Cascade Log Jam APA (extract with steeping grains)

First time posting a recipie... so here goes...

I made this APA to be a hoppier version of most of the APA's I have made. I guess this could almost be an Amber Ale or even an IPA. But I chose the APA label for it... meh... jus' cuz.

Amber malt extract was used for the more malty flavor, and I added the Crystal Malt, and Carapils steeping grains for color, and head retention respectively.

7 lbs. Amber LME
1 lb. Crystal 40L
1 lb. Carapils

I love the bite of Centennials so I added them for the 60 minute boil. The Cascades and the Fuggles are my 2 favorite hops... so I just hucked 'em in... jus' cuz. Then decided last minute to dry hop with some Cascade and Fuggles whole hops.

1 oz. Centennial Hop Pellets
2 oz. Cascade Hop Pellets
.5 oz. Fuggles Pellets

1 oz. Cascade Whole Hops (dry hop)
1 0z. Fuggles Whole Hops (dry hop)

Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale

This is the first time Ive used the 1332 and I really like how the beer turned out. Come to find out the 1332 is actually the "homebrewers version" yeast that is exactly what was developed for Hale's Ales here in Seattle. The 1056 (American Ale) would be a good substitute. I've only used Wyeast in the "smack packs", so I am not familiar with the other yeasts available from different companies.

I hang the grains in muslin bags from my large stainless steel spoon over my kettle, just off the bottom, and add 2.5 gallons of water (I used bottled Spring Water). Then heat slowly to 155 degrees. Dipping the bags up and down a few times during the heat-up, kinda like tea bags. Kill the heat and steep with the lid on the kettle for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, I heat another .5 gallons to 155 degrees in a seperate pot to use to sparge the grains. So then I'm boiling 3 gallons of water. It's not a partial mash... just an Extract brew with steeping grains.

After the grains have steeped, sparge with the .5 gallons of 155 degree water, then discard the grains, and the water should still be around 155ish. If not I heat it back up to around 155 and kill the flame again. Then add the LME and stir until it is completely dissolved.

Hit the heat again and slowly bring to a boil. Now for the hop bill for a 60 minute boil:

60 min - 1 oz. Centennial Pellets
30 min - 1 oz. Cascade Pellets
10 min - .5 oz. Cascade Pellets
5 min - .5 oz. Cascade Pellets
2 min - .5 oz. Fuggles Pellets

Add 1 gallon of cold water to 6 gallon fermenting bucket or a 6 gallon carboy (I use Better Bottle plastic carboys). Cool the wort to around 100 degrees, and strain the cooled wort into your fermentation vessel. Then top off with enough cold water to make 5 gallons. Then incorporate the wort and water by shaking the vessel. Wort should be around 70 to 75 degrees. Take a hydrometer reading and then pitch your yeast. Shake again for at least a minute to aerate the wort and combine the yeast.

OG should be between 1.052 to 1.057 ( I got 1.056)
FG should be between 1.010 to 1.015 (I got 1.012)

Ferment in primary for 15 to 17 days (or until FG is stable). I went 15 days. Then dry hopped in a secondary. Which is my preference. If you wanna leave the beer in the primary and dry hop. Up to you. The rules are... there are no rules. Go with your gut.

Dry hop bill is:

1 oz. Cascade Whole Hops
1 oz. Fuggles Whole Hops

Dry hop for 4 to 5 days. Again... your choice. I usually do about 4 days for dry hopping.

Then I went straight to the Corny keg. You can bottle as well... just add the appropriate amount of priming sugar to your wort and bottle like you normally would.

The beer turned out better than I had hoped. Nice rich amber color and a creamy pale amber head. Beer is fairly clear. Clearest i've brewed yet. The pics show the beer in a chilled glass. So it looks a little cloudier than it really is.

Nice Malty flavor with a nice hop bite, but not overpowering. The aroma hits you in the nose on each drink from the glass. I have got rave reviews from everyone that has drank it. Hope you will enjoy it too!

Gary

Im going to brew this tomorrow. I had to make some substitutions though as the LHBS didnt have everything.

These are my substitutions. 3lb Amber DME, 3.3lb Amber LME and WLP041 Pacific Ale Yeast.
Their brew software reported an estimated OG of the same as orginal recipe. I may have to do some calculations myself though, because i just realized i have 6.6 lbs total malt weight... i derped. We will see!

I'm sure it's gonna be good! Pleaqse let me know how it turns out.

Gary

Im a little nervous. My OG before pitching was 1.034. Im not sure why it was so much different. I also added 3/4 lb Corn Sugar to the initial boil. Gonna be an interesting one. Ill keep ya informed.

For AG, what would you use to substitute the Amber LME for?

Chris7687 said:

For AG, what would you use to substitute the Amber LME for?

Click to expand...

According to Briess, their amber extract is 2-row, Munich, and C60. I've subbed at a rate of 60% 2 row, 30% Munich malt, and 10% C60. But it's strictly a WAG. Came out good though (though a different recipe, but whatever).

Planning on brewing this Saturday. I have only ordered recipe kits from northern brewer so far. #1 should LHBS have all this? #2 estimate cost of ingredients? I'm on a budget. I'm curious how the cost compares to ordering a kit?

Deleted

Brewing this as we speak. Using more cascade instead of centennial and willamette instead of fuggles. All whole-hops from Portland area. Excited to see how it turns out - the pics you posted look amazing.

Turned out great! Hoppy but with a nice malt back. I think in the future I might try to sub the amber LME for light DME with a late extract addition and use some crystal 60 and Munich in the steep to get that amber flavor. Thanks for the recipe!

finally bottled this brew
made several changes to the recipe based on what was available
replaced one of the hops with wilimente, dont remember which one because i dont take notes but i think it was the fuggle
used a British ale yeast
and used mostly dme

the fuggle returned for the dry hopping (purchased the hops later)

looking forward to drinking it in a couple of weeks

the color was also amazing

Brewed this last night. Increased the LME to about 3.4kgs, thats all the brewshop had.
Bubbling away nicely today, really looking forward to getting into this later.

So on day 7 i moved this out of the garage because it was to cold. It's been bubbling for 15 days now. My gravity reading is down to 1.016. Should I be worried?

How much longer do I wait before Bottling?

I would wait it out and let that gravity come down a tad more. If it's still bubbling a lot it's still fermenting. Colder ferm temps will take longer. I highly doubt its ruined... just need more poatience grasshopper.

Gary

I just ordered the ingredients for this. It'll be my first brew in probably 10 years. Really looking forward to doing it again. Thanks for posting the recipe!

Rick