Amarillo APA comments

[jldesign]

Amarillo APA / partial mash
og 1.052
fg 1.013
US-56 dry yeast
also have 1272 american ale smack pack

3.13# LME late addition
4# 2-row
1# munich 10L
.5# victory
.5# white wheat
1.5oz chocolate malt

1 oz galena 60min
.5 oz amarillo 20
.5 amarillo 15
.5 amarillo 1 minute
.5 amarillo dry hop

according to my boil volume I'll have 60ish IBU. thoughts on that with the grain bill? if I use .5 galena at 60 it is around 37IBU.

I'm real close to an IPA just a little light on ABV and OG. any comments welcome I'm not sure about the chocolate I just wanted to try something a little different with the amarillo. am I too bitter? bitter enough? I use 1oz dry hop in my rye APA and I love it so I'm not sure with this IBU level.

thanks guys
jld

 

[Soulive]

Keep it simple. I'd get rid of the white wheat and chocolate. I'd also up the LME to bring your OG up. Shoot for an even ratio of 60 IBUs and 1.060 OG. Instead of the 1 minute hop addition, just dry hop a full ounce...

 

[PseudoChef]

I'll echo what Soulive said, although I have seen some APAs with wheat in the bill. Looks great otherwise, I love Amarillo.

 

[uwmgdman]

IMO........lose the chocolate.

Otherwise I think it will be tasty, hoppy beer with a still noticeable malt character given the Munich and Victory.

 

[freyguy]

My amarillo comes in at around 55ibu's and I wouldn't change it. Some pansy beer drinkers think it's too hoppy though!!

I used s-56 in my last batch and it went down a bit too far for me - 1.012. I normally use WL California V yeast to get a bit of a fruity note to go with the Amarillo and it works good. This one is just a bit dry, which is making the hops stick out even more. Still a great beer, but next time I'll use the liquid.

 

[RoaringBrewer]

I echo the above comments on the grain bill.

As for the hopping, 60-some IBU and 1.052 gravity is going to be a bitter beer. It's fine if thats what you are shooting for. To put it in perspective, Sierra Nevada Pale is 5.7% ABV (so > 1.052 probably) and only 37 IBU... So this will be noticably more IPA-like. Other than that, I like the hop schedule... I would definitely consider upping the gravity to 1.060 as mentioned, or cut the galena to maybe 2/3oz or something (45ish IBU?) if you are going to only do a 1.050 beer.

I make an Amarillo PA, but its only 30ish IBU (low end of the style) - my late hops are almost identical to yours and it has an excellent aroma. It's my favorite beer to smell... The big difference between mine and yours is I use cascade to bitter (and less of it... e.g. less IBU) and have a more simple grainbill.

EDIT: Being a 'hophead' myself, I will admit you can easily take the pale ale with 1.050 gravity to about 45 IBU though. Sometimes mine, sitting at 30 IBU tastes kind of like a 'blonde' to me.

 

[jldesign]

thanks gotta love feedback - going to KO the choco and wheat. I have some other IPAs in the wings so without the wheat I'd be around 1.50 or under with eff. and I'll knock the galena back a bit into the 50 range and dry hop the lovely 1oz of amarillo instead of .5 at 1 minute. back to pretty simple but you know it'll be good.

plan was all amarillo but with the shortage I can't see using up my supply. this should work out as expected minus extra ounces used.

cheers
jld