Amarillo and Simcoe APA recipe

[FuriousE]

Hey all,

Here's what I'm thinking for an APA:

10 lbs 2 row
1.5 lbs Vienna
.5 lbs Crystal 40

26.5 IBUs Chinook at 60

.5 ozs Amarillo at 5
.5 ozs Simcoe at 5

.75 ozs Amarillo at Flameout (steep for 10 minutes)
.75 ozs Simcoe at Flameout (steep for 10 minutes)

Dry hop with 1 ozs each of Amarillo and Simcoe

Target OG = 1.058, target bitterness = 44.2, target FG = 1.012.

WY1056 American Ale yeast. I'll use RO water and adjust to CA = 100, MG = 18, Sodium = 15, Sulfate = 275, Chloride = 49.5.

What do you think? Any suggestions or ideas for improvement?

 

[chickypad]

Looks like a very nice APA as is to me. Any changes would be personal preference IMO (and it's pretty right on for my preferences!)

 

[clint404]

I just did this combo. It tasted great going into the bottles. I dry hopped with el Dorado and slowly raised the ferm temp with wyeast 1272 to get some fruitiness. Its a great recipe you have but I've heard Chinook can add a harsher bitter than some other bitterings.

 

[FuriousE]

Any other opinions on Chinook being harsh? I've also got Columbus, Centennial, and Cascade on hand in addition to the Chinook, Amarillo, and Simcoe...

 

[chickypad]

I bitter probably 75% of my APA's and IPA's with chinook. I'd say it's a firm bitterness but I'm a fan, I don't find it too harsh. I actually find something like magnum to be too dull for my tastes at the same calculated IBU's. Columbus and centennial are other ones I commonly use for the 60 min addition depending on what I have on hand. It's not like you're over the top on this recipe anyway.

Edit: I should clarify, I think magnum is a great neutral bittering hop in other styles and I use it in stouts, wheats, browns, etc. I just don't like it for hoppy american pales.

 

[FuriousE]

Thanks, I think I'm sticking with Chinook. I used it on my last IPA, and enjoyed it, so I'm thinking it should work well with this APA! Thanks for all the feedback so far, all.

 

[Yooper]

I love it! Well, I'd half the sulfate level but otherwise I think it's awesome.

 

[FuriousE]

Thanks Yooper - I've used that sulfate level for every apa I've made so far. I think I'll take your advice and try half to see how it turns out. I'm pretty new to water adjustment. How do the rest of the mineral levels look?

 

[Yooper]

Thanks Yooper - I've used that sulfate level for every apa I've made so far. I think I'll take your advice and try half to see how it turns out. I'm pretty new to water adjustment. How do the rest of the mineral levels look?

Good! You can go lower on the chloride if you want, but you don't really have to. Calcium in the 40-80 ppm range is good, and if you reduce the sulfate that should reduce the calcium as well (assuming you're using gypsum).

If you love APAs with that level of sulfate, then by all means do it! I don't, and I only have one IPA recipe that I like with that level of sulfate. It's not good or bad, it's just personal preference.

I wonder if some "harsh" flavors from chinnook as a bittering hop may just be from heavy sulfate use.

 

[FuriousE]

Well, I hadn't noticed harsh Chinook flavors, but I've only used them for bittering an IPA.

I will lower the sulfates just as an experiment - since I've only tried high levels so far. Thanks for the tip!

 

[JF_HBrews]

Nothing much to add, I like Chinook. Try FWH with it sometime, I believe it brings more of the flavor along and not just the bittering. Nice straightforward grain bill, your recipe sounds great!

 

[FuriousE]

Just mashed in on this. Went with the original recipe, but adjusted water to Ca = 51.3, Mg = 13, Na = 15.6, SO4 = 140, and Chloride = 49.5.

Initial mash temp = 154. I'll lose a few degrees during the mash. pH = 5.57.

 

[FuriousE]

Hit my OG right on the nose - 1.058. We'll see how I did in 3-4 weeks!

 

[D-Train]

Looks very similar to this recipe which I just picked up ingredients for. I'm thinking the toasted 2row has gotta be similar to Vienna.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/lake-walk-pale-ale-32939/

 

[FuriousE]

I didn't see that one - does look pretty close! Ever made it before?

 

[D-Train]

No I haven't made it before. I'm deviating from the recipe by using 1098 British Ale yeast just because I had some on hand and thought it might be interesting in an APA.