Hopburst-ish APA Recipe Idea

I'm still working on the "holy grail" of APAs. I want big hops flavor and aroma, good malt flavor and complexity, but not a sweet finish. That's hard enough, but it MUST be under 5% ABV!

Here's what I'm thinking for next week:

10.5 gallon batch
OG 1.048 FG 1.011
WLP001

14 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 3 77.3 %
2 lbs Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4 11.0 %
1 lbs Oats, Golden Naked (Simpsons) (10.0 SRM) Grain 5 5.5 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.8 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 7 2.8 %
(Acid malt for pH adjustment- probably 1.9%)

0.75 oz Centennial [11.90 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 9 17.3 IBUs

2.00 oz Cascade [8.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 10 13.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [11.90 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 11 7.6 IBUs
2.00 oz Cascade [8.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 12 1.2 IBUs

1.00 oz Centennial [9.60 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days
1.00 oz Simcoe [12.70 %] - Dry Hop 5 Days


Any suggestions or critique?

Maybe use Summit or Cascade instead of Centennial for the dry hop?

Just a personal preference, as I prefer Centennial as bittering or flavor addition, and love the tangerine that Summit brings.

What kind of aroma/flavor profile are you expecting from the hops? Layered hopping, in small additions, at various time frames is extremely important for a low abv pale if you want hop complexity. You don't want concentrated late additions like you would in a higher abv IPA. Not to say you're doing that here, just rambling.

I also heard Jamil talk about experimenting with 9% crystal malts for boosting mouthfeel, but mashing very low and doing a whole bunch of other sh%t to reduce the sweetness. Something I've never thought to do because I hate sweetness in a hoppy beer, but he said it could be done quite successfully. Not sure what podcast it was in, but in the same one they talked about using 10% Belgian Pils to give the same beer a bit more complexity, instead of Munich which they claimed gave it too much of a peanut butter quality.

maybe go with WLP007 or 005 fermented between 66-68. You are using Maris otter might as well use an english yeast.

How long do you whirlpool? If you cool in slow you may get some bitterness from the last cascade addition. I would definitely not use an English yeast if you are looking to really showcase the hops. Personally I don't like any crystal in my pale ales as I usually get too much sweetness.

I wasn't really planning on Maris otter malt- that just is a typo from entering on Beersmith. I probably will use Rahr two-row.

I do a couple of IPAs with Wyeast 1335, and I really like it. I think that maybe using it, at 64 degrees, will give me the clean dry finish I want and clear beer.

I sometimes whirlpool for 20 minutes as a hop stand, but when I do hopbursting I normally chill quickly to "hold" onto the hops profile.

I don't think I have an summit hops- I'll have to check. Since I have about 12 pounds of hops, I'm probably not going to buy anyway right now.

I think I have some Belgian pilsner malt (Castle) so that is a though- thanks!

I want lots of hops flavor, and I was thinking that the floral/citrus quality of centennial and the citrus of cascade would give me that, without any pine flavor. (Plus I have a couple of pounds of each).

I think Citra is great for flavor/aroma if you have any. It is probably my favorite hop nowadays.

I'm not a huge fan of munich in non-german styles and I've experimented with golden naked oats extensively and never been that impressed. The fruity/tart quality they give a beer doesn't really meld with hops or malt in my experience. Instead, I've found that layering several interesting malts can lead to a thick, but dry maltiness. Crisp C60 and Baird's (I think) carastan are both very "toasty" for crystal malts. I love a bit of amber malt for a rustic bread crust quality. Briess' special roast is also an interesting malt that adds some character in small amounts. By layering malts like that, you can get a deep malt character without it getting cloying or too dark.

Of course the recipe you listed would also probably be great so feel free to disregard everything I said.

KingBrianI said:

I'm not a huge fan of munich in non-german styles and I've experimented with golden naked oats extensively and never been that impressed. The fruity/tart quality they give a beer doesn't really meld with hops or malt in my experience. Instead, I've found that layering several interesting malts can lead to a thick, but dry maltiness. Crisp C60 and Baird's (I think) carastan are both very "toasty" for crystal malts. I love a bit of amber malt for a rustic bread crust quality. Briess' special roast is also an interesting malt that adds some character in small amounts. By layering malts like that, you can get a deep malt character without it getting cloying or too dark.

Of course the recipe you listed would also probably be great so feel free to disregard everything I said.

Click to expand...

I don't know what kind/how many British crystal malts I have, so I'll have to go look. I have amber malt, I'm sure, and probably have some special roast. I use a lot of victory and biscuit malt, typically, so I was looking for something different but I think you've got so many good points that I might have to rethink this whole recipe!

Thanks for the input, everyone!