific hop tastes/smells like. I would like to do this with other hop varieties but we will see.

Questions:
1. How does the recipe look?
2. What would be a good mash temp for this?


Grain:
8lb US 2-row
2lb. Munich 10L
.5lb US Crystal 10L
.5lb Carapils

Single infusion mash for 60 min.

Batch sparge at 170. Collect ~6.5 gallons.

Hops:
All additions: whole Casacade leaf hops 7.5% alpha acids
60 min: .75 oz
30 min: .5 oz
15 min: .25 oz
5 min: .25 oz
Dry hop: .25 oz

Yeast: Nottingham
Ferment 5.5 gallons.

With 65% efficiency (not sure about this, will adjust if needed):
Expected OG: 1.057
Expected FG: 1.014
Expected Color: 6.0 SRM
Expected IBU: 35IBU

Thanks for any input.

I'd bump up the late additions, myself; you could easily do at least a half ounce at 15, 5, and dry-hopping. Cascade's a nice, citrusy hop, can't really go wrong if you like domestic-flavored pale ales. I like the use of a good amount of Munich, too.

Thanks.

Part of this is to keep up the malt flavor (with the Munich) and not go overboard with the hops. SWMBO doesn't like overly hopped beers, well kind of, she likes IPAs (even ordered a DFH 90min the other day).

She has never had a pale ale that she liked, I was hoping this would be the first. These Cascade have fairly high AA content, hard to increase the flavor additions with out upping the IBUs a lot.

Just bump the 5 minute addition, then; you'll get flavor, but very little bitterness.

So what if I were to kill the dry hop and throw that in at 5 min. giving a total of .5 there. I bought 2oz. of hops don't want to have to buy more.

Also, 153 for the mash temp?

Beerrific said:

Thanks.

Part of this is to keep up the malt flavor (with the Munich) and not go overboard with the hops. SWMBO doesn't like overly hopped beers, well kind of, she likes IPAs (even ordered a DFH 90min the other day).

She has never had a pale ale that she liked, I was hoping this would be the first. These Cascade have fairly high AA content, hard to increase the flavor additions with out upping the IBUs a lot.

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If she likes IPAs and not pale ales, seems to me you should be shooting form more hoppiness, not less?

But in any case, the late hop increases suggested by bird won't add that many IBUs (3-4, maybe)...if you're worried about too much bitterness but still want the hop flavor, you could cut the 60 min addition back, and/or move it to 45 minutes, or 30.

Bike N Brew said:

If she likes IPAs and not pale ales, seems to me you should be shooting form more hoppiness, not less?

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I know it is weird. She likes malty beers. No question. She hate Pilsners and pale ales. I think she like the maltiness of the IPAs

So, with that being said, what is a good IBU to shoot for? BJCP Guidelines call for 30-45+. I am looking for something in the 30s I guess. I will move some stuff around and get more of the IBUs from the flavor additions.

Beerrific said:

So what if I were to kill the dry hop and throw that in at 5 min. giving a total of .5 there. I bought 2oz. of hops don't want to have to buy more.

Also, 153 for the mash temp?

Click to expand...

You could sub something else for some or all of the bittering; something clean.

the_bird said:

You could sub something else for some or all of the bittering; something clean.

Click to expand...

I have some leftover Spalt, Saaz and Tettnanger. Or I could look into the future and see what I will have left over in a few weeks.

I use the same recipe minus the carapils and the dryhop,single inf.mash at 154deg.every time,batch sparge at 165,170 and the stuff turns out real good to my liking....
I had a real low efficiency the last time but after kegging,some patience and carbonation the latest batch is great.
HEY-do what makes you feel good-after all I did this one as my 1st A.G. and I'm hooked. Shane

Beerrific said:

I have some leftover Spalt, Saaz and Tettnanger. Or I could look into the future and see what I will have left over in a few weeks.

Click to expand...

Actually I think I will stop by LHBS and buy 1 oz of Cascade pellets (5.8%AA) that will give me many more options. I need to stop by any way for yeast...all this isn't going to matter if I don't have yeast.

SAS98M said:

I use the same recipe minus the carapils and the dryhop,single inf.mash at 154deg.every time,batch sparge at 165,170 and the stuff turns out real good to my liking....
I had a real low efficiency the last time but after kegging,some patience and carbonation the latest batch is great.
HEY-do what makes you feel good-after all I did this one as my 1st A.G. and I'm hooked. Shane

Click to expand...

Do you use pellet or whole leaf?

My two cents worth is that your recipe looks great, but if you want to please your wife, mash at a higher temp... I'd go 156 for 90 min. It'll probly cool some, depending on yur system, but the higher temp will give a greater "sense" of the malt. -p

perry said:

My two cents worth is that your recipe looks great, but if you want to please your wife, mash at a higher temp... I'd go 156 for 90 min. It'll probly cool some, depending on yur system, but the higher temp will give a greater "sense" of the malt. -p

Click to expand...

Why mash for 90 minutes? If malty is what you're going for, a shorter mash will be better because there will be less time for beta amalase to cut down the longer chains of sugars into shorter ones. It'll be sweeter as well as more malty, though.

That's a good point, mew, and I confess being a creature of habit.... I've just always mashed for 90 or so. -p

If you like hop aroma, I'd bump up the dry hopping rate.
I dry hop with 1 oz each Cascade ~ Columbus for 7 days.
..............nice

OK so it turns out that the Cascade leaves are 6.9%AA not 7.5, not a big deal.

Here is what I want to do: add enough at 30 mins to get a good (not overwhelming) hops flavor, add enough at 60 min to get the IBUs in the lower 30s, add the rest at 5ish for aroma.

Is 30 min the best time for flavor and how much should I add then for a full Cascade flavor?

So here's the summery of what I have:
2 oz leaf 6.9%AA
1 oz pellet 6.9%AA

Schedule:
0.5 oz pellet for 60 min
1 oz. leaf for 20 min
1 oz. leaf for 5 min
.5 pellet at knockout

According to my calculations that gives 35 IBUs. I think that is good for an APA.

Will 1oz leaf give me enough flavor? I think the aroma hops should be good.