American Pale Ale recommendation

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RallyintheValley

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Homebrewers,

I'm looking for an APA recipe, either your own or a kit to recommend. Preferably in the style of Great Lakes Burning River. I know that AHS has a Burning River clone, I will probably go with that, but I figured I'd ask first.

Thanks!
 
For what it's worth, I just opened my first bottle from a Brewer's Best APA, extract kit, and even though it's a little green yet, I am VERY impressed. It may be that I am a little sick of the lighter summer beers and this is one of the first bigger, hoppy'er beers of the season for me. Bottom line I like it.
 
Thanks bmbox, glad you are enjoying it. I probably won't be ordering for a couple of weeks, so feel free to let me know how it ages!
So far I've brewed a brown and a stout, so I'm ready for some hops.
 
My first beer was Williams Triple Hop Ale. Very very good. I'm now working to clone it. Nice hoppy/malty beer.
 
Hey, I brewed the Lady Liberty Ale from John Palmer's bible (I mean book on beginners brewing). It was FANTASTIC. It was just a flavorful, but very clean and balanced ale. It was very refreshing!

Here is more information than you probably ever wanted, but it is a great book and availible online for free at howtobrew.com:
American Pale Ale
American pale ale is an adaptation of classic British pale ale. The American Ale yeast strain produces less esters than comparable ale yeasts, and thus American pale ale has a less fruity taste than its British counterpart. American pale ales vary in color from gold to dark amber and typically have a hint of sweet caramel from the use of crystal malt that does not mask the hop finish. With the resurgence of interest in ales in the United States, American pale ale evolved from a renewed interest in American hop varieties and a higher level of bitterness as microbreweries experimented with craft brewing. The Cascade hop has become a staple of American microbrewing and is the signature hop for American pale ales. It has a distinctive citrusy aroma compared to European hops and has enabled American pale ale to stand shoulder to shoulder with other classic beer styles.

OG: 1.045 - 1.055
FG: 1.008 - 1.013
25 - 45 IBUs


Commercial Example: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale




Lady Liberty Ale - American Pale Ale

6 lbs. of Pale Malt Extract (syrup)
1/2 lb. of Crystal 60L Malt


BG for 3 Gallons
1.075

OG for 5 Gallons
1.045

Hops IBU Contribution

3/4 oz of Northern Brewer (9%) at 60 min.
3/4 oz of Cascade (7%) at 30 minutes
3/4 oz of Cascade (7%) at 15 minutes

Total IBUs 37


Yeast Fermentation Schedule

American Ale(liquid)

Primary Ferment at 65°F for 2 weeks.
Or 1 wk Primary and 2 wk Secondary.

Options
All-Extract
4 lbs. of Pale Malt LME, 2 lbs. of Amber DME.
 
Rebel Brewer has a very good extract American Pale Ale kit. I have been drinking mine as my staple beer! The guys at Rebel are awesome!

The beer has a floral nose, hoppy taste but not to bitter. I highly recomend this kit.
 
The kit from Rebel Brewer was my first 5 gal kit, came out really good, easy to follow directions.

Think I'll do the Lady Liberty Ale next, seems easy and looks tasty.
 
Hey, I brewed the Lady Liberty Ale from John Palmer's bible (I mean book on beginners brewing). It was FANTASTIC. It was just a flavorful, but very clean and balanced ale. It was very refreshing!

Here is more information than you probably ever wanted, but it is a great book and availible online for free at howtobrew.com:

Wow! Thank you for that!
I think I'm going to give this one a shot. Probably wait a few more days before deciding, but I'll keep you posted...
 
Wow! Thank you for that!
I think I'm going to give this one a shot. Probably wait a few more days before deciding, but I'll keep you posted...

Glad I could help! I like this recipe because it is a very basic pale ale. It is great tasting and it shows you what a "cliche" APA should taste like. If you brew it, I reccomend once exactly as the recipe calls for, then if you want to brew it again start tinkering with it.

Basically it is a perfect recipe to start learning how to formulate your own recipes!
 
Glad I could help! I like this recipe because it is a very basic pale ale. It is great tasting and it shows you what a "cliche" APA should taste like. If you brew it, I reccomend once exactly as the recipe calls for, then if you want to brew it again start tinkering with it.

Basically it is a perfect recipe to start learning how to formulate your own recipes!

In a week I will be bottling this beer, it was my first attempt at brewing. It's been sitting in the primary for three weeks and is clearing up very nicely. Great to know it's a good recipe, I couldn't resist a little tinkering however, I swapped out the bittering hops for Chinook instead and used US-05 for the yeast.
 
In a week I will be bottling this beer, it was my first attempt at brewing. It's been sitting in the primary for three weeks and is clearing up very nicely. Great to know it's a good recipe, I couldn't resist a little tinkering however, I swapped out the bittering hops for Chinook instead and used US-05 for the yeast.

Recipes are made to be tinkered with, that's one of the great of homebrewing. Its great to mess around with grains...for example either add or swap out a little of the extract or crystal for some vienna/munich/etc grain or change the hops bill to your specific tastes. Its great because we get to make what we like, or find out what we do/don't like!

As for yeast, there won't be too much difference in taste between them since the style calls for any clean fermenting yeast (Nottingham, US-05, california ale, or my favorite the free pacman strain). But it allows you to use whatever you have on hand!
 
Recipes are made to be tinkered with, that's one of the great of homebrewing. Its great to mess around with grains...for example either add or swap out a little of the extract or crystal for some vienna/munich/etc grain or change the hops bill to your specific tastes. Its great because we get to make what we like, or find out what we do/don't like!

As for yeast, there won't be too much difference in taste between them since the style calls for any clean fermenting yeast (Nottingham, US-05, california ale, or my favorite the free pacman strain). But it allows you to use whatever you have on hand!

Exactly! Still, I still might have been better served to make the recipe as published as a known base line and then tinkered with subsequent batches. I am however looking forward to that Chinook Lady Liberty! ("Lady Liberty with a few Liberties Taken Pale Ale" lol)
 
Here's another vote for Palmer's Lady Liberty Ale. I took some to my LBC meeting and it was a really big hit. I used two 4 lb cans of Alexander's Pale LME for an extra malty kick, a White Labs yeast starter (decanted), and bottle conditioned the batch.

Wow! It's a keeper recipe!
 
I'm going to do Palmer's APA next but think I'm either going to add #0.25 of Biscuit grain OR substitute Munich LME for one of the Pilsen LME.

Also I think I'm going to use Galena for bittering instead of Northern Brewer hops.

Any thoughts on my tweaks are appreciated.
 
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