American Pale Ale

Ok, Its been a while since my last brew and just wanted to post this recipe and make sure nothing sounds odd or off kilter. Please feel free to comment or add suggestions. I am wanting to do an American Pale Ale and this is what i've got so far.

Grains: 1.5lbs American Crystal 30

Extract: 7lbs LME

Hops: 60min 1oz Cascade
15min 1oz Cascade
5min .5oz Amarillo

Yeast: White Labs American Ale

As someone who's made some too-sweet beers in the past, I think 1.5 lbs of crystal is way too much. I'd cut that at least by half.

Also, I'm getting an OG of ~1.070 and ~30 IBUS (though I don't know your hop AA%). You probably need to double or triple your 60-min hop addition.

Thanks, I'll adjust some things a little and we'll see what happends. Like i said, its been a while and i've kinda forgotten my brewing ratios.

I've made American Ales with as much as four ounces of hops in a batch. Cascade is pretty much of a must and Amarillo is great as a second one.

No dryhopping? I'd up that for hops too... just a personal preference to dryhop cascades in the secondary.

sounds good, thanks

I have a similar recipe that I'm brewing this afternoon.

6# Light DME
2 Cups Crystal 120L (not sure the weight on this but I suspect a pound).
1.25oz Perle pellet 6.5% (60min)
0.5oz Cascade plug 7.2% (15min)
0.5oz Cascade plug 7.2% (dry in secondary)

Pro Mash says I should get an OG of 1.057 SRM or 16.6 and 35.0 IBU's with a 2.75 gallon boil and a 5 gallon batch.

Shooting for a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

One question. I have the option of using the last half oz of Cascade for 2 min in the boil or for dry hopping. They are in a muslin bag either way. Anyone have a preference on dry hopping or finishing the last few min of the boil with them? I'm gonna elect for dry hopping since I have never done that.

This is a kit brew and I modified the boil from the suggested 45 min to 60 min just to get a few more IBUs in this thing. At 45 Min I get 37.8 IBU;s and I get 41.8 at 60 min. this is the first time I have changed a recipe, so we shall see.

If your looking for an opinion from a noob her you go. Drop the LME and go with 6 lbs. of light DME, Drop the 1.5 lbs. of crystal 30 and go with 3/4 lb. (maybe 1 lb.) of crystal 20. Maybe a little more hops (because hops freakin' rule) and you should have a killer summertime APA.

I agree you may want to cut down on the crystal to at least a pound. Also, on an APA dry hopping is not necessary. If you want to kick up the hop aroma fine but it is fine without it. The amount of cascade you use completely depends on the AA% not on how many ounces you use. If you're using the recent crop of cascade which is at like 7 or 8% you'll be fine with one ounce. If you're using an older crop or the argentina grown cascade you may need to use 1.5-2 ounces for the same amount of bitterness. Oh and with 7 pounds of LME expect an OG of about 1.048 or so. So this will be ABOUT a 4.8% beer.