American Pale Ale recipe advice

So I'm set on brewing an American Pale Ale as my first Partial Mash brew!

Here is what I'm thinking. I'm aiming for a Siera Nevada clone. Numbers computed by Beer Calculus:

(5.0 gal batch)

Fermentables (Mash efficiency assumed as 67% partial mash with batch sparge):
3.0 lbs Muntons Light DME
3.0 lbs American Pale 2-row malt
1.0 lbs Vienna Malt
1.0 lbs Crystal 10L Malt
0.5 lbs Caramel/Crystal 20L Malt
0.25 lbs Carapils/dextrine

(Boil volume 4.0 gal for 60 min)
Hops:
0.75 oz Magnum (12 AA) @ 60 min
0.5 oz Cascade (5.5 AA) @ 30 min
0.25 oz Cascade (5.5 AA) @ 10 min

Yeast:
11.5g Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast (76% attenuation) pitched @ 68 degrees F

Fermentation:
14 days in Primary @ 68 F

OG: 1.055
FG: 1.013

Color: 6 SRM

IBU's: 37

Alc/vol: 5.6%



Open to all advice or criticism. I am purchasing my grains this week! :rockin:

Use 1056 or us 05 as a yeast for a closer taste to SN

AleFred said:

Use 1056 or us 05 as a yeast for a closer taste to SN

Click to expand...

Thanks. I can get the 05 at my LHBS.

Can I get good pale ale hop flavor without dry hopping? This will be plenty bitter at 37 IBU's but will it have hop flavor/aroma without dry hop?

I love hops..I dry hop my pale ales and of course ipa's

AleFred said:

I love hops..I dry hop my pale ales and of course ipa's

Click to expand...

Dry hopping adds no bitterness, only flavor, correct?

Move that 30 min cascade to flame out and replace it with Perle at 30 min.

mux said:

Move that 30 min cascade to flame out and replace it with Perle at 30 min.

Click to expand...

Thanks! So that would bring me up to 4 hop additions, magnums @ 60 min, Perle @ 30 min, Cascade @ 10 min, and Cascade @ flameout? No dry hop?

I also always dryhop my apa...gives it that extra hoppiness. It only adds aroma, maybe a little flavor...

Jayhem said:

Thanks! So that would bring me up to 4 hop additions, magnums @ 60 min, Perle @ 30 min, Cascade @ 10 min, and Cascade @ flameout? No dry hop?

Click to expand...

The perle in the middle is closer to other SNPA recipes I've seen. I would up the cascade amounts as well like a 1 oz at 10 min and 1 ounce at flameout. Then dry hop with at least an ounce of cascades. You can't be shy with the cascades on this one. Keep it under 40 IBUs though.

On the malt bill, with 1.5 lbs of other crystal malts you don't really need any carapils. One less thing to buy.

Thanks! As for yeast I just bought a case of Siera Nevada and was thinking of trying to harvest the yeasties! What's the best method?

for all my pale ales and ipa i do hop additions at 60 (or fwh), 15, 5, 0 and dry hop. This has always fit my cravings for hops.

as far as harvesting yeast, heres a video that explains it. the music is a bit odd, but i think the process is solid:

^ Thanks for the vid, makes more sense now.

I'm going to get a starter going soon and step it up to maybe 1 - 1.5 liters of wort a few days before I'm ready to pitch it.

What is the best way to pitch the starter? I've ready that some people pitch the entire thing, some decant or pour off most of the liquid after cold crashing and pitch the slurry. Won't cold crashing make the yeast go dormant before pitching?

Update:

So I brewed this over the weekend!

Here is how the recipe actually ended up...

Fermentables (5 gallon batch):
3.0 lbs Muntons Light DME
3.5 lbs American Pale 2-row malt
1.0 lbs Vienna Malt
1.0 lbs Crystal 10L Malt
0.5 lbs Caramel/Crystal 80L Malt

(Boil volume 4.0 gal for 60 min)
Hops:
0.5 oz Magnum (13.1 AA) @ 60 min
0.5 oz Cascade (6.8 AA) @ 30 min
1.0 oz Cascade (6.8 AA) @ 10 min
1.0 oz Cascade (6.8 AA) @ flame out

Yeast:
11.0g US-05 (78% attenuation) pitched @ 68 degrees F

Fermentation plan:
14 days in Primary @ 68 F (*I have highly active fermentation just 24 hours after pitching)
7 days in secondary @ 68F (with 1.0 oz cascades dry hop)

OG (measured): 1.050
FG (estimated): 1.010

Color: 9 SRM

IBU's: 37.5

Alc/vol: 5.6%



Question: How do I determine my mash efficiency?

I used 6.0 lbs of grain and 3 lbs of DME to make a 5 gallon batch at 1.050 gravity...is that all the information I need to determine efficiency?

if the starter is less than 1500mls, i usually pitch the whole thing.

Update: Thanks for all who gave advice on this one! I think this is going to turn out great. This is the first beer I've brewed that tasted awesome before bottling! I tasted a sample after 14 days in primary and dry hopped with 1.0 oz of cascades....perfect AA bitterness, matches Sierra Nevada! The color is also dead on SN, dark copper. Bottling this Sunday!

How much priming sugar should I use for a SN clone? I'll have about 4.6 gallons going into bottles, I was thinking 4 oz of corn sugar.