An APA: First recipe from a noob

[DrMega]

I picked up iBrewMaster with the intention of making my first recipe from scratch. I've done a few kits and recipes, even some all-grain, but my goals here were:
- To create something relatively simple with a low boil volume (I live in an apartment now so it's harder to do a full boil than when I had a house).
- To make a recipe that uses stuff found at my local homebrew shop (hope not to have to special-order anything).
- To make a kind of wheaty, hoppy APA. I don't intend this to be a Gumballhead clone (I do love that beer), but more just using a similar idea. This obviously won't have that level of complexity (or awesomeness).

Since I've only worked from kits and recipes before, I have no earthly clue whether these ingredients will complement one another to make something enjoyable.

Let me know what you think. I'm open to any and all constructive criticism or suggestions. Please be gentle (did I mention this is my first crack at this?). Cheers!

= DM =

First try: Custom APA 3gal
Style: American Pale Ale OG: 1.050
Type: Extract FG: 1.013
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 4.85 %
Calories: 164 IBU's: 45.90
Efficiency: 70 % Boil Size: 3.00 Gal
Color: 6.5 SRM Batch Size: 5.00 Gal
Preboil OG: 1.087 Boil Time: 60 minutes

Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp
Primary 7 days @ 66.0°F
Secondary 14 days @ 66.0°F

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
4.00 lbs 61.54 % Light Dry Extract 60 mins 1.044
1.00 lbs 15.38 % Wheat Dry Extract 60 mins 1.044
1.00 lbs 15.38 % Weyermann Pale Wheat Malt 60 mins 1.038
0.50 lbs 7.69 % White Wheat Malt 60 mins 1.040

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
1.00 ozs 24.81 Centennial 60 mins 10.00
1.00 ozs 19.07 Centennial 30 mins 10.00
0.50 ozs 1.80 Saaz 10 mins 4.00
0.50 ozs 0.21 Saaz 1 mins 4.00

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.0 pkg Nottingham Danstar

 

[nberna19]

That seems to be a lot of wheat to me for an APA. Even when I do an American Wheat style I don't go over 30% wheat. Centennial is a great hop selection for an APA however Saaz aren't typically found in an APA. I'd stick with your Pacific NW/American hops like Cascade, Columbus, Amarillo, Chinook - all excellent APA hop choices that can be mixed and matched however you like. And lastly, I always choose liquid yeast, it's the best choice available. Go with either White Labs WLP001 California Ale yeast or Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast, either one works the best for brewing a nice APA. Hope this helps

 

[DrMega]

Thanks! Might be my problem here is semantic - poking around a little more on the boards it looks like I'm trying to make a WPA or American Wheat rather than an APA? A few of the Gumballhead clones and recipes like it use somewhere in the neighborhood of 50/50 with the wheat, it seems.

Good suggestion on the hops. I really don't know what goes with what. I subbed in Amarillo for the Saaz and tinkered around with the boil times to bring the IBUs to where it should be (I think?).

= DM =

 

[nberna19]

Yeah that recipe seems like more of an American wheat rather than an APA. For a basic APA here's the 5 gallon extract recipe taken from Brewing Classic Styles (which if you don't already have I would highly recommend):

8.1 lbs Light LME
0.5 lb Munich LME
0.5 lb Wheat LME
0.75 lb Victory (must be steeped)

0.66 oz Horizon (13%) @ 60 mins
0.5 oz Centennial (9%) @ 10 mins
0.5 oz Amarillo (9%) @ 10 mins
0.5 oz Centennial (9%) @ 0 mins
0.5 oz Amarillo (9%) @ 0 mins

If you don't steep any grains then you can just not use the Victory, it's not that crucial; add a quarter pound more of both the wheat and munich LME if doing so. Horizon is used for a clean bittering hop, but Magnum, Warrior are good substitutes or you could even use some Centennial and/or Amarillo for bittering at 60 mins. You should be shooting for right around 40 IBU for an APA. Go to BrewersFriend.com for some free and useful recipe calculators.