Brewer's Best American Pale Ale - Tweaks?

I am looking to get back in to brewing (after a 13 year hiatus), and I picked up my Brewer's Best brew kit, and it came with an extract kit. I chose the American Pale Ale, because I am a fan of pale ales.

I have looked over the recipe about 100 times since brew day can't come fast enough. I have a few questions about the instructions that came packaged.

First, there is 6.6lb of Light LME, 1lb Crystal 20L, 2oz Cascade pellets (bittering), 1.5oz Willamette pellets (aroma), and 1 packet of Danstar Nottingham Ale yeast.

This kit suggests steeping the 1.0lb of Crystal 20L in only 2.5gal of water for 20 minutes. If I am able to do a full batch boil, how much water do I steep/boil with? Does this affect the timing for the steeping of the grains?

Next, it suggests that I add 3.3lb of the extract before the boil, then the other 3.3lb at the 40min mark. Does this change at all with altered boils?

Third, we add in the bittering hops at the outset of the boil and the aroma hops at the 5 minute mark. Would you suggest any other hop additions anywhere to hop it up a bit, but still remain balanced? What about further dry hopping?

Finally, when adding the yeast, the directions say to sprinkle the yeast on to the top without preparing a starter. Should I make a starter with 100mL of warm water 15 min before pitching or get a different liquid yeast? What would you suggest?

Also, all I have is the two pails, one for fermenting, and a second for bottling. Would a recipe like this necessitate racking to a secondary pail or carboy prior to bottling?

I know, I know. Tons of questions. I am trying to get back and ready to brew again, so please help a fellow brewer (though an acolyte) out!

Thanks!

In my opinion:

Steeping is steeping. If you're doing a full batch boil, steep the grains for 20 minutes in 5 gallons of water.

Likewise, add the malt extract according to their schedule. Full batch boil won't make a bit of difference.

Hop utilization WILL be affected by the full batch boil. Consider reducing the amount of bittering hops slightly. I wouldn't change the aroma hops.

I've never had a problem with sprinkling dry yeast on top of the wort, but others swear by a starter (some say a starter is just a way to contaminate your dry yeast). If you want to be certain that the yeast is OK, at least proof it in a little water that's been boiled and cooled. Nottingham ale yeast works fine.

You can get perfectly reasonable beer using a single stage fermentation in a bucket with a tight lid and an airlock. I was taught to rack to secondary in a glass carboy, but a single stage fermentation is perfectly acceptable.

+1 to everything Cullen said

Thanks so much for the advice. You have allayed my fears and I think I will keep the hops as is for this batch -- we like them hoppy here!

Cullen hit it.

I did the BB APA as my very first brew. It turned out pretty good. Keeping the same hop schedele even with a full boil should be good. Just leave it in the primary for 3 weeks, no need to rack it to a secondary. Bottle and enjoy.

Brewed this and kegged 3 batches ago, I ditched the yeast it came with and used US-05. Also dry hopped with 2 oz of Amarillo right in the primary. Bitter at first, but mellowed out after a week in the cold keg, it was good!

hough77 said:

Brewed this and kegged 3 batches ago, I ditched the yeast it came with and used US-05. Also dry hopped with 2 oz of Amarillo right in the primary. Bitter at first, but mellowed out after a week in the cold keg, it was good!

Click to expand...

Forgot I used 2 oz of pacifica hops also to dry hop.

So you used the 2oz of hops for bittering, 1.5oz hops for aroma, and another 4oz for dry hopping? I may be just gettng back in to brewiing, but isn't that a lot of hops for 5 gallons?

Yes, I thought it was a lot, but it wasn't, the dry hop aroma will be the first thing to disapate over time.if you like hoppy pale ales, its not over doing it.

I stopped in my local homebrew shop (Adventures in Homebrewing www.homebrewing.org has both storefronts less than 20 min from my house), and picked up a few necessities as well as 1oz of HopUnion Cascade hops to dry hop in this batch.

Since I am using the Ale Pail and don't have a secondary fermenter (I plan on keeping it primary for three weeks), I am giong to hop in a cheesecloth bag. I will be sanitizing the bag, and I have heard of people either putting marbles in a bag to weigh it down or ping pong balls to keep it afloat. What are your thoughts? I had planned on not doing either, just letting it float loose so I don't have to worry about loose hops when I transfer to the bottling bucket.

Either way, I am brewing tomorrow with my brother (08/20), so it will be fun!

I just tossed mine in loose and cold crashed before I kegged (all the stuff in suspension falls to the bottom with the trub) have fun, it will turn out good either way!

Yeah, cullen's response seemed right on the money to me.

I work at Ozark Mountains Brewing Supplies and decided to take a kit home and give it a try. Started Sunday evening and I'm hoping it comes out quite nicely. I ran into the issue of not enough ice, unfortunately. My first beer kit, so it was exciting nonetheless.

Would having a slower chilling rate effect anything significant? It's fermenting in another room as we speak.

(Forgive me for bumping this thread, was curious about how slow I had chilled the wort and it's effects later on)

I don't think the slow chill will affect your great beer at all. It's good to chill quickly for cold break and also to keep contamination out, but most likely your beer will be excellent! I recently bought a wort chiller and my wort chills to temp in 10 mins max. It saves brew day time and is highly recommended as you expand your brewing equipment.

That APA kit was my fourth (fifth?) batch since I started brewing...did it exactly by the recipe (even though I'm usually tempted to add a pound of DME for extra alcohol, I did not here)...and it turned out awesome, best batch yet. My wife even likes it, and she's not much of a beer drinker.