American Special Bitter (session apa)

Any suggestions for this recipe.. I'm thinking of brewing this one for my wedding..


Style: American Pale Ale OG: 1.043
Type: All Grain FG: 1.010
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 4.32 %
Calories: 140 IBU's: 30.38
Efficiency: 75 % Boil Size: 13.25 Gal
Color: 5.4 SRM Batch Size: 12.00 Gal
Boil Time: 90 minutes

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
2.00 lbs 10.00 % Munich Malt - 10L 60 mins 1.035
15.00 lbs 75.00 % Pale Malt (2 Row) US 60 mins 1.036
2.00 lbs 10.00 % Wheat Malt, Ger 60 mins 1.039
1.00 lbs 5.00 % Victory Malt 60 mins 1.034

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
1.00 ozs 1.96 Cascade 5 mins 5.50
0.80 ozs 19.93 Chinook 60 mins 13.00
1.00 ozs 1.75 Cascade 0 mins 5.50
1.00 ozs 3.56 Centennial 5 mins 10.00
1.00 ozs 3.18 Centennial 0 mins 10.00

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
2.0 pkg California Ale White Labs 0001

Additions
Amount Name Time Stage
1.00 each Whirlfloc Tablet 15 mins Boil

Mash Profile
Light Body Infusion In 60 min @ 149.0°F
Add 26.00 qt ( 1.30 qt/lb ) water @ 162.0°F

Sounds good. A little like a light Bell's two hearted.

I understand your reservations about keeping the hops bittering low for a wide range of guests/palates, but with that much aroma and flavor, I'd maybe bump it closer to 35-45 IBUs or so to get a OG:IBU ratio closer to 1?

Don't take my word for it though, I'm no expert, just like hoppy beers

Maybe do a test batch, and send me some

Actually I'll do you one better and probably brew this next, I've been looking at bitters and other session beers to find a good one, although I've got some british whitbread yeast I'll use, which from my experiences works similar to a california ale yeast, especially using a starter.

Are you doing a 90 min boil and just adding the chinook at 60?

mbobhat said:

Sounds good. A little like a light Bell's two hearted.

I understand your reservations about keeping the hops bittering low for a wide range of guests/palates, but with that much aroma and flavor, I'd maybe bump it closer to 35-45 IBUs or so to get a OG:IBU ratio closer to 1?

Don't take my word for it though, I'm no expert, just like hoppy beers

Maybe do a test batch, and send me some

Actually I'll do you one better and probably brew this next, I've been looking at bitters and other session beers to find a good one, although I've got some british whitbread yeast I'll use, which from my experiences works similar to a california ale yeast, especially using a starter.

Are you doing a 90 min boil and just adding the chinook at 60?

Click to expand...

I'm doing a test batch in a few weeks.. Probably going to split it between 001 and 007.

I plan on doing a long whirlpool hop stand at the end of the boil.. This should take the IBU's up several points even though the formulas don't account for it..

I do 90 min boils for all of my beers to drive off DMS precursors.. Also I cover the kettle during my long hop stand at the end.. With a 90 min boil I don't worry about getting DMS in my beer

yea, I usually do a 10-15 min whirlpool, but I do it after I cool because I read somewhere from Jamil that the hop aroma and flavor can be lost because of it.

But I see that you cover it...does the pressure keep the volatiles in?

But yea, I'll do a batch as well and let you know what I think.

Thanks for posting the recipe, can't wait to try it

I brew a similar american session pale (with some rye) and I've found a BU:GU ratio of .75-.85 is where I get the most universal enjoyment from a range of people. If you are targeting a beer for all tastes, that seems to be a nice middle ground

I'll shoot for 0.8 and see how it goes. Gotta be good

Don't be afraid of WLP051. Out of all the White Labs American Ale yeasts, that's my favorite. It's actually got some flavor.

Bob

Bob said:

Don't be afraid of WLP051. Out of all the White Labs American Ale yeasts, that's my favorite. It's actually got some flavor.

Bob

Click to expand...

I've tried it... It was ok, if I want a beer that has fruity character I usually just use 002

Just ordered the ingredients... Going to brew next weekend!

Thinking about mash temp... I want it to finish at 1.012 - 1.011

Anyone have experience with low gravity mash temps and fg?

1.043? You should be fine at 150-152F.

Just got the ingredients! Brewing this recipe Sunday.

I saw the Bitter American recipe in last months BYO.

I want a similar beer, I think I'm going to mash at 158..

I'll report back

How'd the wedding go? was it a hit?!?

The wedding is tomorrow... I ended up brewing a similar but slightly higher OG pale ale.

I wrote a blog about the beers, just scroll to the bottom for the recipes.

http://brosbeerhomebrew.blogspot.com/2012/09/brewing-beer-for-my-wedding.html?m=1

I brewed the recipe above with a few tweaks (Cant find centennial) its pretty good. I just brewed V2.0 and it's currently being dry hopped...

Congrats and good luck! Break a leg!

Thanks!

Check that FG on you Pale Ale Recipe. Says 1.049. Other than that... How is it? Congrats on getting hitched! I'll be brewing a wedding brew myself. Probably a Belgian Stout and an IPA. Not totally decided yet. Cheers!

Thanks!

ditch said:

Check that FG on you Pale Ale Recipe. Says 1.049. Other than that... How is it? Congrats on getting hitched! I'll be brewing a wedding brew myself. Probably a Belgian Stout and an IPA. Not totally decided yet. Cheers!

Click to expand...

Yeah, I noticed that yesterday. It finished at 1.009

mbobhat said:

How'd the wedding go? was it a hit?!?

Click to expand...

The wedding went great, I took 20 gallons of beer and only brought about 2-2.5 gallons home.

I'd call that a hit. There were about 75 people... Her family doesn't drink..

Very nice! I'm hoping to do that as well. I'm about 3 cornies short though to get 20 gallons.

Still looking at more recipes, I like having an octoberfest in there, good call.