1st recipe/Final version (reviews please!)

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

SailorJerry

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Messages
1,441
Reaction score
2,291
Location
Kossuth County
Alright guys, below is the recipe that I've concocted for an APA. All my readings are close to where they are supposed to be for this style of beer minus the IBUs, which are just a tad low. If you could, please take a look and let me know what you think. The mash times listed are something that I am unsure of as this is my first AG batch but I'm doing it with a coworker of mine that has brewed AG for years, so I just through that in there, assuming he will do whatever he can to make it work. It's a 10 gallon boil, or so we are hoping!

Cheers!:mug:

Type: All Grain
Date: 12/6/2010
Batch Size: 10.00 gal
Brewer:
Boil Size: 11.45 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.00 lb Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 4.44 %
14.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 62.22 %
2.00 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 8.89 %
1.00 lb Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 4.44 %
1.00 lb Oats, Malted (1.0 SRM) Grain 4.44 %
1.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 4.44 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2.22 %
1.75 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 15.9 IBU
2.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
1.25 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (20 min) Hops 6.9 IBU
1.25 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 4.1 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 0.5 IBU
2.00 lb Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 8.89 %
2 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale
 
Get more hops. You are going to have 10 gallons of this. An APA with 27 IBUs will have something missing.

Why the rice hulls? Won't hurt.

2 lbs of honey malt seems a lot.
 
Alright, cut back the honey malt to one pound, using the rice hulls because the guy I'm brewing with likes to use them and I'm going at his word since i've never done AG before. I can up the hops, that isn't a problem, but what is your advice on cascades. Should I up the 60 minute boil hops for a little more bitterness or at the end for more flavor/aroma? I don't think cascades are too bitter if I remember correctly, but it's been awhile since I've brewed.

The one reason I decided to do any honey malt was just to give it a little extra flavor instead of just using Crystal malt for sweetness.
Thanks for the input, I really appreciate your guys' opinions, keep 'em coming:rockin:
 
I'd up the bittering hops to anywhere from 30-45 ibu's and add an additional ounce or three at the 0-5 minute marks for some good aroma and flavor.
 
Looks like default in BeerSmith is Tinseth. In my experience, IBU's in Tinseth are generally lower than others (Jamil Zainasheff uses Rager for ex), especially for late hop additions.

Rager gives you 39.7 IBU
Tinseth: 28.6

I'd say thats definitely acceptable for an APA
 
Cascade only makes a great APA!! I don't understanding the sugar though.
I use 18 lbs of 2 row in my 10 gal batches, and a few misc other grains for 22 lbs total. May be a little much but it tastes great!!!IMO 1lb of honey is still a tad high but I don't like that much sweetness in my beer. Remember its all about personal tastes when you brew YOUR beer.

Looks like an interesting recipe though, I've never had an APA with oats and wheat before might be something to try.

Oh and kick the hops up to about 7-8 ounces if you stay with all cascades in the boil.
 
After a closer look, this doesn't look like an APA at all. Oats/Wheat/Honey are all classic English Bitter ingredients along with the ENGLISH ale. Evaluating this as an ESB:

65% Base malt seems quite low to me also. You are going crazy with specialty grains, which may be okay, but since this is you're first recipe, you might want to tone it down. I typically keep base grains at least 85%.

9% is simple sugars is probably okay, just be sure it adds to the character you want.

DON'T underestimate the sweetness of honey malt. Even a small amount will add a lot of residual sweetness (in my experience anyways).

----------------

What is your projected OG?

Tell us more about the type of beer you are trying to build. Would prob be easier if you give us characteristics you are looking for
 
We are shooting for a simple pale ale, but I wanted a little more flavor character then just the 2-row malt, hence the crystal and honey malts. Would you advise scratching one of the two, or both? I'm open for opinions, specialty grains and malt probably shouldn't be in an APA, but I wanted to give it our own little twist. I'm thinking of cutting the crystal out and possibly only going for .5 lb of honey malt, if any at all. My thoughts with this are that the honey malt might add a little more "body" to the beer.

With the flaked oats and wheat, again, as this is my first all grain batch and I don't have the equipment, I'm just going off of what my friend does and that is what he uses and I'm taking his word for it.

Hops are going to be all cascade for the boil and dry hop with some Saaz if I can locate some, hopefully the LHBS will have some. Thinking about changing the hop schedule to:

2.5 oz at 60 min
2 oz at 15
1.5 oz at 5
1 oz at flameout
then dry hoping 2 oz of Saaz

Input?
And thanks again!
 
If you are going for an American PA, you can start by using an American Ale yeast, Safale US-05. That will finish out a bit more dry, and allow the hops to come out a bit more.

You don't have to scratch either the crystal or the honey malt. In fact, if it was me, I would probably use more crystal and less honey. I did an English Bitter with just a bit of honey and it was a little too sweet for me. Again thats just me, and I'm def not an expert.

Flaked oats does not sound bad at all in an APA.

I would also consider making a small batch to start. Each recipe you create will be slightly better. This also gives you the option to make small changes and brew it again sooner.
 
Alright, what about jumping the Crystal to 2 or 2.5 lbs and honey malt down to .25. I'm pretty set on the hop schedule and I think it would work nice, but I will change the yeast as well to one suggested.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.

Just wish I had beer smith with me for a run down of IBUs and ABV :mug:
 
Is there a way to find out how much water to use when spargeing or mashing these grains? Sorry, new to this stuff :)
 
Back
Top