Apricot Ale... suggestions?

[jmalex]

Hello All.
I've been lurking here for awhile and have found these forums to be incredible resources for making my first 2 batches, both kits from my LHBS (a Belgian Wit and a Nut Brown). For my third batch, I'd like to try and develop a recipe myself, and I've decided on an apricot ale. This will be an extract/grains recipe. Ideally I'd like something along the lines of a Magic Hat #9, but with a more pronounced apricot flavor. At the same time though, I don't want something as fruity as an apricot wheat (e.g. Pyramid). Here's what I've come up with, and it seems (at least to me) to reach that middle ground between the two. I know apricot beers are pretty popular here, and I've looked through a lot of the old threads when coming up with this recipe. I'd really like to hear comments/suggestions from everyone. Thanks!

Malts:
6.6 Lb Light LME
.5 Lb Wheat DME
.75 Lb Crystal 20L

Hops:
1.5 oz Tettnang (60 min)
1 oz Hallertau (15 min)

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Extras:
1 tsp Irish Moss (15 min)
3 oz Apricot Extract (bottling)

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

That looks pretty good, looke like it's pretty close to the magic hat #9 clone. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=120131&postcount=20

Good luck, welcome to the board and THANK YOU FOR SEARCHING FIRST!!!

 

[Evan!]

I like it...not completely sure about how much extract to add, though. After turning my porter into "Ben-Gay Ale" with a mere 30mL of spruce essence, I'm very wary of adding too much extract of anything. I'm sure it'll mellow out in time, but still...be careful.

Question: have you had Dogfish Head's ApriHop? A damn fine beer, it is. The apricot notes are a little more subdued that what you're looking for, but that can be doctored. Along those lines, I'd suggest going in that direction, which means a couple things: perhaps using a little more crystal to enhance the orangish color, perhaps add some more DME to increase your OG, and more importantly, increasing your IBU figures. Using what you got there, you'll end up with roughly 34.8 IBU, which is good, but I'd go a little higher. It's a personal taste thing, but I almost always find that I underhop my beers (except for my 250+ IBU barleywine...hehehe). Try adding an extra half-ounce of Cascade for 60 minutes. It'll bring your IBU up to about 48. You could go higher if you want... You could even go so far as to replace more of the Tett with Cascade, or even some of the Hallertau too---the citrusy Cascade aromas should marry quite well with the tropical apricot flavors. Good luck!

 

[jmalex]

Thanks for the reply. I have not had Aprihop but I'm really not a hop head (yet?). I appreciate the suggestions, but I think I like where the IBU figure is in the 30s. I will explore your malt suggestions though. I thought the OG was a bit on the high side as it was, but I'll have to rerun the numbers. I may have not used my most recent amounts.
As for the amount of apricot extract, the recipes I've seen have used as little as 1.5 oz (#9 clones) and as much as 5 oz (an apricot wheat). I took somewhat of an average figure to come up with my 3 oz.

 

[the_bird]

Yeah, I wouldn't bring the hops up that much, they'll overpower the apricot very easily. #9's a smooth-drinking brew, if you're looking for something in that vein I think you're very much on the right track.